Nader, Ralph (1934–)

Ralph Nader has been a candidate for president of the United States in 1996, 2000, and 2004, a political activist, an attorney, and an author. He became first known to the public in 1966 when he appeared before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on auto safety that came in the wake of his 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which examined engineering practices of American automobiles. Nader's arguments helped the public to identify with the harassment from corporate power that he was experiencing from General Motors, establish for himself a specific political agenda that he would continue to pursue, and framed him as a heroic leader, which helped to give him credibility on areas of public interest including corporate power, consumer rights, environmental issues, and feminism.

To this day he has continued to serve as attorney and activist. He led the group known as “Nader's Raiders,” who investigated corruption in several governmental organizations, leading to books such as Nader's Raiders (examining the Federal Trade Commission), The Chemical Feast (Food and Drug Administration), and The Interstate Commerce Commission (Interstate Commerce Commission). His work also led to the formation of the Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, founded in 1971 and dedicated to fighting in Congress for consumer rights. Some of the major accomplishments of Nader and his organization include the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1979, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1981, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1988. He also started several nonprofit organizations; a sampling includes Citizen Works and Democracy Rising in 2001 and Center for Justice and Democracy in 1988.

Nader is also known for his three attempts as a candidate for presidency. In 1996 he was drafted as a candidate for the Green Party but received less than 1% of the vote, spending less than $5,000 on his campaign. He had his best showing in 2000 as the nominated Green Party candidate, earning 2.7% of the vote. His campaign messages focused on promoting the environment and attacking corporate power. Winona LaDuke was his running mate for the 1996 and 2000 campaigns. In 2004 he ran as an Independent candidate with running mate Peter Camejo. Democrats were concerned Nader's entry in the 2004 presidential campaign would take away votes from John Kerry in the election and started a Stop Nader campaign, but Nader received only 0.3% of the vote and was not a factor at all.

Nader is an accomplished author and has published several books supporting his causes and positions, including The Consumer and Corporate Accountability (1973), The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap (2004), and In Pursuit of Justice: Collected Writing 2000–2003 (2004).