Father of Earth Day, who turned on his family?s Republican roots to become a liberal leader... died
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Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Former Dem Wisconsin Senator and Governor Gaylord Nelson turned on his family’s Republican roots to become a liberal leader. In addition to being the father of the Earth Day observance, he played a role in other environmental and liberal causes.

GAYLORD NELSON: 1916-2005 / 3-term U.S. senator founded Earth Day / Liberal Democrat also served as Wisconsin governor
Gaylord Nelson. Associated Press photo by Mark Hoffman \/

Gaylord A. Nelson, Founder of Earth Day, Is Dead at 89

Gaylord A. Nelson, a former senator from Wisconsin who was one of the architects of America's modern environmental movement and the founder of Earth Day, died yesterday in Kensington, Md. He was 89.

The cause was cardiovascular failure, Bill Christofferson, a family spokesman, told The Associated Press.

A liberal Democrat who also served as governor of Wisconsin, Mr. Nelson was known for his candor and independence. He was one of only three senators who voted against the $700 million appropriation that began the nation's expanded involvement in the Vietnam War.

But Mr. Nelson was most distinguished on Capitol Hill as an early and ardent environmental leader. On March 25, 1963, in his first Senate speech, he framed the declining condition of the nation's air and water as a national issue. "We need a comprehensive and nationwide program to save the national resources of America," he said. "Our soil, our water and our air are becoming more polluted every day. Our most priceless natural resources - trees, lakes, rivers, wildlife habitats, scenic landscapes - are being destroyed."

The speech coincided with Mr. Nelson's successful private effort to lobby President John F. Kennedy to embrace environmental protection as a priority. In September 1963, President Kennedy embarked on a five-day, 11-state tour to talk about conservation.

The president's attention stirred political interest. In 1964, Mr. Nelson was part of the group of lawmakers who sponsored the Wilderness Act, which permanently safeguarded millions of acres of federal land. He worked with the Johnson administration to pass the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. Among the first eight rivers protected by the law were the St. Croix and the Namekagon in Wisconsin. He also helped the Interior Department establish national scenic seashores and lakeshores, including the Apostle Island National Lakeshore in Wisconsin along Lake Superior.

Still, Mr. Nelson was unsatisfied. "All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment," he said years later.

On a speaking tour of the West in 1969, Mr. Nelson came up with an idea for what he called "a huge grass roots protest" modeled after that era's campus "teach-ins" to oppose the Vietnam War. At a conference in Seattle in September, he announced that the protest would take place the following spring. The date chosen was April 22, 1970, a Wednesday.

More than 20 million Americans marked the first Earth Day in ways as varied as the dragging of tires and old appliances out of the Bronx River in White Plains and campus demonstrations in Oregon. Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York closed Fifth Avenue to vehicles. Congress shut its doors so lawmakers could participate in local events. Legislatures from 42 states passed Earth Day resolutions to commemorate the date.

"The reason Earth Day worked," Mr. Nelson said, "is that it organized itself. The idea was out there and everybody grabbed it. I wanted a demonstration by so many people that politicians would say, 'Holy cow, people care about this.'"

Months later, President Richard M. Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1970's, Mr. Nelson was at the center of legislative activity that resulted in the 1970 Clean Air Act, revisions in 1972 to the Clean Water Act, and passage of the Endangered Species Act. Mr. Nelson was a principal sponsor of laws that preserved the 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail, established fuel efficiency standards in automobiles, sought to control damage from strip mining and led to a ban on the insecticide DDT.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Mr. Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. "As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event," President Clinton said. "He inspired us to remember that the stewardship of our natural resources is the stewardship of the American dream."

Mr. Nelson was defeated in 1980 in the race for his fourth Senate term. He joined the Wilderness Society as a counselor, where he worked until his death.

Gaylord Anton Nelson was born on June 4, 1916, in Clear Lake, Wis. His father was a physician and his mother was active in civic life. His great-grandfather was a founder of the state Republican Party. When Mr. Nelson was a boy, his father took him to hear Robert M. LaFollette, the leader of the Progressive Party, deliver a speech from the back of a train, an event that the future senator said inspired his interest in politics. After graduating from San Jose State College and the University of Wisconsin Law School, Mr. Nelson served about four years in the Army and saw action as a first lieutenant on Okinawa.

Mr. Nelson's political career began in 1946 when he ran as a Republican for a State House seat and lost. Two years later, after changing parties, he won a State Senate seat and served 10 years. In 1958 he was elected governor. Among his most notable achievements was enacting the Outdoor Recreation Acquisition Program, a $50 million state land preservation program financed by a 1-cent per pack tax on cigarettes that was the first conservation program of its kind in the nation. In 1962 Mr. Nelson defeated a four-term Republican senator, Alexander Wiley, to win his first Senate term.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Carrie Lee Nelson; two sons, Gaylord Jr. and Jeffrey; a daughter, Tia; and three grandchildren.

NY Times ~ Keith Schneider ** Gaylord A. Nelson, Founder of Earth Day, Is Dead at 89

San Francisco Chronicle ~ NY Times - Keith Schneider ** GAYLORD NELSON: 1916-2005