Consumer Advocate
Ralph Nader
Notes from Evan Smith
"Ralph Nader is a three-time presidential candidate and arguably the nation's most well known consumer advocate.
Nader graduated magna cum laude from Princeton in 1955 and from Harvard Law School in 1958. In 1965, he published his best-selling book Unsafe at Any Speed, which attacked poor safety standards in the auto industry, specifically targeting GM's Corvair. GM proceeded to hire private investigators to track Nader in an attempt to discredit him. Nader sued, and used the settlement money to help establish the modern consumer movement.
In 1969, he established his research organization the Center for Study of Responsive Law, and in 1971, he founded the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.
Since then, Nader has founded or helped to found a vast array of other citizen's groups, authored several more books, and played a key role in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Freedom of Information Act and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
In 1996, Nader ran a largely symbolic campaign for president as the Green Party candidate. His campaign in 2000, also on the Green Party ticket, was far more successful, with Nader earning 3 percent of the popular vote. In 2004, Nader is again seeking the presidency, this time as an independent." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 5.6.04
