35 Years Ago In Time

For the fourth presidential election in a row, RALPH NADER is taking his cause to the voters. But when TIME put the consumer advocate on the cover in 1969, he was making his mark outside the political system.

To many Americans, Nader, at 35, has become something of a folk hero, a symbol of constructive protest. When this peaceful revolutionary does battle against modern bureaucracies, he uses only the weapons available to any citizen--the law and public opinion ... Yet Nader has managed to cut through all the protective layers and achieve results. He has shown that in an increasingly computerized, complex and impersonal society, one persistent man can actually do something about the forces that often seem to badger him--that he can indeed even shake and change Big Business, Big Labor and even Bigger Government. "My job is to bring issues out in the open where they cannot be ignored," says Nader, chopping his hands, as he often does when he speaks. "There is a revolt against the aristocratic uses of technology and a demand for democratic uses."

--TIME, Dec. 12, 1969