Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader, born in 1934, American lawyer, consumer-protection advocate, and presidential candidate in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections. He was born in Winsted, Connecticut, and was educated at Princeton and Harvard universities. His campaign against questionable manufacturing and design practices in the automobile industry brought him to national attention in the mid-1960s, when he published Unsafe at Any Speed (1965; Rev. ed. 1972). His work provided the primary impetus for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.

Other issues of corporate ethics and human safety to which Nader has drawn attention include environmental pollution; the danger of atomic energy plants; health hazards in food, medicine, and occupations; fraud; and the secrecy and immunities of large companies. He contributed to the enactment of the Wholesome Meat Act in 1967 (see Meat-Packing Industry).

Nader became a leader in the consumer-protection movement. He organized investigative teams of young lawyers, consumer specialists, and students, popularly called Nader’s Raiders, to conduct surveys of numerous companies, federal agencies, and the U.S. Congress. Some of his investigations have at times been criticized as superficial and biased against big business and government.

In 2000 Nader ran for U.S. president as a candidate of the Green Party (see Green Parties). His campaign focused on establishing a viable third party, attacking corporate power, and protecting the environment. Nader sought to gain 5 percent of the total popular vote so that the Green Party in the United States would be eligible to receive federal matching funds. The election returns, however, showed that Nader only received about 3 percent of the vote nationwide.

Nevertheless, many Democratic Party officials accused Nader of playing the spoiler role in the 2000 election. They argued that if he had not appeared on the ballot, Democratic candidate Al Gore would probably have won the states of Florida and New Hampshire and therefore the presidency. Nader drew more than 97,000 votes in Florida, for example, where Bush defeated Gore by about 500 votes in the disputed presidential election. Exit polls showed that about half of Nader’s votes would have gone to Gore if Nader had not been on the ballot.

In 2004 Nader again ran for president but this time as an independent. He received the endorsement of the Reform Party, which had supported conservative Patrick J. Buchanan in the 2000 election. In the 2004 election Nader won less than 1 percent of the popular vote (about 0.4 percent) and did not win enough votes in any state to affect the outcome of the election.

Nader announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election during a television interview in February 2008 on Meet the Press. Nader said he was prepared to run either as a Green Party candidate or as an independent.