Ralph Nader Biography

Ralph Nader gained national fame with his 1965 book Unsafe At Any Speed, which exposed the automobile industry’s irresponsibility when it came to designing safe cars. (The book focused on the Chevrolet Corvair, which ceased production shortly thereafter.) Ralph Nader became the best-known consumer advocate in the U.S., lecturing widely and forming non-profit groups like Public Citizen, whose stated goal was to protect consumers against corporate carelessness and greed. His youthful followers became known as “Nader’s Raiders.” He ran for president in 1996 and 2000 as a candidate for the Green Party. Critics accused Ralph Nader of taking votes away from Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 elections, as Gore narrowly lost to Republican George W. Bush. Undaunted, Nader ran again as an independent candidate in the elections of 2004 and 2008.