June 4, 1968: When America truly started going down the wrong track

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20. The 1971 Powell Memo finished kicking us off the cliff. Ralph Nader's assessment of what we've lost.

In 1971, a corporate lawyer by the name of Lewis Powell was working as a partner at the corporate criminal defense firm of Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia, representing corporate clients such as the Tobacco Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber asked Powell to write a memo addressing the populist attack on big business in America. The resulting 34-page memo was a blueprint for the corporate consolidation of power in Washington, D.C.

Powell was triggered by the success of Ralph Nader and a wide range of citizen's movements for regulation:

Congress had passed or was seriously considering moderate, overdue consumer, environmental,
and job safety legislation: the creation of (1) the EPA (1970) to prevent or diminish harmful
toxins in air, water, and soil; (2) OSHA (1971) to reduce workplace illnesses and injuries; (3) the
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (which brought some sunshine to the dark congressional
process); (4) the modest Clean Air Act (1970) and the Clean Water Act amendments of (1972).
The Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) was enacted on October 27, 1972. Responsibility for
administering the Flammable Fabrics Act (enacted in 1953, expanded in 1967) was transferred to
the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) when the agency was created in 1972. The
Wholesome Poultry Products Act was passed on August 18, 1968, but was significantly
strengthened by the Wholesome Meat Act amendments of 1970.

https://nader.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/powell-memo-8-25-2025.pdf