Waking up Washington Explore Senator Gaylord Nelson's memo to
President Kennedy, in which he tries to convince the President
that the environment is a political cause worthy of a national
speaking tour. About this document: In this letter, Nelson is
providing suggestions for President John F. Kennedy's upcoming
nationwide conservation tour. Nelson insists the President must
"shake people, organizations and legislators," just as Rachel
Carson had in her recently published Silent Spring. To that end,
he includes several excerpts from the environmental writers he
admires, especially famed University of Wisconsin legends Aldo
Leopold and Wallace Stegner. Nelson puts his hopes in the
President When Nelson arrived to Washington in 1963 to begin his
Senate career, he was determined to spur national action on
environmental problems. His experience as governor of Wisconsin
from 1959 to 1963 convinced him there was broad, bipartisan
interest in pollution control, conservation efforts, and
recreational development. He w