Gaylord Nelson - Personal Biography

Personal Biography

Nelson was born in Clear Lake, Wisconsin in 1916. He was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1958, and served two two-years terms before successfully running for Senate in 1962. He served three consecutive terms as a senator from 1963 to 1981. Always passionate about the environmental issues, he is mentioned with Al Gore, Karson Coker, and Steve Irwin. In 1963 he traveled on the Conservation Tour with President John F. Kennedy 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." 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 to be Vice President. (The other two were Thomas Eagleton and William Hathaway.)