Lawyer, consumer activist, author. Born February 27, 1934, in Winsted, Connecticut. The son of Nathra Nader, a Lebanese immigrant who owned a bakery and restaurant, and his wife Rose, the scholarly Nader attended Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1955. In 1958, he graduated from Harvard Law School and began practicing law in Hartford, Connecticut.
             His first book, Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), was an exposé about the dangers posed by the design of the Chevrolet Corvair, a car produced by General Motors. The book inspired a good deal of public interest and sparked a veritable revolution in automobile safety. In its wake, the federal government passed the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, an unprecedented attempt to regulate the powerful auto industry.
             As a determined and eloquent advocate for consumers, Nader was also largely responsible for the passage of the 1967 Wholesome Meat Act, which imposed federal standards on slaughterhouses and required federal inspections of beef and poultry; the Clean Air Act; and the Freedom of Information Act. Among the consumer advocacy organizations Nader has founded over the years (most of which are still active) are Public Citizen, the Center for Responsive Law, the Center for Auto Safety, the Public Interest Research Group, the Disability Rights Center, the Clean Water Action Project, the Pension Rights Center, the Project for Corporate Responsibility. His disciples-known as "Nader's Raiders"-have been active in Washington, D.C., since the early 1970s.
             Other books which Nader wrote or cowrote include Corporate Power in America (1973), Taming the Giant Corporations (1976), Menace of Atomic Energy (1977), Who's Poisoning America (1981), and Winning the Insurance Game (1990). A confirmed bachelor, Nader is extremely guarded about his personal life in the press.
             In 1992 and 1996, Nader mounted somewhat half-hearted campaigns for presid...