View source for Ralph Nader

{{Short description|American lawyer and activist (born 1934)}}
{{Pp-blp|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ralph Nader
| image              = Naderspeak.JPG
| caption            = Nader in 2007
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1934|2|27}}
| birth_place        = [[Winsted, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| party              = {{ubli|[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (1952–1996)|[[Green Party of the United States|Green]] (1996–2003)|[[Independent politician|Independent]] (2004–present)}}
| education          = {{ubli|[[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])}}
| mother             = [[Rose Nader]]
| relatives          = {{plainlist|
* [[Shafeek Nader]] (brother)
* [[Claire Nader]] (sister)
* [[Laura Nader]] (sister)
}}
| awards             = {{ubli|[[Gandhi Peace Award]]|[[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Horchow Award for Public Service by a Private Citizen]]|[[Automotive Hall of Fame]]}}
| occupation         = {{hlist|Lawyer|activist|environmentalist|author}}
| signature          = Ralph Nader Signature.svg
| website            = {{URL|nader.org|Official website}}
| module             = {{Infobox military person
 | embed = yes
 | allegiance   = {{flag|United States}}
 | branch       = {{army|United States}}
 | serviceyears = 1959}}
}}

'''Ralph Nader''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|eɪ|d|ər}}; born February 27, 1934)<ref>{{cite web|title= Ralph Nader Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/#interview}}</ref> is an American lawyer and political activist involved in [[consumer protection]], [[environmentalism]], and government reform causes. He is a [[Perennial candidate|perennial presidential candidate]]. His 1965 book ''[[Unsafe at Any Speed]]'', which criticized the automotive industry for its safety record, helped lead to the passage of the [[National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act]] in 1966.

The son of Lebanese immigrants to the United States, Nader attended [[Princeton University]] and [[Harvard Law School]]. He quickly developed an interest in vehicle designs that were hazardous and contributed to elevated levels of car accidents and fatalities.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |date=September 29, 2023 |title=Ralph Nader {{!}} Biography, Unsafe at Any Speed, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ralph-Nader |access-date=September 30, 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Published in 1965, ''Unsafe at Any Speed'' became a highly influential critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers, focusing on [[General Motors]]' (GM's) Corvair automobile in particular.

Following the publication of ''Unsafe at Any Speed'', Nader led a group of volunteer law students—dubbed "Nader's Raiders"—in an investigation of the [[Federal Trade Commission]], leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform. In the 1970s, Nader leveraged his growing popularity to establish a number of advocacy and watchdog groups including the [[Public Interest Research Group]], the [[Center for Auto Safety]], and [[Public Citizen]]. Two of Nader's most notable targets were the [[Chevy Corvair]] and the [[Ford Pinto]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/28/9622838/ralph-nader-american-museum-of-tort-law |title = Ralph Nader is still punching companies where it hurts |date=October 28, 2015 |publisher=[[The Verge]] |last=Warren |first=Tamara}}</ref>

Nader made four bids to become President of the United States, running with the [[Green Party (United States)|Green Party]] in [[1996 United States presidential election|1996]] and [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and as an [[independent politician|independent]] in [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]] and [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]]. In each campaign, Nader said he sought to highlight under-reported issues and a perceived need for electoral reform. He received nearly three million votes during his [[Ralph Nader presidential campaign, 2000|2000 candidacy]], but also stirred controversy over allegations that his campaign helped [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[George W. Bush]] win a close election against [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate [[Al Gore]]. In 2006 ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]],'' calling Nader one of the hundred most influential Americans in history, said, "He made the cars we drive safer; thirty years later, he made [[George W. Bush]] the president."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200612/influentials|title=The Top 100: The Most Influential Figures in American History|work=Atlantic Monthly|date=December 2006|page=62}}</ref>

A two-time [[Nieman Fellowship|Nieman Fellow]], Nader is the author or co-author of more than two dozen books and was the subject of a documentary film on his life and work, ''[[An Unreasonable Man]]'', which debuted at the 2006 [[Sundance Film Festival]]. He has been repeatedly named to lists of the "100 Most Influential Americans", including those published by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', and ''[[The Atlantic]]''. ''[[The New York Times]]'' described him as a "dissident".<ref>{{cite news |first=Warren Jr. |last=Weaver |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/26/archives/a-dozen-dissidents-criticize-the-president-and-the-government-in.html |title=A Dozen Dissidents Criticize the President and the Government in 'the People's State of the Union' |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 26, 1972 }}</ref>

== Early life and education==
Ralph Nader was born on February 27, 1934, in [[Winsted, Connecticut]], to [[Rose Nader|Rose]] (née Bouziane) and Nathra Nader, both of whom were [[Antiochian Greek Christians|Antiochian Greek Christian]] immigrants from Mount Lebanon and the [[Beqaa Valley]] in Southeastern [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pastor Bassilios Nadar "Nader" Saffi (March 2018)|url=https://antiochianprodsa.blob.core.windows.net/websiteattachments/bio_Basilios%20Nadar%20Saffi%20%20updated.pdf|access-date= December 18, 2022|website=Antiochian Greek Orthodox Church of America|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nader a Winner This Day&nbsp;– Ralph Nader |url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-84181380/nader-a-winner-this-day |work=Washington Times|date=March 18, 2002}}</ref><ref name=Battling_for_Democracy>{{Citation |last=Graham |first=Kevin |title=Ralph Nader: Battling for Democracy |publisher=Windom Publishing Company |location=Denver, Colorado |isbn=0-9700323-0-7 |year=2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/ralphnaderbattli00grah }}</ref><ref name="Nader-Childhood"/> After settling in Connecticut, Nathra Nader worked in a textile mill before opening a bakery and restaurant.<ref name=unreasonableman>{{cite video |people=Mantel, Henriette (Director) |title=An Unreasonable Man |medium=DVD |publisher=[[IFC Films]] |date=2006}}</ref> Ralph Nader occasionally helped at his father's restaurant; he also worked as a newspaper delivery boy for the local paper, the  Winsted ''Register Citizen''.<ref name="nation11">{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Mark|title=How Ralph Nader Changed America|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/how-ralph-nader-changed-america/ |access-date=August 2, 2016|work=[[The Nation]]|date=December 1, 2015}}</ref> Nader graduated from [[The Gilbert School]] in 1951, going on to attend [[Princeton University]]. Though he was offered a scholarship to Princeton, his father forced him to decline it on the grounds that the family was able to pay Nader's tuition and the funds should go to a student who could not afford it.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g88RWOBJz1UC&pg=PA25 | title =Ralph Nader: Man With a Mission |author =Nancy Bowen | publisher = [[Millbrook Press]] | date =April 1, 2002| isbn =978-0-7613-2365-5 }}</ref> Nader graduated ''[[magna cum laude]]'' and [[Phi Beta Kappa]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/social-reformers/ralph-nader |title=Nader, Ralph |date=2005 |encyclopedia=West's Encyclopedia of American Law |via=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=March 15, 2019 }}</ref> with a Bachelor of Arts from the [[Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs]] in 1955 after completing a senior thesis titled "Lebanese Agriculture".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/activist/ralph-nader |title=Ralph Nader Biography |work=[[FYI (American TV channel)|Biography]] |date=May 10, 2016 |access-date=October 4, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Nader|first=Ralph |year=1955 |publisher=Princeton University, Department of Politics |title=Lebanese Agriculture |url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/dsp01hm50tt424 |language=en}}</ref>

After graduating from Princeton, Nader enrolled at [[Harvard Law School]], though he quickly became bored by his courses. While at Harvard, Nader would frequently skip classes to hitchhike across the U.S. where he would engage in field research on Native American issues and migrant worker rights. He earned a [[Bachelor of Laws]] (LL.B.) from Harvard in 1958.<ref name="nation11"/> Nader identified with [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] philosophy in his youth, but gradually shifted away in his early 20s. Although Nader acknowledged that he "didn't like public housing because it disadvantaged landlords unfairly", his viewpoint changed when he "saw the slums and what landlords did".<ref>{{cite web |title=Ralph Nader, "To The Ramparts" |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWxc_kYmPTE&t=3208 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/OWxc_kYmPTE| archive-date=October 30, 2021|website=Politics and Prose | date=October 2018 |publisher=Tom Warren |access-date=October 4, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After graduating from Harvard, Nader served in the [[U.S. Army]] as a cook and was posted to [[Fort Dix]].<ref name="nation11"/>

== Career ==
===Early history===
In 1959, Nader was admitted to the bar and began practice as a lawyer in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], while also lecturing at the [[University of Hartford]] and traveling to the [[Soviet Union]], Chile, and [[Cuba]], where he filed dispatches for the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' and ''[[The Nation]]''.<ref name="nation11"/> In 1964, he moved to Washington, D.C., taking a position as a consultant to [[Secretary of Labor|Assistant Secretary of Labor]] [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marcello|first1=Patricia Cronin|title=Ralph Nader: A Biography|date=2004|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CT|isbn=0-313-33004-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/ralphnaderbiogra0000marc/page/15 15]|url=https://archive.org/details/ralphnaderbiogra0000marc|url-access=registration|quote=Moynihan.|access-date=January 27, 2017}}</ref>

===''Unsafe at Any Speed''===
Nader gained national attention with the 1965 publication of his journalistic exposé ''[[Unsafe at Any Speed]]''. The book, critical of the automotive industry, argued that many American automobiles were generally unsafe to operate. For the book, Nader researched case files from more than a hundred lawsuits then pending against [[General Motors]]' [[Chevrolet Corvair]] to support his assertions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mickey Z |author-link=Mickey Z |title=50 American Revolutions You're Not Supposed to Know |location=New York |publisher=[[The Disinformation Company]] |year=2005 |page=87 |isbn=1-932857-18-4}}</ref>

The book became an immediate bestseller, but also prompted a backlash from General Motors (GM), which [[smear campaign|attempted to discredit Nader]]. GM tapped Nader's phone in an attempt to obtain salacious information and, when that failed, GM hired prostitutes in an attempt to catch him in a compromising situation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/November-December-2005/scene_longhine_novdec05.msp |title=Ralph Nader's museum of tort law will include relics from famous lawsuits—if it ever gets built |date = December 2005|work=LegalAffairs.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=May 7, 2005 |work=Federal Highway Administration |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/safetyep.cfm |title=President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Federal Role in Highway Safety: Epilogue&nbsp;— The Changing Federal Role}}</ref> Nader, by then working as an unpaid consultant to [[United States Senator]] [[Abe Ribicoff]], reported to the senator that he suspected he was being followed. Ribicoff convened an inquiry that called GM CEO James Roche who admitted, when placed under oath, that the company had hired a private detective agency to investigate Nader. Nader sued GM for [[invasion of privacy]], settling the case for $425,000 and using the proceeds to found the activist organization known as the Center for the Study of Responsive Law.<ref name="nation11"/>

A year following the publication of ''Unsafe at Any Speed'', Congress unanimously enacted the [[National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act]]. [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] [[John William McCormack]] said the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was brought about by the "crusading spirit of one individual who believed he could do something: Ralph Nader".<ref>{{cite web |title=Congress Acts on Traffic and Auto Safety |publisher=[[Congressional Quarterly]] |work=CQ Almanac |year=1966 |pages=266–268 |url=https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal66-1301349 |access-date=April 27, 2016 |quote=Breaking into the traffic safety inertia was the publication in November 1965 of ''Unsafe At Any Speed,'' a book written by Ralph Nader a 32-year-old Connecticut lawyer who had served as a consultant for the Department of Labor and a Senate subcommittee in 1964–65. House Speaker John W. McCormack (D Mass.) Oct. 21, 1966, credited the final outcome of the traffic safety bill to the 'crusading spirit of one individual who believed he could do something: Ralph Nader'.}}</ref>

==="Nader's Raiders", Public Citizen and Center for Auto Safety===
In 1968, Nader recruited seven volunteer law students, dubbed "Nader's Raiders" by the Washington press corps, to evaluate the efficacy and operation of the [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC). The group's ensuing report, which criticized the body as "ineffective" and "passive" led to an [[American Bar Association]] investigation of the FTC. Based on the results of that second study, [[Richard Nixon]] revitalized the agency and sent it on a path of vigorous consumer protection and antitrust enforcement for the rest of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://muse.jhu.edu | title=The Little Old Lady Has Teeth: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Advertising Industry, 1970–1973 |publisher=Advertising & Society Review 12.4| author=Niesen, Molly |access-date=July 19, 2012}}</ref>

Nader's Raiders became involved in such issues as nuclear safety, international trade, regulation of insecticides, meat processing, pension reform, land use, and banking.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

Following the publication of the report, Nader founded the watchdog group [[Public Citizen]] in 1971 to engage in public interest lobbying and activism on issues of consumer rights.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1971 |title=NADER FORMS UNIT TO SEEK DONATIONS |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/02/archives/nader-forms-unit-to-seek-donations.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He also served on its board of directors until 1980.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1980 |title=Nader Resigns as Chief Of Public Citizen Inc. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/02/archives/nader-resigns-as-chief-of-public-citizen-inc.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Nader founded the [[Center for Auto Safety]], which for 40 years, published an annual guide on new car safety ratings, preventative maintenance and repair costs, fuel economy, insurance costs, warranty coverage, and complaints: "The Car Book".<ref>{{Citation |title=Center for Auto Safety |date=2025-05-27 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Center_for_Auto_Safety&oldid=1292480384 |access-date=2025-05-27 |language=en}}</ref>

===1970s–1990s===
[[File:President Gerald R. Ford, Sylvia Porter, Ralph Nader, and Others at a Meeting of the Citizens Action Committee to End Inflation - NARA - 12082668.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Nader, far right, at a meeting with [[Sylvia Porter]] and U.S. president [[Gerald Ford]] in 1974.]]

[[Image:Ralph-Nader-1975.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Young-looking Nader at 40+ years old gesturing as he speaks, wearing a coat and tie with unruly wavy dark hair.|Nader in 1975]]
By the early 1970s Nader had established himself as a household name. In a critical memo written by [[Lewis F. Powell, Jr.|Lewis Powell]] to the [[U.S. Chamber of Commerce]], Powell warned business representatives that Nader "has become a legend in his own time and an idol of millions of Americans".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/democracy/the-lewis-powell-memo-a-corporate-blueprint-to-dominate-democracy/ |title=The Lewis Powell Memo – A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy |work=[[Greenpeace]] |access-date=January 1, 2014 }}</ref>

Ralph Nader's name appeared in the press as a potential candidate for president for the first time in 1971, when he was offered the opportunity to run as the presidential candidate for the [[People's Party (United States, 1971)|New Party]], a progressive split-off from the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Chief among his advocates was author [[Gore Vidal]], who touted a 1972 Nader presidential campaign in a front-page article in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine in 1971.<ref name="The Best Man/'72">{{cite web |author-link=Gore Vidal |last=Vidal |first=Gore |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/gore-vidal-archive/best-man-1972 |title=The Best Man/'72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105221536/http://www.esquire.com/features/gore-vidal-archive/best-man-1972 |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=May 13, 2008 }}</ref> Nader declined the advances.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite magazine |first=Peter |last=Barnes |title=Toward '72 and Beyond: Starting a Fourth Party |magazine=The New Republic |issue=July 24–31, 1971 |pages=9–21 }}</ref><ref name="Justin Martin 2002">{{cite book |first=Justin |last=Martin |title=Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Perseus Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=0-7382-0563-X}}</ref>

In 1973, Ralph Nader was plaintiff in the case against acting attorney general [[Robert Bork]], who under orders of President [[Richard Nixon]] had fired special prosecutor [[Archibald Cox]] in the so-called [[Saturday Night Massacre]], an action that was ultimately ruled illegal by federal judge [[Gerhard Gesell]].<ref>''Nader v. Bork'', 366 F. Supp. 104 (D.D.C. 1973)</ref>

In 1974, he received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|title=Jefferson Awards FoundationNational - Jefferson Awards Foundation|work=Jefferson Awards Foundation|access-date=January 15, 2016|archive-date=November 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national}}</ref>

In the 1970s, Nader turned his attention to environmental activism, becoming a key leader in the [[antinuclear movement|antinuclear power movement]], described by one observer as the "titular head of opposition to nuclear energy".<ref>{{cite report |title=Nuclear Power in an Age of Uncertainty |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment |id=OTA-E-216 |date=February 1984 |page=228 |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1984/8421/8421.PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | jstor=689009 | title=Public Opposition to Nuclear Energy: Retrospect and Prospect | last1=Kasperson | first1=Roger E. | last2=Berk | first2=Gerald | last3=Pijawka | first3=David | last4=Sharaf | first4=Alan B. | last5=Wood | first5=James | journal=Science, Technology, & Human Values | year=1980 | volume=5 | issue=31 | pages=11–23 | doi=10.1177/016224398000500203 | s2cid=145616169  | issn=0162-2439}}</ref> The [[Critical Mass (Anti-nuclear group)|Critical Mass Energy Project]] was formed by Nader in 1974 as a national [[anti-nuclear]] umbrella group, growing to become the largest national [[Anti-nuclear movement in the United States|anti-nuclear group in the United States]], with several hundred local affiliates and an estimated 200,000 supporters.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steve |last=Cohn |date=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQu_YotSU94C&pg=PA133 |title=Too cheap to meter: an economic and philosophical analysis of the nuclear dream |publisher=SUNY Press |pages=133–134 |isbn=978-0-7914-3389-8 }}</ref> The organization's main efforts were directed at lobbying activities and providing local groups with scientific and other resources to campaign against nuclear power.<ref name=wr>Wolfgang Rudig (1990). ''Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy'', Longman, p. 402.</ref><ref name="Justin Martin 2002"/>{{rp|172–179}}
[[File:Ralph Nader lectures at Florida State University 1980s.ogv|thumb|left|Nader lectures at Florida State University, 1980s]]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, through his ongoing work with Public Citizen, Nader continued to be involved in issues of consumer rights and public accountability. His work testifying before Congress, drafting model legislation, and organizing citizen letter-writing and protest efforts, earned him direct credit for the enactment of the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]], [[Foreign Corrupt Practices Act]], [[Clean Water Act]], [[Consumer Product Safety Act]], and [[Whistleblower Protection Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCraw |first=David E. |title=The "Freedom From Information" Act: A Look Back at Nader, FOIA, and What Went Wrong |url=https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/the-freedom-from-information-act-a-look-back |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=www.yalelawjournal.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Michael |title=Celebrating THE Clean Water Champion |url=https://cleanwater.org/2018/02/08/celebrating-clean-water-champion |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=Clean Water Action |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=W. N. N. |date=December 1, 2021 |title='An Unheard of Dream': Ralph Nader's 50 Years in Whistleblowing |url=https://whistleblowersblog.org/features/an-unheard-of-dream-ralph-naders-50-years-in-whistleblowing/ |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=Whistleblower Network News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How Ralph Nader defined consumer rights |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/daily-videos/2015/12/how-ralph-nader-defined-consumer-rights |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=PBS Newshour Classroom |language=en}}</ref>

In the late 1990s, Nader accused [[Microsoft]] of being a monopoly and organized a conference featuring Microsoft's critics from the tech world.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Heilemann|first1=John|title=The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth|url=https://www.wired.com/2000/11/microsoft-7/|access-date=April 14, 2018|magazine=Wired|ref=Microsoft -Wired}}</ref>

In 1999, Nader was unsuccessfully approached by [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] to appear in an advertisement. The firm offered Nader $25,000 to say "another shameless attempt by Nike to sell shoes" while  holding Air 120 sneakers. After Nader turned down the offer, the corporation hired filmmaker [[Spike Lee]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Nader Nixes Nike $25K Run |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/13/names-38/07e9829a-e023-45dc-b170-ffce9b6b846c/ |access-date=December 8, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 13, 1999}}</ref>

=== Presidential campaigns ===

==== 1972 ====
[[File:Draft Ralph Nader 1972 button.png|thumb|right|100px|Campaign button from the 1972 effort to draft Nader to be the candidate for the New Party]]
Ralph Nader's name appeared in the press as a potential candidate for president for the first time in 1971, when he was offered the opportunity to run as the presidential candidate for the [[People's Party (United States, 1971)|New Party]], a progressive split-off from the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in 1972. Chief among his advocates was author [[Gore Vidal]], who touted a 1972 Nader presidential campaign in a front-page article in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine in 1971.<ref name="The Best Man/'72"/> Psychologist [[Rockway Institute|Alan Rockway]] organized a "draft Ralph Nader for President" campaign in Florida on the New Party's behalf.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coalition Party Opens Conference |newspaper=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]] |date=October 2, 1971 |pages=2A }}</ref> Nader declined their offer to run that year; the New Party ultimately joined with the [[People's Party (United States, 1970s)|People's Party]] in running [[Benjamin Spock]] in the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 presidential election]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Justin Martin 2002"/><ref>Gore Vidal. "The Best Man /'72: Ralph Nader Can Be President of the US." ''Esquire'', June 1971.</ref> Spock had hoped Nader in particular would run, getting "some of the loudest applause of the evening" when mentioning him at the [[University of Alabama]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Spock Shares Youths' Views |author=Smithey, Waylon |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=September 23, 1971 |page=2 }}</ref> Spock went on to try to recruit Nader for the party among over 100 others, and indicated he would be "delighted" to be replaced by any of them even after he accepted the nomination himself.<ref>{{cite news |title=People's Party Nominates Dr. Spock for President |newspaper=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]] |date=November 29, 1971 |pages=B5 }}</ref> Nader received one vote for the vice-presidential nomination at the [[1972 Democratic National Convention#Delegate vote for vice-presidential nomination|1972 Democratic National Convention]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=59902&ShowAllCand=Y | title=Our Campaigns - US Vice President - D Convention Race - Jul 10, 1972 }}</ref>

==== 1980 ====
In the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]], the progressive-oriented [[Citizens Party (United States)|Citizens Party]] approached Nader with the prospect of running as their presidential nominee. Nader declined their offer, stating "I will never run for president".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/4584919/barry-commoner-shocking-ad/|title = The Shocking Campaign Ad That Put a Third-Party Candidate on the Political Map}}</ref> The party ended up nominating biologist [[Barry Commoner]] instead.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vinciguerra |first=Thomas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/science/earth/19conv.html |title=A Conversation with Barry Commoner: At 90, an Environmentalist From the '70s Still Has Hope |work=The New York Times |date=June 19, 2007 |access-date=October 2, 2012}}</ref>

==== 1992 ====
[[File:Draft Ralph Nader '92.jpg|thumb|100px|right|Button from 1992]]
Nader stood in as a [[write-in candidate|write-in]] for "none of the above" in both the 1992 [[New Hampshire presidential primary|New Hampshire Democratic and Republican primaries]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/18/us/the-1992-campaign-write-in-in-nader-s-campaign-white-house-isn-t-the-goal.html |title=The 1992 Campaign: Write-In; In Nader's Campaign, White House Isn't the Goal |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 18, 1992 }}</ref> and received 3,054 of the 170,333 Democratic votes and 3,258 of the 177,970 Republican votes cast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim1992/index.htm |title=1992 Presidential Primary |publisher=Sos.nh.gov |date=February 18, 1992 |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716000840/http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim1992/index.htm |archive-date=July 16, 2009 }}</ref> He was also a candidate in the 1992 Massachusetts Democratic primary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1992 President Democratic Primary Statewide (showing only Dukes County) |url=https://electionstats.state.ma.us/elections/view/106310/filter_by_county:Dukes |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=PD43+ |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== 1996 ====
{{Main|Ralph Nader 1996 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Ralph Nader 1996 button 00.png|thumb|left|Campaign button from 1996|150px]]
Nader was drafted as a candidate for President of the United States on the [[Green Party (United States)|Green Party]] ticket during the [[1996 U.S. presidential election|1996 presidential election]]. He was not formally nominated by the [[Greens/Green Party USA|Green Party USA]], which was, at the time, the largest national Green group; instead he was nominated independently by various state Green parties (in some states, he appeared on the ballot as an independent). However, many activists in the Green Party USA worked actively to campaign for Nader that year. Nader qualified for ballot status in 22 states,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politics1.com/nader04.htm |title=Politics1.com |publisher=Politics1.com |date=February 27, 1934 |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080316082743/http://politics1.com/nader04.htm |archive-date = March 16, 2008}}</ref> garnering 685,297 votes or 0.71% of the popular vote (fourth place overall),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1996 |title=Uselectionatlas.org |publisher=Uselectionatlas.org |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref> although the effort did make significant organizational gains for the party. He refused to raise or spend more than $5,000 on his campaign,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jr |first=B. Drummond Ayres |date=August 20, 1996 |title=Ralph Nader Is Nominated for President, but Vows He Will Ignore His Party's Platform |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/20/us/ralph-nader-nominated-for-president-but-vows-he-will-ignore-his-party-s-platform.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> presumably to avoid meeting the threshold for [[Federal Election Commission]] reporting requirements.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 23, 1996 |title=Candidate Nader runs quixotic campaign Unconventional effort has minimal budget and low expectations|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-09-23-1996267043-story.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=Baltimore Sun}}</ref> The unofficial Draft Nader committee could (and did) spend more than that, but the committee was legally prevented from coordinating in any way with Nader himself.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Nader received some criticism from [[gay rights]] supporters for calling gay rights "[[gonad]]al politics" and stating that he was not interested in dealing with such matters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Nader.html |title=1.75 cheers for Ralph |work=Left Business Observer |date=October 1996 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref> In July 2004, however, he publicly stated that he supported [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Ralph_Nader_Civil_Rights.htm |title=On The Issues|publisher=Votenader.org |date=September 9, 2018|access-date=October 4, 2019}}</ref>

His 1996 running mates included: Anne Goeke (nine states), Deborah Howes (Oregon), [[Muriel Tillinghast]] (New York), Krista Paradise (Colorado), Madelyn Hoffman (New Jersey), Bill Boteler (Washington, D.C.), and [[Winona LaDuke]] (California and Texas).<ref>Gaard, Greta (May 11, 1998). ''Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens'', [[Temple University Press]]. page 240.</ref>

==== 2000 ====
{{Main|Ralph Nader 2000 presidential campaign}}

In the 2006 documentary ''[[An Unreasonable Man]]'', Nader described how he was unable to get the views of his public-interest groups heard in Washington, even by the [[Clinton Administration]]. Nader cited this as one of the primary reasons why he decided to actively run in the [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000]] election as candidate of the [[Green Party of the United States|Green Party]], which had been formed in the wake of his 1996 campaign.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
[[File:DebateCommissionProtest 2000.JPG|thumb|left|Nader's supporters, with [[Christopher Hitchens]] speaking, protest his exclusion from the televised debates in 2000]]

In June 2000, The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) organized the national nominating convention that took place in Denver, Colorado, at which Green Party delegates nominated Ralph Nader and [[Winona LaDuke]] to be their party's candidates for president and vice president.<ref>{{cite web |work=Common Dreams Progressive Newswire |date=July 11, 2001 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0710-02.htm |title=Green Meeting Will Establish Greens as a National Party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208092841/http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0710-02.htm |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |access-date=August 28, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Nelson |first=Susan |work=Synthesis/Regeneration |volume=26 |issue=Fall 2001 |url=http://www.greens.org/s-r/26/26-17.html |title=The G/GPUSA Congress and the ASGP Conference: Authentic Grassroots Democracy vs. Packaged Public Relations |access-date=August 28, 2009 }}</ref>

On July 9, the [[Vermont Progressive Party]] nominated Nader, giving him ballot access in the state.<ref>Ballot Access News (August 1, 2000). {{cite web|url=http://ballot-access.org/2000/0801.html |title=Vermont Progressives Nominate Nader |access-date=October 22, 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021022183249/http://ballot-access.org/2000/0801.html |archive-date=October 22, 2002 }}</ref> On August 12, the [[United Citizens Party]] of South Carolina chose Ralph Nader as its presidential nominee, giving him a ballot line in the state.<ref name="United Citizens Party Picks Nader">(2000-08-01) {{cite web|url=http://ballot-access.org/2000/0901.html |title=United Citizens Party Picks Nader |access-date=August 20, 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020820004727/http://ballot-access.org/2000/0901.html |archive-date=August 20, 2002 }}, Ballot Access News.</ref>

In October 2000, at the largest Super Rally of his campaign,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/100200-02.htm |title=Nader 'Super Rally' Draws 12,000 To Boston's FleetCenter |publisher=Commondreams.org |access-date=May 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418060352/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/100200-02.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2010 }}</ref> held in New York City's [[Madison Square Garden]], 15,000 people paid $20 each<ref>{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/14/nader.ap/index.html |work=CNN |title=Loyal Nader fans pack Madison Square Garden |date=October 14, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202133001/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/14/nader.ap/index.html |archive-date=December 2, 2008 }}</ref> to hear Nader speak. Nader's campaign rejected both parties as institutions dominated by corporate interests, stating that [[Al Gore]] and [[George W. Bush]] were "[[Tweedledee and Tweedledum]]". A long list of notable celebrities spoke and performed at the event including [[Susan Sarandon]], [[Ani DiFranco]], [[Ben Harper]], [[Tim Robbins]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Eddie Vedder]] and [[Patti Smith]]. The campaign also had some prominent union help: The [[California Nurses Association]] and the [[United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America|United Electrical Workers]] endorsed his candidacy and campaigned for him.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.socialistworker.org/2008-1/659/659_07_Nader.shtml |title= Nader, the Greens and 2008 |publisher= Socialistworker.org |date= January 25, 2008 |access-date= May 24, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081204175825/http://www.socialistworker.org/2008-1/659/659_07_Nader.shtml |archive-date= December 4, 2008 }}</ref>

Nader and LaDuke received 2,883,105 votes, for 2.74 percent of the popular vote (third place overall),<ref>{{cite web |url= http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=2000 |title= 2000 Presidential General Election Results |author= David Leip |access-date= January 15, 2016}}</ref> missing the 5 percent needed to qualify the Green Party for federally distributed public funding in the next election, yet qualifying the party for ballot status in many states.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Nader often openly expressed his hope for Bush's victory over Gore, saying it "would mobilize us",<ref name="Calvo-2000">{{cite news|last1=Calvo|first1=Dana|title=Nader Refuses to Cease Fire on Gore, Bush |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-21-me-40021-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 21, 2000 |access-date=September 19, 2016}}</ref> and that environmental and consumer regulatory agencies would fare better under Bush than Gore.<ref name="Meet the Press">{{cite web|title=Transcript: Ralph Nader on 'Meet The Press'|url=http://commondreams.org/headlines/050800-03.htm|website=Common Dreams|date=August 6, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112182912/http://commondreams.org/headlines/050800-03.htm|archive-date=November 12, 2016}}</ref>  When asked which of the two he'd vote for if forced, Nader answered "Bush ... If you want the parties to diverge from one another, have Bush win."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Heinrichs|first1=Jay|title=Will Ralph Nader become Al Gore's worst nightmare? |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/1837851/ralph-nader-2000-campaign-interview|website=Outside Magazine|date=August 1, 2000}}</ref> As to whether he would feel regret if he caused Gore's defeat, Nader replied "I would not—not at all. I'd rather have a provocateur than an anesthetizer in the White House."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Poundstone|first1=William|title=Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It) |publisher=Macmillan|url=https://archive.org/details/gamingvotewhyele00poun|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/gamingvotewhyele00poun/page/84 84]|date=February 17, 2009|isbn=978-0-8090-4892-2}}</ref>  On another occasion, Nader answered this question with: "No, not at all ... There may be a cold shower for four years that would help the Democratic Party ... It doesn't matter who is in the White House."<ref name="Meet the Press" />

===== Spoiler controversy =====
In the [[2000 United States presidential election in Florida|2000 presidential election in Florida]], George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes. Nader received {{formatnum:97421}} votes, which led to claims that he was responsible for Gore's defeat. Nader disputes that he helped Bush win.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votenader.org/why_ralph/index.php?cid=14 |title=Dear Conservatives Upset With the Policies of the Bush Administration |work=Nader for President 2004  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040702033113/http://www.votenader.org/why_ralph/index.php?cid=14 |archive-date=July 2, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121218925042534249 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |title=Interview: Ralph Nader | first=Tunku | last=Varadarajan | date=May 31, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Grist |title=Nader on the Record |url=http://www.grist.org/feature/2008/03/19/nader/ |date=March 19, 2008}}</ref> A 2003 study found that Nader's candidacy was a critical factor in Bush's victory.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Magee |first1=Christopher S. P. |title=Third-Party Candidates and the 2000 Presidential Election |journal=Social Science Quarterly |date=September 2003 |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=574–595 |doi=10.1111/1540-6237.8403006 }}</ref> A 2004 study found that Nader voters had the profile of likely voters with a preference for Democratic candidates.<ref name="Southwell-2004">{{cite journal |last1=Southwell |first1=Priscilla L |title=Nader voters in the 2000 Presidential Election: what would they have done without him? |journal=The Social Science Journal |date=September 1, 2004 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=423–431 |doi=10.1016/j.soscij.2004.04.009 |s2cid=144552793 }}</ref> They were therefore likely to vote for Gore over Bush in the absence of Nader's candidacy.<ref name="Southwell-2004" />

A study by Harvard Professor B. C. Burden in 2005 showed Nader did "play a pivotal role in determining who would become president following the 2000 election", but that:

{{blockquote|Contrary to Democrats' complaints, Nader was not intentionally trying to throw the election. A spoiler strategy would have caused him to focus disproportionately on the most competitive states and markets with the hopes of being a key player in the outcome. There is no evidence that his appearances responded to closeness. He did, apparently, pursue voter support, however, in a quest to receive 5% of the popular vote.<ref name="Burden 673–699">{{Cite journal|last=Burden |first=B. C. |author-link=Barry Burden |title=Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy |journal=American Politics Research |pages=673–699 |date=September 2005 |url=https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/bcburden/web/burden2005.pdf  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713031620/https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/bcburden/web/burden2005.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-13 }}</ref>}}

However, [[Jonathan Chait]] of ''[[The American Prospect]]'' and ''[[The New Republic]]'' notes that Nader did indeed focus on swing states disproportionately during the waning days of the campaign, and by doing so jeopardized his own chances of achieving the 5% of the vote he was aiming for.

{{blockquote|Then there was the debate within the Nader campaign over where to travel in the waning days of the campaign. Some Nader advisers urged him to spend his time in uncontested states such as New York and California. These states – where liberals and leftists could entertain the thought of voting Nader without fear of aiding Bush – offered the richest harvest of potential votes. But, Martin writes, Nader – who emerges from this account as the house radical of his own campaign – insisted on spending the final days of the campaign on a whirlwind tour of battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Florida. In other words, he chose to go where the votes were scarcest, jeopardizing his own chances of winning 5 percent of the vote, which he needed to gain federal funds in 2004.<ref name="prospect1">{{cite web |url=http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=books_in_review_110402 |title=Books in Review: &#124; The American Prospect |publisher=Prospect.org |access-date=2011-01-01 |archive-date=December 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222070928/http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=books_in_review_110402  }}</ref>}}

When Nader, in a letter to environmentalists, attacked Gore for "his role as broker of environmental voters for corporate cash", and "the prototype for the bankable, Green corporate politician", and what he called a string of broken promises to the [[environmental movement]], [[Sierra Club]] president [[Carl Pope (environmentalist)|Carl Pope]] sent an open letter to Nader, dated October 27, 2000, defending Al Gore's environmental record and calling Nader's strategy "irresponsible".<ref>{{cite web |work=knowthecandidates.org |url=http://www.knowthecandidates.org/ktc/NaderSierraC.htm#sierraclubnader |title=The Nader Debate with the Sierra Club about Gore and the Environment }}</ref> He wrote:

{{blockquote|You have also broken your word to your followers who signed the petitions that got you on the ballot in many states. You pledged you would not campaign as a spoiler and would avoid the swing states. Your recent campaign rhetoric and campaign schedule make it clear that you have broken this pledge ... Please accept that I, and the overwhelming majority of the environmental movement in this country, genuinely believe that your strategy is flawed, dangerous and reckless.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pope |first=Carl |date=October 27, 2000 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/102700-03.htm |title=Ralph Nader Attack On Environmentalists Who Are Supporting Vice-President Gore |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112182906/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/102700-03.htm |archive-date=2016-11-12 |work=CommonDreams.org }}</ref>}}

==== 2004 ====
{{Main|Ralph Nader 2004 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Ralph Nader on the environment (2004 Feb 10).webm|thumb|right|Nader speaking on [[environmentalism]] in February 2004]]
Nader announced on December 23, 2003, that he would not seek the Green Party's nomination for president in 2004, but did not rule out running as an [[Independent politician|independent candidate]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levine |first1=Adam |title=Green Party: Nader mulling independent run |url=https://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/23/elec04.prez.nader/ |website=cnn.com |publisher=Cable News Network LP, LLLP. |access-date=November 26, 2023}}</ref>

Ralph Nader and Democratic candidate [[John Kerry]] held a widely publicized meeting early in the 2004 presidential campaign. Nader said that John Kerry wanted to work to win Nader's support and the support of Nader's voters, prompting Nader to provide Kerry more than 20 pages of issues that he felt were important. According to Nader, he asked John Kerry to choose any three of the issues and highlight them in his campaign; should Kerry meet these conditions Nader would not contest the election. On February 22, 2004, having not heard back from Kerry, Nader announced that he would run for president as an independent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nader rejects spoiler label in new presidential bid |url=https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/23/elec04.prez.nader/ |website=cnn.com |publisher=Cable News Network LP, LLLP. |access-date=November 26, 2023}}</ref>

Due to concerns about a possible [[spoiler effect]], many Democrats urged Nader to abandon his 2004 candidacy. The chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]], [[Terry McAuliffe]], stated that Nader had a "distinguished career, fighting for working families", and that McAuliffe "would hate to see part of his legacy being that he got us eight years of George Bush". [[Theresa Amato]], Nader's national campaign manager in 2000 and 2004, later alleged that McAuliffe offered to pay off Nader if he would not campaign in certain states, an allegation confirmed by Nader and undisputed by McAuliffe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803823.html |title=Nader: McAuliffe Offered Money To Avoid Key States in '04 Race |newspaper=The Washington Post |date= May 29, 2009|access-date=May 24, 2010 | first1=Anita | last1=Kumar | first2=Rosalind S. | last2=Helderman}}</ref>

Nader received 463,655 votes, for 0.38 percent of the popular vote, placing him in third place overall.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=2004&minper=0&f=0&off=0&elect=0 |work=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |title=2004 Presidential General Election Results |access-date=February 24, 2009 }}</ref>

==== 2008 ====
{{Main|Ralph Nader 2008 presidential campaign}}

[[File:Ralph Nader in Waterbury 1, October 4, 2008.jpg|thumb|Nader campaigning in October 2008]]

In February 2007, Nader criticized Democratic front-runner [[Hillary Clinton]] as "a panderer and a flatterer", later describing her as someone who had "no political fortitude".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nichols |first1=John |title=An Unreasonable Man May Run Again |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/unreasonable-man-may-run-again/ |date=January 31, 2008 }}</ref> During a February 2008 appearance on ''[[Meet the Press]]'', Nader announced his intention to run for president as an independent, later naming [[Matt Gonzalez]] as his running-mate.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nader-names-running-mate-in-presidential-bid-1.704680 |title= Nader names running mate in presidential bid |access-date=October 30, 2008 |date= February 28, 2008 |publisher= [[CBC News]]}}</ref> Nader was endorsed by [[Howard Zinn]], [[Jesse Ventura]], [[Justin Jeffre]], [[Tom Morello]], [[Val Kilmer]], [[Rocky Anderson]], [[James Abourezk]], [[Patti Smith]], and [[Jello Biafra]]. The Nader campaign raised $4.3&nbsp;million in campaign funds, primarily from small, individual donations. Nader/Gonzalez earned 738,475 votes and a third-place finish in the [[2008 United States presidential election]].<ref name="FEC">{{cite web |url= http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2008/2008presgeresults.pdf |title= 2008 Official Presidential General Election Results |access-date=February 3, 2009 |date= November 4, 2008 |publisher= [[Federal Election Commission|FEC]]}}</ref>
{{clear}}
<div style="overflow:auto;">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=2 class="unsortable"| Campaign
! style="width:150px;"  class="unsortable" | Running mate
! style="width:100px;"data-sort-type="date" class="unsortable"| Ballot access
! style="width:50px;" | Funds raised
! style="width:50px;" class="unsortable"| Popular vote
! style="width:315px;" class="unsortable"| Party affiliation
---- Co-nominators
! style="width:315px;" class="unsortable"| Media and organizational endorsers
! style="width:315px;" class="unsortable"| Notable endorsers
|-
|data-sort-value="2008"|[[File:Ralph Nader 2004 campaign logo.svg|200px]]<br /><big>'''[[Ralph Nader presidential campaign, 2000]]'''</big>
| style="background:#0f0;"|
|[[File:Winona duke dream reborn.png|150px]]<br />[[Winona LaDuke]]
| data-sort-value="0"|[[File:2000NAder23123.png|300px]]
| data-sort-value="0"|$8.4 million
| data-sort-value="0"|2,882,995<br /> (2.74%)
| data-sort-value="0"|[[Green Party USA]]
---- [[Vermont Progressive Party]]<br/>
| data-sort-value="0"|* [[California Nurses Association]]<br /> * [[United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America|United Electrical Workers]]<br /> * [[Hemp Industries Association]]<br /> * ''[[Village Voice]]''<br /> * ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]''<br /> * ''[[Worcester Magazine]]''<br /> * ''[[San Francisco Bay Guardian]]''
| data-sort-value="0"|[[Susan Sarandon]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Howard Zinn]], [[Eddie Vedder]], [[Bill Murray]], [[Pete Seeger]], [[Linda Ronstadt]], [[Paul Newman]], [[Willie Nelson]], [[Noam Chomsky]], [[John B. Anderson]], [[Phil Donahue]]
|-
|data-sort-value="2004"|<!--[[File:Nader2004342342.jpg|200px]]--><br /><big>'''[[Ralph Nader presidential campaign, 2004]]'''</big>
| style="background:#fff;"|
|[[File:Peter Camejo.gif|150px]]<br />[[Peter Camejo]]
| data-sort-value="0"|<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Nader2004342656.png|300px]] -->
| data-sort-value="0"|$4.6 million
| data-sort-value="0"|463,655 <br /> (0.38%)
| data-sort-value="0"|unaffiliated
----  [[Reform Party USA]]<br /> [[Independence Party of New York]]<br/>[[Independent Party of Delaware]]
| data-sort-value="0"|
| data-sort-value="0"|[[David Brower]], [[Patti Smith]], [[Noam Chomsky]], [[Howard Zinn]], [[Phil Donahue]]
|-
|data-sort-value="2008"|[[File:Nader Gonzalez 08 Logo.svg|200px]]<br /><big>'''[[Ralph Nader presidential campaign, 2008]]'''</big>
| style="background:#fff;"|
|[[File:Matt Gonzalez talks to the press in San Francisco.jpg|150px]]<br />[[Matt Gonzalez]]
| data-sort-value="0"|[[File:Nader 2008 Ballot Access.png|300px]]
| data-sort-value="0"|$4.3 million<ref>{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader Candidate Summary, 2008 Cycle|url=https://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00000086|website=opensecrets.org|publisher=[[OpenSecrets]]|access-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="0"|738,475
(0.56%)
| data-sort-value="0"|unaffiliated
----
[[Independent Party of Delaware]]<br/>[[Ecology Party of Florida]] <br /> [[Natural Law Party (United States)|Natural Law Party]] <br /> [[Peace and Freedom Party]] <br /> [[Socialist Alternative (United States)|Socialist Alternative]]
| data-sort-value="0"|
| data-sort-value="0"|[[Howard Zinn]], [[Jesse Ventura]], [[Justin Jeffre]], [[Tom Morello]], [[Val Kilmer]], [[Rocky Anderson]], [[James Abourezk]], [[Patti Smith]], [[Jello Biafra]], [[Chris Hedges]], [[Phil Donahue]], [[Cindy Sheehan]], [[Sean Penn]]
|}</div>

===Congressional Accountability Project===
Nader founded the [[Congressional Accountability Project]] to "oppose corruption in the U. S. Congress".<ref>per 1993-2007 director Gary Ruskin's formal wording: "Its mission is to ... {{cite web|date=February 28, 2011|title=Application for Member, Delegation to Green Party of the United States|url=http://www.cagreens.org/delegates/election/2011-04/gary_ruskin.htm}}</ref>

===Later activities===
Nader condemned the [[2011 military intervention in Libya]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McMaster |first=Nick |date=March 21, 2011 |url=https://www.newser.com/story/114620/barack-obama-is-a-war-criminal-ralph-nader-says.html |title=Ralph Nader: Impeach 'War Criminal' Obama&nbsp;– If Bush, Cheney Were Criminals, Obama Is Too |work=[[Newser]] |access-date=April 23, 2011 }}</ref> He branded President [[Barack Obama]] as a "war criminal"<ref name="Left's view on Libya">{{cite news |last=Avlon |first=John P. |date=March 23, 2011 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/23/avlon.left.obama/ |title=Left's View on Libya: Is This Bush's Third Term? |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=April 23, 2011 }}</ref> and called for his [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment]].<ref name="A noble fight in Libya">{{cite web |author-link=Bill O'Reilly (political commentator) |last=O'Reilly |first=Bill |date=March 27, 2011 |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2011_0327a_noble_fight_in_libya/srvc=home&position=also |title=A Noble Fight in Libya |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430101748/http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2011_0327a_noble_fight_in_libya/srvc%3Dhome%26position%3Dalso |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |work=[[Boston Herald]] |access-date=April 23, 2011 }}</ref>

In June 2019, Nader, who lost his 24-year-old grandniece in the [[Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302|Ethiopian Airlines crash]],<ref name="MacGillis-2019">{{cite news |last1=MacGillis |first1=Alec |title=The Case Against Boeing |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/18/the-case-against-boeing |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 8, 2019 }}</ref> claimed that the [[Boeing 737 Max]] "must never fly again... it's not a matter of software. It's a matter of structural design defect: the plane's engines are too much for the traditional fuselage".<ref name="Nader-Boeing"/> Nader also called for [[Boeing]] top leaders to resign and said that the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] "has been in the pockets of the Boeing company for years".<ref name="Nader-Boeing">{{cite news |last1=Beene |first1=Ryan |title=Ralph Nader Says Boeing 737 Max Is Flawed and Should Never Fly Again |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/nader-says-boeing-737-max-is-flawed-and-should-never-fly-again |publisher=Bloomberg News |date= June 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bursztynsky |first=Jessica |title=Consumer advocate Ralph Nader says Boeing 737 Max should never fly again |work=CNBC |date=July 23, 2019 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/23/ralph-nader-says-boeing-737-max-should-never-fly-again.html }}</ref>

====D.C. Library Renaissance Project====
In 2002, Nader founded the D.C. Library Renaissance Project, which has sought to halt the development of the [[West End Neighborhood Library|West End Library]] in Washington, D.C., alleging that it "violated affordable housing guidelines, undervalued the land, and didn't conform to the city's Comprehensive Plan".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/376043/court-rules-against-ralph-nader-group-in-library-fight/ |first=Aaron |last=Wiener |title=Court Rules Against Ralph Nader Group in Library Fight |work=Washington City Paper |date=August 8, 2013 |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> The legal obstacles presented by the Library Renaissance Project have cost the D.C. government over one million dollars in legal fees.<ref name="Washingtoncitypaper.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/44911/ralph-nader-and-dc-public-libraries |title=How Ralph Nader became D.C. libraries' biggest headache (and pissed off a whole neighborhood) |work=Washington City Paper |date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=October 13, 2013}}</ref> Nader has opposed the privatized development of D.C. libraries despite community support, citing a lack of oversight and competitive bidding process.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/opposition-to-dc-public-private-land-deals-imperil-library-other-projects/2013/11/02/8b46ec04-3c44-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html |title=Opposition to D.C. public-private land deals imperil library, other projects |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date= November 2, 2013|access-date=November 4, 2013 |first=Mike |last=DeBonis}}</ref>

====''Only the Super Rich Can Save Us''====
In 2009 Nader published his first work of fiction, ''[[Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!]]''. Many of the characters were fictionalized versions of real-life persons including [[Ted Turner]] and [[Warren Buffett]]. The book's principal villain, a "conservative evil genius" named Brovar Dortwist, represents [[Grover Norquist]]. According to Norquist, Nader had called him prior to the book's publication and said he "wouldn't be too unhappy, because the character was principled".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Khatchadourian|first1=Raffi|title=NADER'S BLUEPRINT|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/28/naders-blueprint|access-date=August 2, 2016|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=September 28, 2009}}</ref>

The novel met with mixed reviews with ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' noting that the book "reads less like a novel ... than a dream journal" with a plot that victoriously concludes with "American society thoroughly Naderized", though ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' called it "a powerful idea by the perfect person at a fortuitous time".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Long|first1=Rob|title=One Man's Utopia|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471504574440954001791002|access-date=August 2, 2016|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=September 29, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Heaps|first1=Toby|title=This way to the future|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/only-the-super-rich-can-save-us-by-ralph-nader/article4286647/|access-date=August 2, 2016|work=The Globe and Mail|date=September 24, 2016}}</ref>

Nader also branched out into fiction with the [[fable]] collection ''Animal Envy'' in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In 'Animal Envy,' the Animals Speak for Themselves |url=https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/ralph-nader-animal-envy-animals-speak-for-themselves/ |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=Earth Island Journal}}</ref>

====2012 debate moderator====
During the [[2012 United States presidential election]], Nader moderated a debate for third-party candidates at Washington, D.C.'s [[Busboys and Poets]]. The debate was attended by Green Party presidential candidate [[Jill Stein]], Libertarian [[Gary Johnson]], [[Rocky Anderson]] of the [[Justice Party (United States)|Justice Party]] and [[Constitution Party (United States)|Constitution Party]] candidate [[Virgil Goode]]. He later moderated a similar debate in a studio appearance broadcast by [[Russia Today]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Nader's third-party debate raises alternate issues|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/11/05/nader-stein-johnson-debate-third-party/1682643/|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[USA Today]]|date=November 12, 2012}}</ref>

====Ralph Nader Radio Hour====
Since March 2014, Nader has co-hosted the weekly '''''Ralph Nader Radio Hour''''',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ocweekly.com/news/where-we-read-your-dreams-listening-to-the-imagination-on-where-else-kpfk-6451827|title=Where We Read Your Dreams: Listening to the Imagination on (Where Else?) KPFK - OC Weekly|date=March 15, 2014|website=Ocweekly.com|access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> produced at [[KPFK]]-FM in Los Angeles and distributed via the [[Pacifica Radio Network]]. The program features "interviews with some of the nation's most influential movers and shakers" and discussion of current events. Nader's co-hosts are Steve Skrovan and [[David Feldman (comedian)|David Feldman]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/about-the-show/ | title=About the show | publisher=[[Pacifica Radio Network]] | work=Ralph Nader Radio Hour | access-date=March 12, 2017 | archive-date=July 11, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711213145/https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/about-the-show/  }}</ref>

====American Museum of Tort Law====
In 2015, after a decade planning, Nader founded the [[American Museum of Tort Law]] in [[Winsted, Connecticut]]. The opening ceremonies were emceed by [[Phil Donahue]]. Nader personally donated $150,000 to the establishment of the museum, which was sited on two parcels of land rezoned by the town of Winsted to host it. At the time of its opening, some expressed skepticism that a museum dedicated to [[tort]] would have much interest to the general public, though Nader responded that he was "astounded how a country can go over 200 years and not have a law museum".<ref>{{cite news|title=Buckle Up for Ralph Nader's 'Tort Museum'|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ralph-nader-is-on-track-to-open-a-tort-museum-in-september-1434502337|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=June 16, 2016}}</ref>

====Campaign for Harvard admissions reform====
Nader unsuccessfully sought a seat on the [[Harvard University]] Board of Overseers in 2016 as part of an insurgent candidate slate operating under the name "Free Harvard, Fair Harvard" which called for increased transparency by the university as to how it made [[College recruiting|athletic]] and [[Legacy preferences|legacy admissions]] decisions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nader bid for Harvard board comes up short|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/05/nader-bid-for-harvard-board-comes-up-short-223482|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[Politico]]|date=May 23, 2016}}</ref> In February of that year, while noting that he would not vote for him personally, he expressed support for [[Donald Trump]] making a third-party run for president, saying that such a move might help break-up the two party system.<ref>{{cite web |title = Ralph Nader on Trump's 2016 presidential bid |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2_vThJFTzQ|date = August 7, 2015|access-date = February 19, 2016 |work = Fox Business |via=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>

====Newspapers====
Following the closure of ''The Winsted Journal'' in 2017, Nader provided the first funds for ''The Winsted Phoenix'' in 2018 and then pulled backing. The newspaper folded in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sillick |first=Bob |date=March 9, 2023 |title=New reporting reveals more turmoil in the Ralph Nader newspaper debacle |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/new-reporting-reveals-more-turmoil-in-the-ralph-nader-newspaper-debacle,242638 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |website=[[Editor & Publisher]] |language=en}}</ref> A year later, Nader announced he was financially backing the creation of another newspaper in his hometown called the ''[[Winsted Citizen]]'' and provided $15,000 for the first monthly issue printed February 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sillick |first=Bob |date=February 27, 2023 |title=The Winsted Citizen: Ralph Nader's gift to his hometown |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/the-winsted-citizen-ralph-naders-gift-to-his-hometown,242454 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |website=Editor & Publisher |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Dave |date=November 20, 2023 |title=After trying to buck trend, newspaper founded with Ralph Nader's help succumbs to financial woes |url=https://apnews.com/article/ralph-nader-newspaper-closing-connecticut-1fe0cabb64d32d04e3f9875abb965cfb |access-date=November 22, 2023 |website=[[Associated Press]] |language=en}}</ref>

A month later it was reported Nader failed to provide funding as initially promised for the paper's second edition. He had agreed to cover 75% of the cost, with the newspaper covering the rest. However, the money had not been delivered by the time of the second edition's printing. Instead, at that time Nader offered to give a $8,000 loan, which the newspaper declined to accept.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sillick |first=Bob Sillick |date=March 6, 2023 |title=Winsted Citizen: Ralph Nader gets the press but leaves his 'gifted' newspaper in the lurch |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/winsted-citizen-ralph-nader-gets-the-press-leaves-gifted-newspaper-in-the-lurch,242585 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |website=Editor & Publisher |language=en}}</ref>

In April 2022, Nader founded the print newspaper ''[[Capitol Hill Citizen]]''. According to ''Politico'', the publication's coverage centers on issues important to Nader, such as the growth of corporate influence on the federal government, corruption among lawmakers and the  follies and failures of the mainstream political media.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ward |first=Ian |date=September 4, 2022 |title=Ralph Nader Thinks People Aren't Paying Attention to His Progressive Agenda |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/04/ralph-nader-really-really-wants-you-to-pay-attention-to-him-00053368 |website=[[Politico]]}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Nader, whose family was Antiochian Greek Orthodox Christian, recalled that during his childhood his family had been "embraced" by a [[Methodism|Methodist]] church where he attended [[Sunday school]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Seventeen Traditions: Lessons from an American Childhood|last=Nader|first=Ralph|date=October 13, 2009|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|pages=103–105}}</ref> In addition to English, Nader also speaks Spanish, Russian, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], Chinese, and conversational Arabic.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Nader Fast Facts|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/us/ralph-nader-fast-facts/|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[CNN]]|date=March 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Crashing the Party|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?168072-1/crashing-party|access-date=November 10, 2021|work=[[C-SPAN]]|date=January 4, 2002}}</ref>

Nader defines his ideology not as left-wing or right-wing but as a "[[morality|moral]] [[empiricism|empiricist]]".<ref name="me">{{cite web |url=https://reason.com/archives/2014/06/11/ralph-nader/5 |title=Ralph Nader Q&A: How Progressives and Libertarians Are Taking on Crony Capitalism and Corrupt Dems and Reps |last=Gillespie |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Gillespie |work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |date=January 11, 2014}}</ref> He has lived in Washington D.C. since the 1960s, but is domiciled in [[Connecticut]], where he is registered to vote.<ref name="Washingtoncitypaper.com"/> Nader has expressed admiration for [[Robert M. La Follette|Robert La Follette]], [[Eugene Debs]], and [[Edmund Burke]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?318980-1/qa-ralph-nader|title=Q&A with Ralph Nader}}</ref>

His siblings are [[Laura Nader|Laura]] (a professor of social and cultural [[anthropology]] at [[University of California, Berkeley|U.C. Berkeley]]), [[Claire Nader|Claire]], and late brother [[Shafeek Nader|Shafeek]].<ref name=Nader-Childhood>{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader's Childhood Roots|work=Green Party of Ohio (official website)|publisher=Green Party of Ohio|access-date=May 20, 2014|author=Annie Birdsong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816010515/http://www.ohiogreens.org/nader2000/roots.html|url=http://www.ohiogreens.org/nader2000/roots.html|archive-date=August 16, 2000|date=August 13, 2000}}</ref> After his older brother Shafeek died of [[prostate cancer]] in 1986, Nader developed [[Bell's palsy]], which paralyzed the left side of his mouth for several months. He commented on his partial facial paralysis to audiences during this time with the quip that "at least my opponents can't say I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/candidates/nader.html |title=Specials |publisher=Cnn.com |access-date=February 19, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader on the issues|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Ralph_Nader.htm|access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref> Nader's grandniece Samya Stumo was among the 157 people killed in the crash of [[Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302]] in March 2019.<ref name="MacGillis-2019"/>

Nader is a lifelong fan of the [[New York Yankees]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Neuman |first1=Joshua |title=Ralph Nader Petitions Mariano Rivera for One More Year |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a24076/ralph-nader-mariano-rivera/ |access-date=January 8, 2023 |work=Esquire |date=July 29, 2013}}</ref>

===Personality and character traits===
[[Rupert Cornwell]] of ''[[The Independent]]'' described Nader as an "ascetic ... bordering on self-righteous".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cornwell|first1=Rupert|title=Ralph Nader: Ascetic, zealot-like, bordering on self-righteous|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ralph-nader-ascetic-zealot-like-bordering-on-self-righteous-a6893481.html|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[The Independent]]|date=February 27, 2016}}</ref> Despite access to respectable financial assets, he lives in a modest apartment and spends $25,000 annually on personal bills, conducting most of his writing on a [[typewriter]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Victor|first=Kirk|title=Typewriter Man|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/ralph-nader-typewriter-man-20120607|work=[[National Journal]]|access-date=September 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Princeton alumni piece">{{cite web|last1=Fisher|first1=Marc|title=Ralph Nader '55's Paradise Lost|url=https://paw.princeton.edu/article/ralph-nader-55s-paradise-lost|website=Princeton Alumni Weekly|date=June 3, 2015|publisher=The Trustees of Princeton University|access-date=May 7, 2018}}</ref>  According to popular accounts of his personal life, he does not own a television, relies primarily on [[public transportation]], and over a 25-year period, until 1983, exclusively wore one of a dozen pairs of shoes he had purchased at a clearance sale in 1959. His suits, which he reports he purchases at sales and outlet stores, have been the repeated subject of public scrutiny, being variously described as "wrinkled", "rumpled", and "styleless". A newspaper story once described Nader as a "conscientious objector to fashion".<ref>{{cite news|title=Conscientious Objector to Fashion|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19910820&id=PRJgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5739,3997624|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[The Telegraph (Nashua)|The Telegraph]]|date=August 20, 1991}}</ref>

Nader has never married. Karen Croft, a writer who worked for Nader in the late 1970s at the Center for Study of Responsive Law, once asked him if he had ever considered marriage, to which he responded that he had made a choice to dedicate his life to career rather than family.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/07/nader.html |title=Candidate Nader |work=Mother Jones |access-date=February 1, 2009 }}</ref>

=== Finances ===
According to the mandatory fiscal disclosure report that he filed with the [[Federal Election Commission]] in 2000, Nader owned more than $3&nbsp;million worth of stocks and mutual fund shares; his single largest holding was more than $1&nbsp;million worth of stock in [[Cisco Systems, Inc.]] He also held between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares in the [[Magellan Fund]].<ref>{{cite journal
  | last = Tapper
  | first = Jake
  | title = Inside Nader's stock portfolio
  | journal = [[Salon.com]]
  | date = October 28, 2000
| url = https://www.salon.com/2000/10/28/stocks_4/
  | access-date = August 15, 2009}}</ref>
Nader said he owned no car and owned no real estate directly in 2000, and said that he lived on $25,000 a year, giving most of his stock earnings to many of the over four dozen non-profit organizations he had founded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/19/us/nader-reports-big-portfolio-in-technology.html |title=Nader Reports Big Portfolio In Technology |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 19, 2000 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?txtName=nader |title= Ralph Nader: Personal Finances |access-date=October 28, 2008 |publisher= [[OpenSecrets]] }}</ref>

Nader owns shares in [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] and believes the corporation should be paying shareholders a dividend.<ref name="Fox Business Amazon dividends">{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader calls on Amazon to issue dividends|url=http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5712152040001/?#sp=show-clips|website=Fox Business| date=January 16, 2018 |access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref> He also believes that there should be an "antitrust investigation" looking into the company's business practices.<ref name="Amazon business practices">{{cite web|title=Trump won't do anything about Amazon: Ralph Nader|url=http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5760656275001/?#sp=show-clips|website=Fox Business| date=March 29, 2018 |access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref>

Nader is also an [[Apple Inc.]] shareholder. In 2018, he wrote an open letter to [[Tim Cook]] criticizing Apple's $100&nbsp;billion [[Share repurchase|share buyback]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Nader to Apple's Tim Cook: Use profits for worker raises|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ralph-nader-to-apples-tim-cook-use-profits-for-worker-raises/|access-date=May 13, 2018|publisher=CBS News}}</ref>

== Media appearances ==
===Film===
In the 2005 [[Jim Carrey]] film ''[[Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)|Fun with Dick and Jane]]'', Nader makes a cameo appearance as himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/jan/22/review.features27 |title=Fun With Dick and Jane &#124; Movies |work=The Guardian |date= January 22, 2006|access-date=February 19, 2022}}</ref>

The Steve Skrovan documentary film ''[[An Unreasonable Man]]'' is about the life of Ralph Nader and uses both archival footage and original interviews. It debuted at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/arts/09iht-flik10.4533694.html |title=Movies: 'An Unreasonable Man': Reappraising Ralph Nader, the activist and the candidate - Culture - International Herald Tribune - The New York Times |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 9, 2007 |access-date=February 19, 2022}}</ref>

===Periodicals===
Nader was featured on the cover of the January 22, 1968, issue of ''[[Newsweek]]'';<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_newsweek_1968-01-22_71_4 |title=Newsweek  1968-01-22: Vol 71 Iss 4 |date=1968-01-22 |publisher=Newsweek Media Group Inc |others=Internet Archive |language=English}}</ref> the December 12, 1969, issue of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'';<ref>{{Cite web |title=TIME Magazine -- U.S. Edition -- December 12, 1969 Vol. 94 No. 24 |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601691212,00.html |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=content.time.com |language=en-us}}</ref> the June 1971 issue of ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'';<ref>{{Cite web |title=Esquire — June 1971 |url=https://classic.esquire.com/issue/19710601 |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Esquire {{!}} The Complete Archive |language=en-US}}</ref> and the August 2016 issue of ''[[Pacific Standard]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Pacific Standard |date=2016-07-05 |title=‘Pacific Standard,’ July/August 2016 |url=https://psmag.com/news/pacific-standard-julyaugust-2016/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Pacific Standard |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Television===
Nader has been a guest on multiple episodes of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', ''[[Real Time with Bill Maher]]'', ''[[The Daily Show]]'', ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]'', ''[[Meet the Press]]'', ''[[Democracy Now!]]'', and ''[[The Late Show with David Letterman]]''. In 2003 he appeared on ''[[Da Ali G Show]]''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=February 24, 2003 |title=Ali G fails to win respect in the US |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/24/arts.media |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and, in 2008, was interviewed by [[Triumph the Insult Comic Dog]] on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Bill |date=October 9, 2008 |title=An election to laugh about |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/09iht-09live.16806716.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1988, Nader appeared on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' as "a person in your neighborhood", the episode also featuring [[Barbara Walters]] and [[Martina Navratilova]]. Nader's appearance on the show was memorable because it was the only time that the grammar of the last line of the song{{snd}} "a person that you meet each day"{{snd}} was questioned and changed. Nader refused to sing a line which he deemed grammatically improper, so a compromise was reached by which Nader sang the last line solo, with the modified words: "a person ''whom'' you meet each day".<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Borgenicht |title=Sesame Street Unpaved: Scripts, Stories, Secrets, and Songs |orig-date=1998 |year=2002 |isbn=1-4028-9327-2}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
{{Main|Bibliography of Ralph Nader}}

==Recognition==
[[File:Gandhi Peace Award Medallion - front side.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Nader was the 2016 recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award.]]

* In 1967 Nader was named one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Year" by the [[United States Junior Chamber]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carlisle |first1=Rodney |title=Encyclopedia of Politics: Left and Right |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0000carl/page/323 |url-access=registration |date=2005 |publisher=Sage |isbn=1-4522-6531-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0000carl/page/323 323]}}</ref>
* In 1990 Nader was listed one of the "100 Most Influential Americans of the 20th century by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news|title=Life Lists 20th Century's Most Influential Americans|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/119956/LIFE-LISTS-20TH-CENTURYS-MOST-INFLUENTIAL-AMERICANS.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107050529/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/119956/LIFE-LISTS-20TH-CENTURYS-MOST-INFLUENTIAL-AMERICANS.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 7, 2015|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[Deseret News]]|date=September 1, 1990}}</ref>
* In 1999 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine named Nader one of the "100 Most Influential Americans of the 20th Century".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christie |first1=Ryan |title=Managing Your Personal Finances |date=2010 |publisher=Cengage |isbn=978-1-305-48316-3 |page=655 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUN-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA675 }}</ref>
* In 1999 a [[New York University]] panel of journalists ranked ''Unsafe at Any Speed'' 38th among the top 100 pieces of journalism of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/01/business/media-journalism-s-greatest-hits-two-lists-of-a-century-s-top-stories.html |title=MEDIA; Journalism's Greatest Hits: Two Lists of a Century's Top Stories|work=The New York Times|date=March 1, 1999|page=2|first=Felicity|last=Barringer}}</ref>
* In 2006 Nader was named one of the "100 Most Influential Americans" by ''[[The Atlantic]]''.<ref>{{cite press release|title=The Atlantic Unveils 100 Most Influential Americans List|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-atlantic-unveils-100-most-influential-americans-list-56474742.html|website=prnewswire.com|publisher=[[PR Newswire]]|access-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>
* In 2008 Nader was listed among the "100 Most Influential Americans" in the ''Britannica Guide to 100 Most Influential Americans''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Britannica Guide to 100 Most Influential Americans|date=2008|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|isbn=978-1-59339-857-6|page=433}}</ref>
* In 2016 Nader was inducted into the [[Automotive Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Martinez|first1=Michael|title=Ralph Nader: Unlikely Automotive Hall of Fame inductee|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2016/07/21/nader-automotive-hall-fame/87417650/|access-date=July 22, 2016|newspaper=The Detroit News|date=July 21, 2016|quote=Nader said it felt like validation. And appropriately enough, there was a Corvair on the floor. "What's happened is that they're now marketing safety; when I started out they said safety doesn't sell and would have never mentioned the possibility of seat belts," he told ''The Detroit News''. "They didn't even want to talk about crashes because it would reduce the fantasy of buying cars. ... It's like saying, 'You were right.' "}}</ref>
* In 2016 Nader received that year's [[Gandhi Peace Award]] from [[Promoting Enduring Peace]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Nader is recipient of New Haven group's annual Gandhi Peace Award|url=http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20160722/ralph-nader-is-recipient-of-new-haven-groups-annual-gandhi-peace-award|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=New Haven Register|date=July 22, 2016}}</ref>

==Electoral history==
{{Election box begin no change
| title = [[1996 United States presidential election]]<ref>{{cite web |title=1996 Presidential General Election Data - National, Uselectionatlas.org. |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1996&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = '''[[Bill Clinton]]/[[Al Gore]]'''
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 47,401,185
| percentage = 49.2%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = [[Bob Dole]]/[[Jack Kemp]]
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 39,197,469
| percentage = 40.7%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = [[Ross Perot]]/[[Pat Choate]]
| party = Reform Party (United States)
| votes = 8,085,294
| percentage = 8.4%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Ralph Nader/[[Winona LaDuke]]
| party = Green Party (United States)
| votes = 685,297
| percentage = 0.7%
}}
{{election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title = [[2000 United States presidential election]]<ref>{{cite web |title=2000 Presidential General Election Data - National, Uselectionatlas.org. |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2000&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = '''[[George W. Bush]]/[[Dick Cheney]]'''
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 50,456,002
| percentage = 47.9%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = [[Al Gore]]/[[Joe Lieberman]]
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 50,999,897
| percentage = 48.4%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Ralph Nader/[[Winona LaDuke]]
| party = Green Party (United States)
| votes = 2,882,955
| percentage = 2.7%
}}
{{election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title = [[2004 United States presidential election]]<ref>{{cite web |title=2004 Presidential General Election Data - National, Uselectionatlas.org. |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2004&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = '''[[George W. Bush]]/[[Dick Cheney]]'''
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 62,040,610
| percentage = 50.7%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = [[John Kerry]]/[[John Edwards]]
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 59,028,444
| percentage = 48.3%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Ralph Nader/[[Peter Camejo]]
| party = Reform Party (United States)
| votes = 465,151
| percentage = 0.4%
}}
{{election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
| title = [[2008 United States presidential election]]<ref>{{cite web |title=2008 Presidential General Election Data - National, Uselectionatlas.org. |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=2008&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = '''[[Barack Obama]]/[[Joe Biden]]'''
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 69,498,516
| percentage = 52.9%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = [[John McCain]]/[[Sarah Palin]]
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 59,948,323
| percentage = 45.7%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Ralph Nader/[[Matt Gonzalez]]
| party = Independent politician
| votes = 739,034
| percentage = 0.6%
}}
{{election box end}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Politics}}
* ''[[The Case Against Free Trade]]''
* [[Corporate welfare]], a term coined by Nader

{{-}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190914211951/http://www.anunreasonableman.com/ ''An Unreasonable Man''] (2006). ''[[An Unreasonable Man]]'' is a documentary film about Ralph Nader that appeared at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/1532673x04272431|title=Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election |year=2005 |last1=Burden |first1=Barry C. |journal=American Politics Research |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=672–699 |s2cid=43919948 }}
* [http://www.customflix.com/205780 ''Ralph Nader: Up Close''] This film blends archival footage and scenes of Nader and his staff at work in Washington with interviews with Nader's family, friends and adversaries, as well as Nader himself. Written, directed and produced by Mark Litwak and Tiiu Lukk, 1990, color, 72 mins. Narration by Studs Terkel. Broadcast on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]. Winner, Sinking Creek Film Festival; Best of Festival, Baltimore Int'l Film Festival; Silver Plaque, Chicago Int'l Film Festival, Silver Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival.
* Bear, Greg, ''[[Eon (novel)|Eon]]''{{snd}} the novel includes a depiction of a future group called the "Naderites" who follow Ralph Nader's humanistic teachings.
* {{cite book|publisher=Seven Stories Press|date=October 1, 2000|isbn=978-1583220573|title=The Ralph Nader Reader|first=Ralph|last=Nader}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Burt |first1=Dan M. |title=Abuse of Trust: A Report on Ralph Nader's Network |date=1982 |publisher=[[Regnery Gateway]] |isbn=978-0-89526-661-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/abuseoftrustrepo0000burt |language=en |via=[[archive.org]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=McCarry |first=Charles |author-link=Charles McCarry |year=1972 |title=Citizen Nader |url=https://archive.org/details/citizennader00mccarich |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Saturday Review Press]] |isbn=0-8415-0163-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sabin |first=Paul |year=2021 |title=Public Citizens: The Attack on Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=9780393634044 |oclc=1196176432}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vsych |first=Jurgen |author-link=Jurgen Vsych |year=2008 |title=What Was Ralph Nader Thinking? |publisher=Wroughten Books |isbn=978-0-9749879-2-7 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Whiteside |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Whiteside (journalist) |year=1972 |title=The Investigation of Ralph Nader: General Motors Vs. One Determined Man |url=https://archive.org/details/investigationofr0000whit |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Arbor House |isbn=9780877950349 |oclc=369991}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|d=Q193156|b=no|wikt=no|s=Author:Ralph Nader|voy=no|v=no|species=no|mw=no|n=Ralph Nader|m=no}}<!--n has no page on Nader yet but several returns-->
* {{Official website}}
* [https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/ Ralph Nader Radio Hour] weekly radio program/podcast
* [http://www.votenader.org/ Nader / Gonzalez 2008] campaign website
* {{C-SPAN}}
* {{Charlie Rose view|901}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{New York Times topic}}
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/ralph-nader Column archive] at ''[[The Huffington Post]]''

=== Articles and interviews ===
* {{cite news
| title       = Ralph Nader Goes to Washington ... Again
| first       = Allison
| last        = Kugel
| url         = https://www.pr.com/article/1100
| newspaper   = PR.com
| date        = May 14, 2008
}}
* "[https://mises.org/books/freeman1963vol.10.pdf How Winstedites Kept Their Integrity]," article by Nader in the September 1963 issue of ''[[The Freeman]]''
* [https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/ralph-naders-america-impeach-obama-decriminalize-drugs-libertarians-progressives-unite-110418813.html Ralph Nader's America: Impeach Obama, decriminalize drugs, libertarians & progressives unite!] [[Yahoo! News]], April 29, 2014
* [https://www.truthdig.com/articles/for-nader-defiance-is-a-way-of-life/ For Nader, Defiance Is a Way of Life]. [[Chris Hedges]] for ''[[Truthdig]]''. April 12, 2015
* [https://therealnews.com/stories/amartin1219ef15nader The Empire Files: Ralph Nader & Abby Martin on the Corporate Elections]. ''[[The Real News]]''. December 20, 2015

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{{s-ttl|title=[[Green Party of the United States|Green]] nominee for President of the United States|years=[[1996 United States presidential election|1996]], [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Pat Buchanan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform]] nominee for President of the United States|years=[[2004 United States presidential election|2004]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Leonard Peltier]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Peace and Freedom Party|Peace and Freedom]] nominee for President of the United States|years=[[2008 United States presidential election|2008]]}}
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{{Ralph Nader|state=expanded}}
{{United States presidential election, 1996}}
{{United States presidential election, 2000}}
{{United States presidential election, 2004}}
{{United States presidential election, 2008}}
{{GreenPresidentialNominees}}
{{ReformPresidentialNominees}}
{{Consumerism}}
{{U.S. anti-nuclear}}
{{Gandhi Peace Award laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

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