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  Nader, Ralph
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationIndependent  
<-  1995-01-01  
 
NameRalph Nader
Address53 Hillside Avenue
Winsted, Connecticut 06098, United States
EmailNone
Website [Link]
Born February 27, 1934 (90 years)
ContributorBarack O-blame-a
Last ModifedE Pluribus Unum
May 12, 2023 01:06am
Tags Arab - Single - Military Reserve - Christian - Asexual - Disputed -
InfoRalph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, author, and has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Americans in the Twentieth Century.

For over four decades Ralph Nader has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups to advocate for solutions.

His efforts have helped to create a framework of laws, regulatory agencies, and federal standards that have improved the quality of life for two generations of Americans.

His groups were instrumental in enacting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

In the past decade, Nader has dedicated himself to putting people back in charge of America’s democracy, launching three major presidential campaigns.

Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments.

The Early Years

Ralph Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut on February 27, 1934, to Rose and Nathra Nader, immigrants from Lebanon.

Ralph's family owned and operated the Highland Arms, a restaurant and gathering place for members of their small community.

Nader and his three siblings grew up in an environment where current events and politics were discussed both around the dinner table and with customers at the family restaurant.

There, it was said, for a nickel you would get a cup of coffee and ten minutes of politics.

Taught to value social justice, Nader learned from a young age to be an active participant in the American democratic system.

To avoid a repeat of three disastrous floods in the town's main street, Nader's mother once famously pressed then Senator Prescott Bush during a public gathering to pledge to build a dry dam by not letting go of his handshake until he had promised to build the dam.

As Nader's father would often say, "If you do not use your rights, you will lose your rights."

When Nader was ten, his father asked him: "Well, Ralph, what did you learn in school today? Did you learn how to believe or did you learn how to think?"

In 1955 Ralph Nader received an AB magna cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs Princeton University, with a major in East Asian studies, which afforded him the opportunity to study Chinese and Russian.

In 1958, he received an LLB with distinction from Harvard Law School.

After a six-month spell in the Army in 1959, Ralph traveled through Latin America, Africa, and Europe, where he gained first hand witness of the time's great social struggles and interviewed world leaders as a freelance journalist.

He began practicing law in Hartford, Connecticut in 1959 and from 1961-63 he lectured on history and government at the University of Hartford.

Consumer Advocate

Nader's career as a public advocate started at the age of 31 with an article titled "The Safe Car You Can't Buy," which along with his subsequent book, Unsafe at Any Speed, documented safety defects in U.S. cars and criticized the automobile industry's safety practices, specifically targeting the Corvair.

Helped by testimony from the CEO of General Motors that the company had hired a private detective to investigate Nader's private life, the book became a best seller.

Nader subsequently sued GM for invasion of privacy and received $425,000 in an out-of-court settlement. He invested and used the money as a de facto philanthropic fund for his projects aimed at strengthening civil society.

Nader's research on auto safety and his lobbying in Washington helped push Congress to pass the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

He also lobbied for the 1967 Wholesome Meat Act, which called for federal inspections of beef and poultry and imposed standards on slaughterhouses, the 1967 Freedom of Information Act and the 1970 Clean Air Act.

In 1969, he helped found the Center for Study of Responsive Law (CSRL), a non-profit organization staffed mostly by college, graduate and law students. Those students became known as "Nader's Raiders" and studied and issued reports on a variety of consumer issues.

In his career as consumer advocate he founded many organizations including the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, Clean Water Action Project, the Disability Rights Center, the Pension Rights Center, the Project for Corporate Responsibility and The Multinational Monitor (a unique monthly magazine that keeps tabs on corporate behavior internationally).

Presidential Candidate

In the 1980's, with the election of President Reagan, powerful corporate interests gathered momentum and became increasingly assertive in the pursuit of their narrow interests, throwing up roadblocks to Nader's efforts to advance the well-being of the American people.

With the two major parties dialing for the same dollars, their differences dwindled on most major issues (single-payer healthcare, living wage, replacing fossil fuels and nuclear with many practical variants of solar power, and a foreign policy that wages peace instead of war).

After working for 40 years on behalf of the health, safety, and economic well being of the American people, Nader took stock of the situation: "I don't like citizen groups being shut out by both parties in this city -- corporate occupied territory -- not having a chance to improve their country."

Never one to be stymied, Nader responded to the declining influence of civil society over elected representatives by entering the electoral arena himself, and is now on his third major presidential campaign aimed at reinvigorating America's democracy, in the best traditions of the suffragettes, labor party, and abolitionists of the 19th and early 20th century.

When asked in 2004 if he was worried about his legacy being tarnished from the hurly burly of presidential politics, Nader responded: "Who cares about my legacy? My legacy is established. They're not going to tear seatbelts out of cars. I look to the future. That's the important thing."

In an era when politicians sell us rhetoric and then sell out our principles, Nader stands out as one politician that can be counted on to never sell out.

There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship toward 'a new birth of freedom.' —Ralph Nader


JOB APPROVAL POLLS
DateFirmApproveDisapproveDon't Know
06/08/2004-06/09/2004 FOX News 23.00% ( 7.0) 43.00% ( 3.0) 28.00% ( 6.0)
03/03/2004-03/04/2004 FOX News 30.00% ( 13.0) 40.00% ( 18.0) 22.00% ( 1.0)
07/12/2000-07/13/2000 FOX News 43.00% ( 0.0) 22.00% ( 0.0) 23.00% ( 0.0)
FAVORABILITY POLLS
DateFirmFavorableUnfavorableDon't Know
03/07/2008-03/10/2008 NBC News/Wall Street Journal (Hart & McInturff) 14.00% ( 0.0) 47.00% ( 0.0) 39.00% ( 0.0)

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor
Unsafe at any speed; the designed-in dangers of the American automobile  Purchase 411 Name Removed 
The Seventeen Traditions  Purchase Craverguy 
The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future  Purchase Craverguy 
The Ralph Nader Reader  Purchase Craverguy 
The Good Fight : Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap  Purchase 411 Name Removed 
Ralph's Revolt: The Case for Joining Nader's Rebellion  Purchase Craverguy 
No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America  Purchase Craverguy 
Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon  Purchase Craverguy 
In Pursuit of Justice  Purchase Craverguy 
Direct Democracy: What if the People Ran the Country?  Purchase Craverguy 
Cutting Corporate Welfare  Purchase Craverguy 
Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender  Purchase 411 Name Removed 
Civic Arousal  Purchase Craverguy 
"Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!"  Purchase Craverguy 

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Jun 24, 2013 04:30pm News Ralph Nader outlines 2016 plan  Article Pennsylvanian 
Sep 26, 2012 02:00pm Statement Ralph Nader: President Obama’s a ‘war criminal’  Article Craverguy 
Sep 19, 2011 03:00pm News Ralph Nader praises Sarah Palin  Article RBH 
Mar 21, 2011 08:00pm General Nader: Impeach Obama for 'war crimes'  Article COSDem 
Apr 05, 2010 12:00pm Commentary How the Corporations Broke Ralph Nader and America, Too  Article Craverguy 
Dec 19, 2009 05:00pm News Nader: Pres. Obama 'flunked' first year  Article Scott³ 

DISCUSSION
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Importance? 7.23080 Average

FAMILY
Father Nathra Nader 1892-1991
Brother Shafeek Nader 1926-1986
Sister Claire Nader 1928-
Sister Laura Nader Milleron 1930-
Mother Rose Bouziane Nader 1906-2006

INFORMATION LINKS
American Antitrust Institute  Discuss
An Unreasonable Man  Discuss
Appleseed Foundation  Discuss
Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest  Discuss
Center for Auto Safety  Discuss
Center for Insurance Research  Discuss
Center for Justice & Democracy  Discuss
Center for Science in the Public Interest  Discuss
Center for Study of Responsive Law  Discuss
Center for Women Policy Studies  Discuss
Citizen Advocacy Center  Discuss
Citizen Utility Board  Discuss
Citizen Works  Discuss
Clean Water Action  Discuss
Commercial Alert  Discuss
Congressional Accountability Project  Discuss
Connecticut Citizen Action Group  Discuss
Consumer Watchdog  Discuss
Equal Justice Foundation  Discuss
Essential Information  Discuss
League of Fans  Discuss
Multinational Monitor  Discuss
NCCNHR  Discuss
Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!  Discuss
Organization for Competitive Markets  Discuss
Pension Rights Center  Discuss
Princeton Project 55  Discuss
Public Citizen  Discuss
Ralph Nader's The Good Fight  Discuss
Single Payer Action  Discuss
Telecommunications Research & Action Center  Discuss
The Nader Page  Discuss
The November 5th Movement  Discuss
The Seventeen Traditions  Discuss
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice  Discuss
U.S. Public Interest Research Group  Discuss
RACES
  11/08/2016 US President - Popular Vote Lost 0.00% (-48.19%)
  02/09/2016 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.00% (-55.23%)
  06/05/2012 US President - G Primaries Lost 0.01% (-51.54%)
  11/04/2008 US President - Popular Vote Lost 0.56% (-52.35%)
  11/04/2008 Jefferson President Lost 1.10% (-49.73%)
  08/02/2008 US President - PFP Convention Won 51.69% (+21.35%)
  07/12/2008 US President - G Convention Lost 14.34% (-45.22%)
  05/25/2008 US President - LBT Convention Lost 0.10% (-32.24%)
  03/06/2008 CT US President - CFL Caucus Lost 13.04% (-69.57%)
  03/04/2008 US President - G Primaries Won 53.51% (+24.68%)
  03/04/2008 VT US President - LBU Primary Lost 1.25% (-43.36%)
  02/05/2008 CA US President - PFP Primary Won 40.00% (+18.72%)
  11/02/2004 Guam US President Lost 0.58% (-63.50%)
  11/02/2004 US President - Popular Vote Lost 0.38% (-50.35%)
  09/26/2004 NY US President - IDP Convention Won 95.40% (+91.40%)
  08/01/2004 US President - PFP Convention Lost 25.00% (-28.12%)
  06/26/2004 US President - G Convention Lost 10.47% (-25.73%)
  06/09/2004 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.00% (-60.98%)
  06/01/2004 US President - G Primaries Lost 0.34% (-69.03%)
  05/11/2004 US President - REF Nomination Won 62.22% (+48.89%)
  03/02/2004 MN US President - IP Caucus Lost 9.57% (-31.53%)
  01/27/2004 NH US Vice President - D Primary Lost 0.09% (-38.66%)
  12/18/2000 US President Lost 0.00% (-50.37%)
  11/07/2000 US President - Popular Vote Lost 2.74% (-45.65%)
  09/24/2000 NY US President - IDP Convention Lost 7.30% (-82.70%)
  06/25/2000 US President - G Convention Won 92.48% (+89.34%)
  06/06/2000 US President - G Primaries Won 91.08% (+83.14%)
  03/07/2000 CA US President - I Primary Lost 4.28% (-33.75%)
  12/16/1996 US President Lost 0.00% (-70.45%)
  11/05/1996 US President - Popular Vote Lost 0.71% (-48.52%)
  08/19/1996 US President - G Convention Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  07/07/1996 US President - R Primaries Lost 0.01% (-58.81%)
  07/01/1996 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.06% (-88.88%)
  06/04/1996 US President - G Primaries Won 97.91% (+96.27%)
  03/26/1996 US President - LBT Primaries Lost 0.66% (-50.82%)
  03/26/1996 US President - REF Primaries Won 70.90% (+57.95%)
  03/26/1996 CA US President - PFP Primary Lost 2.94% (-30.96%)
  02/20/1996 NH US Vice President - R Primary Lost 0.28% (-25.52%)
  02/20/1996 NH US Vice President - D Primary Lost 0.32% (-90.70%)
  07/01/1992 US President - R Primaries Lost 0.03% (-72.81%)
  07/01/1992 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.18% (-51.80%)
  02/18/1992 NH US Vice President - D Primary Lost 1.90% (-57.78%)
  11/07/1972 US President National Vote Lost 0.00% (-60.69%)
  07/13/1972 US Vice President - D Convention Lost 0.03% (-59.04%)
SPECULATIVE, DID NOT RUN
  04/01/2020 US President - G Primaries Lost 0.00% (-35.06%)
  04/13/1980 US President - Citizen's Party Convention Lost 0.00% (-100.00%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - Popular Vote - Nov 05, 2024 D Joe Biden
CA Lt. Governor - Open Primary - Jun 05, 2018 NPA Gayle McLaughlin
US President - Popular Vote - Nov 06, 2012 G Jill Stein
US President - Popular Vote - Nov 06, 2012 D Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson
MN District 05 - Nov 02, 2010 IndP Michael James Cavlan
MN Governor - Nov 02, 2010 ED Ken Pentel
CA Lt. Governor - Nov 02, 2010 PFP C.T. Weber
CA Attorney General - Nov 02, 2010 PFP Robert J. Evans
CA Insurance Commissioner - Nov 02, 2010 PFP Dina J. Padilla
CA Secretary of State - Nov 02, 2010 LBT Christina Tobin
NY US Senate - Special D Primary - Sep 14, 2010 D Jonathan Tasini
CA Proposition 14 - Top Two Primaries Act - Jun 08, 2010 NO No
CA - District 08 - Nov 04, 2008 PFP Cindy Sheehan
PA - District 16 - Nov 04, 2008 I John A. Murphy
VT Governor - Nov 04, 2008 PRG Anthony Pollina
NY - District 25 - Nov 04, 2008 G Howie Hawkins
CAN House of Commons - Popular Vote - Oct 14, 2008 LIB Liberal Party
CAN House of Commons - Popular Vote - Oct 14, 2008 GPC Green Party
PA Supreme Court Justice - Appointment - May 14, 2008 NPA Reject
CT US President - D Primary - Feb 05, 2008 D John Edwards
Mayor of New Paltz - May 01, 2007 G Jason West
FL US Senate - Nov 07, 2006 G Brian P. Moore
NY US Senate - Nov 07, 2006 G Howie Hawkins
MD US Senate - Nov 07, 2006 G Kevin Zeese
US Vice President - D Selection - Jul 06, 2004 D John Edwards
CAN Prime Minister - Jun 28, 2004 NDP Jack Layton
CA Governor Recall - Oct 07, 2003 G Peter M. Camejo
New York City Mayor - Nov 06, 2001 D Mark Green
New York City Mayor - D Runoff - Oct 11, 2001 D Mark Green
New York City Mayor - D Primary - Sep 25, 2001 D Mark Green
WA US Senate - Blanket Primary - Sep 19, 2000 D Deborah Senn
MA Attorney General - D Primary - Sep 15, 1998 D Lois G. Pines
CA Governor - D Primary - Jun 05, 1990 D John K. Van de Kamp
CA Insurance Commissioner - D Primary - Jun 05, 1990 D Conway Collis