Ralph Nader
Consumer advocate whose car-safety exposé reshaped American regulation, and a four-time presidential candidate.
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via Wikipedia: Ralph Nader · see source
Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and activist known for consumer protection, environmentalism and government reform. His 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed attacked the auto industry's safety record and helped bring about the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.
Over the following decades he built a network of advocacy and watchdog organizations, including Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety. He also ran for president four times, and his 2000 run drew nearly three million votes. Life, Time and The Atlantic have all placed him on lists of the most influential Americans.
Lore & Background
Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut, to Rose and Nathra Nader, immigrants from Lebanon who ran a bakery and restaurant. He finished at The Gilbert School in 1951, graduated from Princeton University in 1955 with a thesis on Lebanese farming, and took a law degree from Harvard in 1958, often skipping class to hitchhike and research migrant workers' rights. After Army service as a cook, he practised law in Hartford from 1959 and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1964.
His car-safety book made him famous and provoked General Motors to tap his phone and have him followed. Nader sued, settled for $425,000, and used the money to found the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. In 1968 his volunteer law students, nicknamed Nader's Raiders, produced a scathing report on the Federal Trade Commission.
Did You Know?
- Unsafe at Any Speed focused heavily on the Chevrolet Corvair.
- The documentary An Unreasonable Man, about his life, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
- In 1974 he received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Ralph Nader (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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