Gaylord Nelson
Encyclopedia
Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician from Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 who served as a United States Senator and governor
Governor of Wisconsin
The Governor of Wisconsin is the highest executive authority in the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The position was first filled by Nelson Dewey on June 7, 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state...

. A Democrat, he was the principal founder of Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...

.

Public service and leadership

Nelson was always passionate about the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

. He is mentioned with Al Gore, Karson Coker, and Steve Irwin. In 1963 he traveled on the Conservation Tour with President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 and was the principal founder of Earth Day, the first observation of which was held in 1970.

In 1970, Nelson called for Congressional hearings on the safety of combined oral contraceptive pills, which were famously called "The Nelson Pill Hearings
Nelson Pill Hearings
In 1970, Barbara Seaman brought the dangers of combined oral contraceptive pill use to the attention of Senator Gaylord Nelson with her book The Doctors Case Against the Pill...

." As a result of the hearings, side-effect disclosure was required for the pill in patient inserts the first such disclosure for a pharmaceutical drug.

Nelson was also a noted advocate of small business. While chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, he led successful efforts to authorize the first modern White House Conference on Small Business, create the system of Small Business Development Centers at U.S. universities, and improve the way that federal agencies regulate small businesses and other small entities, the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

In 1973, Nelson was one of the three senators who opposed the nomination of Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

 to be Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

. (The other two were Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Eagleton
Thomas Francis Eagleton was a United States Senator from Missouri, serving from 1968–1987. He is best remembered for briefly being the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972...

 and William Hathaway
William Hathaway
William Dodd Hathaway is an American Democratic Party politician from Maine.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served in World War II in the Army Air Corps, where he was shot down while bombing the Ploesti, Romania...

.)

Life after politics

After Nelson's 1980 defeat for re-election, he became counselor for The Wilderness Society
The Wilderness Society (United States)
The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters.-Founding:The society was incorporated on January 21, 1935...

 in January 1981. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...

 in September 1995 in recognition of his environmental work.

Nelson viewed the stabilization of the nation's population as an important aspect of environmentalism. In his words:
The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become…. We have to address the population issue. The United Nations, with the U.S. supporting it, took the position in Cairo in 1994 that every country was responsible for stabilizing its own population. It can be done. But in this country, it's phony to say "I'm for the environment but not for limiting immigration."


He also rejected the suggestion that economic development should take precedence over environmental protection:
The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around.


In 2002 Nelson appeared on To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...

as a contestant, with his founding of Earth Day highlighted.

Background

Nelson grew up in Clear Lake
Clear Lake, Wisconsin
Clear Lake is a village in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,051 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Town of Clear Lake along U.S...

, and was educated in the Clear Lake public schools. In 1939, he graduated from what is now San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...

 in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

. In 1942, he received his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from the University of Wisconsin Law School
University of Wisconsin Law School
The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional school for the study of law at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. The law school was founded in 1868.-Facilities:...

 in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, was admitted to the bar and practiced law. He also served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, seeing action in the Okinawa campaign during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. In 1948, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate
Wisconsin State Senate
The Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly...

, serving until 1958, when he was elected governor. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1962, defeating long-time incumbent Senator Alexander Wiley
Alexander Wiley
Alexander Wiley was a member of the Republican Party who served four terms in the United States Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1939 to 1963. When he left the Senate, he was its most senior Republican member.-Biography:...

. He was re-elected in 1968 and 1974, but was unseated by GOP
Republican Party of Wisconsin
The Republican Party of Wisconsin is the Wisconsin affiliate of the United States Republican Party . The state party chair is Brad Courtney...

 candidate Bob Kasten
Bob Kasten
Robert Walter "Bob" Kasten, Jr. , is a Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin who served as a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a U.S. Senator from 1981 to 1993.- Background :Kasten was born in Milwaukee...

 in 1980.

Fraternity membership

Nelson is an initiated member of Pi Kappa Phi
Pi Kappa Phi
Pi Kappa Phi is an American social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty, Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina...

 Fraternity, having been initiated in 1971 during a trip to La Grange, Georgia, to promote the 2nd Annual Earth Day. Ron DeValinger, the chaplain of Pi Kappa Phi’s Gamma Nu chapter at LaGrange College
LaGrange College
LaGrange College is the oldest private college in the U.S. state of Georgia. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is located in LaGrange, Georgia, with an enrollment of about 1,000 students. The student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1...

, was a member of Nelson’s welcoming committee. DeValinger asked Nelson if he would like to join Pi Kappa Phi. Nelson said yes and was initiated later that evening as Gamma Nu’s 60th initiate.

Death and legacy

Nelson died of cardiovascular
Circulatory system
The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients , gases, hormones, blood cells, etc...

 failure at age 89 on July 3, 2005. Journalist Bill Christofferson's biography of him, "The Man from Clear Lake," was published in 2004 by the University of Wisconsin Press
University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...

.

The Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 is named after him in recognition of his love for nature. In addition, the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore consisting of 21 islands and shoreline encompassing 69,372 acres on the northern tip of Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Superior....

 – comprising over 80% of the land area of the park – was named after him in honor of his efforts to have the park created. Governor Nelson State Park
Governor Nelson State Park
Governor Nelson State Park is a Wisconsin state park in Waunakee, Dane County, Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Mendota. It is named for former Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson. On most days the Wisconsin State Capitol building can be seen in nearby Madison. Common activities include boating,...

 near Waunakee, Wisconsin
Waunakee, Wisconsin
Waunakee is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States . The population was 12,097 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Waunakee bills itself as "The Only Waunakee in the World." The village was named as #78 in CNN Money's "Top 100 Best Places to...

, is also named after him.

External links



Retrieved on 2008-02-06
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