Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader is widely recognized as the founder of the consumer rights movement. Born in Winsted, Connecticut to Nathra and Rose Nader, Ralph earned a scholarship to Princeton University and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School. Nader has run for President four times, and is blamed for Gore’s loss of the presidency in 2000. Ralph Nader began his career as a lawyer in the auto industry and soon became an avid consumer safety activist and wrote many books promoting consumer safety regulations (Ralph Nader). In 1965, Nader wrote Unsafe at Any Speed, a novel that accused the auto industry of knowingly producing dangerous and sometimes deadly vehicles because it was cheaper and there was no pressure for them to do otherwise. Nader’s book encouraged “scientific statesmanship”, doing what is right no matter the monetary or corporate cost. Unsafe at Any Speed focused on the Chevrolet Corvair, and was a critique on capitalism as much as of the automobile technology. The novel explained to the American people that their cars really were not safe. Seatbelts were hard to find and even harder to install. Even during crashes at less than twenty miles per hour, passengers could be thrown into the metal dashboard or break their neck on the metal steering wheel. During crashes of higher speeds, car doors easily flew off, and passengers flew through the safety glass, that could actually shatter and shred human flesh (Ralph Nader Biography). After Nader’s novel came out, General Motors hired private detectives to harass Nader. They were forced to publicly apologize to Nader, making him a national folk hero. Following Nader’s novel, Congress passed the Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1965 which instituted safety regulations in the auto industry. Nader himself founded the Center for Auto Safety, the Project for Corporate Responsibility, and many other consumer rights organizations (Ralph Nader).