Man from Clear Lake : Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson
On Earth Day 1970 twenty million Americans displayed their commitment to a clean environment. It was called the largest demonstration in human history, and it permanently changed the nations political agenda. More than 1 billion people now participate in annual Earth Day activities. The seemingly simple ideaa day set aside to focus on protecting our natural environmentwas the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. It accomplished, far beyond his expectations, his lifelong goal of putting the environment onto the nations and the worlds political agendas. The life of Nelson, a small-town boy who learned his values and progressive political principles at an early age, is woven through the political history of the twentieth century. Nelsons story intersects at times with Fighting Bob La Follette, Joe McCarthy, and Bill Proxmire in Wisconsin, and with George McGovern, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Russell Long, Walter Mondale, John F. Kennedy, and others on the national scene. Winner, Elizabeth A. Steinberg Prize, University of Wisconsin Press
eBook, English, 2010
Large Type View all formats and editions
University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 2010
Biographies
Trade
1 online resource (706 pages)
9780299196431, 9780299196462, 0299196437, 0299196461
1058187050
Author's Note; Prologue: 22 April 1970; 1 The Nelsons of Clear Lake; 2 Happy; 3 Into the World; 4 General Nelson; 5 Losing with La Follette; 6 Building a Party; 7 Taking on McCarthy; 8 Getting Ready to Run; 9 Nelson for Governor; 10 A Two-Party State; 11 An Ambitious Agenda; 12 Family Fights; 13 Still the Underdogs; 14 The Conservation Governor; 15 The Great Tax Debate; 16 On to the Senate; 17 The First Shall Be Last; 18 Enlisting the President; 19 Joining the Club; 20 Defending the Constitution; 21 Saving the Appalachian Trail; 22 The Hard Detergent Battle; 23 The Great Society. 24 Islands and Rivers25 Protecting Consumers; 26 The Great Lakes; 27 The Fight to Ban DDT; 28 Vietnam; 29 Earth Day; 30 Immune to Presidential Fever; 31 The Environmental Decade; 32 A Lasting Legacy; Notes; Bibliography; Index