Editing Ralph Nader (section)

===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>