Gaylord Nelson is one of the people who made me proud to be from Wisconsin. Bob Lafollete, Bob Kastenmeier, Bill Proxmire, and Russ Feingold are other such people. Gaylord Nelson was a Liberal. He died today at 89. His biography by Bill Christofferson, The Man From Clear Lake, is well worth reading.
"Widely regarded as one of the leading environmentalists in American history, Gaylord Nelson is best known as the founder of Earth Day. This political biography tells the rest of the story-how a small town boy from Wisconsin became a national champion of a progressive agenda. Nelson’s record on civil liberties, consumer issues, and Vietnam is remarkable. His story is an inspiration."—Al Gore
Ryan Nakashima reports:
A conservationist years before it became fashionable, Nelson was
recognized as one of the world’s foremost environmental leaders.
Then-President Clinton presented Nelson with a Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 1995 for his environmental efforts.
"As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew
out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act,
the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act," read the
proclamation from Clinton.
"Gaylord’s contributions in the fields of conservation reform and
environmental improvement are a living memorial to him," Melvin Laird,
a nine-term congressman from Wisconsin and secretary of defense in the
Nixon administration, said in a statement before the death was
announced.
Frank A. Aukofer, writing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes,
But when President Johnson sought money to escalate the war in
Vietnam, Nelson was one of three senators to vote against it. In a
Senate speech, he said:
"At a time in history when the Senate should be vindicating
its historic reputation as the greatest deliberative body in the world,
we are stumbling over each other to see who can say ‘yea’ the quickest
and the loudest. I regret it, and I think some day we shall all regret
it …. "Reluctantly, I express my opposition … here by voting ‘nay.’
The support in the Congress for this measure is clearly overwhelming.
Obviously, you need my vote less than I need my conscience."
Despite his liberal credentials - Nelson often received 100%
ratings from the Americans for Democratic action - he became a champion
of small business as chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee.
He also worked to preserve family farms and shore up the shaky incomes
of Wisconsin’s dairy farmers.
He was the author of a law that created the National Teacher
Corps in 1965 and, through his chairmanship of the Senate Subcommittee
on Employment, Poverty and Migratory Labor, he spearheaded measures to
provide jobs and training for the disadvantaged.
Gaylord Nelson was not a giant. He was simply a man who was raised in a small town with honest values. He was gifted with a clear vision and the motivation to do hard work to realize that vision, and to do good. Again, he was a liberal.