Gaylord Nelson

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Gaylord Nelson

Gaylord Anton Nelson (born June 4, 1916 in Clear Lake , Polk County , Wisconsin , †  July 3, 2005 in Kensington , Maryland ) was an American politician and governor of Wisconsin; he also represented this state in the US Senate . Nelson was the founder of Earth Day, established on April 22, 1970 .

Early years and political advancement

Gaylord Nelson attended the public schools of his home country and then until 1939 the San Jose State College in California . Eventually he studied law at the University of Wisconsin until 1942 . After his exams and his admission to the bar in 1942, he joined the US Army for the next four years , fighting in the Asian theater of war during World War II .

After returning to Wisconsin in 1946, he initially worked as a lawyer in Madison . In the following years up to 1958 he was also active as a lawyer in addition to his political work. After he had run unsuccessfully as a member of the Republican Party for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1946 , he joined the Democrats . For his new party, he sat in the Wisconsin Senate between 1948 and 1959 . In 1954 he applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives .

Governor of wisconsin

In 1958, Nelson became the first Democrat in 25 years to be elected governor of Wisconsin, beating Republican incumbent Vernon Wallace Thomson with 53.6 percent of the vote . After re-election in 1960 - this time he defeated Philip G. Kuehn by a narrower margin - he was in office between January 5, 1959 and January 7, 1963. During this time he reorganized the government apparatus. The departments and ministries for industry and agriculture as well as for the promotion of the municipalities were integrated into a new Ministry of Economic Development ( Department of Economic Development ). Another department ( Department of Administration ) brought human resources, government procurement, construction, budget and auditing under one roof. The governor also set up a commission to deal with the problem of aging and advocated environmental protection.

US Senator

In 1962 Nelson had not run for the office of governor again. Instead, he was elected to the US Senate against incumbent Alexander Wiley . There he represented the interests of his state from January 8, 1963; after a defeat by Bob Kasten he had to cede his mandate on January 3, 1981 to this. He was a member of several committees in the Senate and continued to campaign for the environment. He had the idea of ​​introducing “Earth Day”, a global day to protect the environment.

After his tenure in Congress was over, Nelson was an advisor to the Wilderness Society . On September 29, 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton for his commitment to the environment. Gaylord Nelson died on July 3, 2005. He was married to Carrie Lee Dotson and had three children.

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personal data
SURNAME Nelson, Gaylord
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nelson, Gaylord Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Clear Lake , Wisconsin
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 2005
Place of death Kensington , Maryland