David Nolan dies at 66; founder of the Libertarian Party

The Los Angeles Times today ran an obituary on David Nolan on the front page of the Late Extra section:

David F. Nolan, whose disgruntlement with conventional politics — especially President Nixon‘s imposition of wage and price controls in 1971 — drove him to launch the Libertarian Party with a small group of friends, has died. He was 66.

Nolan apparently was stricken while driving his car Saturday night in Tucson and was taken to a hospital, where he died Sunday, Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle said. The cause of death has not been determined.

Nolan also was known for his invention of the Nolan Chart, a visual representation of political ideologies that classifies people according to their attitudes on personal and economic freedom, two of the principles Libertarians hold dear.

The chart made it easy to see how liberals, conservatives, populists and libertarians compared,” Reason Foundation co-founder Robert Poole wrote in a blog post, “and was a true breakthrough that reshaped political analysis, polling and news reporting, helping to introduce ‘libertarian’ as a distinct political position.”

Conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. once derided libertarianism as “a kind of anarchy,” with positions scattered all over the political map. Libertarians favor civil rights but oppose government spending, they’re pro-choice but anti-regulation.

“The government’s job is to protect you; beyond that,” Nolan told the Tucson Citizen in 2006, “it’s up to you.”

The full obituary  by Elaine Woo can be found @ http://tinyurl.com/24ub8pj