GAYLORD NELSON

'Gaylord Anton Nelson' (June 4, 1916 – July 3, 2005) was a Democratic American politician from Wisconsin. He was the principal founder of Earth Day. In 1970, he called for Congressional hearings on the safety of combined oral contraceptive pills, which were famously called "The Nelson Pill Hearings." 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.^[1]

Contents

Early life

Elected office

Life after politics

References

Early life

Nelson was born in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. In 1939 he received a Bachelor of Arts from San Jose State College in California and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1942. He was a brother of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
In the same year he enlisted in the U.S. Army and fought in World War II for nearly four years, serving as a First Lieutenant during the Battle of Okinawa. After returning to Madison, Wisconsin, Nelson stood for office in 1946 but was not elected. He married Carrie Lee Dotson in 1947 and practiced law from 1946 to 1958.

Elected office

Nelson was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1948. Ten years later he was elected as the 35th governor of Wisconsin — the first Democrat to hold that office in 25 years. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from January 8, 1963 until January 3, 1981.
Nelson was always passionate about the environment. In 1963 he traveled on the Conservation Tour with President John F. Kennedy and was the principal founder of Earth Day, the first of which was held in 1970.
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 just three senators to oppose the nomination of Gerald Ford to be vice president. (The other two were Thomas Eagleton and William Hathaway.)

Life after politics

Nelson lost his Senate seat to Republican Bob Kasten in 1980 and became counselor for The Wilderness Society in January 1981. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom 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."^[2]

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.^[3]

Nelson died on July 3, 2005, of cardiovascular failure at age 89.
The Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is named after Gaylord Nelson in recognition of his love for nature. In addition, the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, comprising over 80% of the land area of the park, was named after him in honor of his efforts at having the park created.
Governor Nelson State Park near Waunakee, Wisconsin, is also named after him.

References

1. A Planetary Loss. Senator Nelson had more than one string to his bow.
2. Earth Day founder sees some progress
3. Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, , Gaylord, Nelson, Wisconsin Press, 2002,


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