Harold Willens

Harold Willens (died in 2003)

One obituary noted that: "The Nation lost a dear friend this week--Harold Willens, age 88. Harold was co-founder of a group of business executives against the Vietnam War (he would later recall with delight LBJ's frustration at not being able to dismiss his group as "softheaded"), and at Paul Newman's suggestion, starting in 1995, he chaired The Nations Circle of 100 shareholders."

"Harold Willens, a liberal political activist, entrepreneur and the author of California's nuclear freeze initiative of 1981...

"Willens took up the cause in 1978 but in early 1982, only months before Californians passed the initiative with 51% of the vote, he told United Press International, "People asked me 'Do you think this will be an issue in the '82 elections?' And I would say, 'No, its much too early.' " He didn't expect such widespread support...

"Starting in the mid-1960s, he worked tirelessly for presidential candidates who supported nuclear disarmament. He was the major California fund-raiser for Eugene McCarthy in his unsuccessful bid for president in 1968, as well as for George McGovern in 1972.

In the 1976 presidential election, he campaigned for Jimmy Carter, largely for his position on nuclear disarmament. Two years later, Carter appointed Willens a delegate to a United Nations special session on disarmament."


 * Funder, Center for Defense Information
 * Director (1968), Fund for the Republic
 * Former Trustee, Fund for Peace