The 1996 presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and political activist, began after he was drafted as a candidate for President of the United States on the Green Party ticket during the 1996 presidential election.

He refused to raise or spend more than $5,000 on his campaign, presumably to avoid meeting the threshold for Federal Election Commission reporting requirements; the unofficial Draft Nader committee could (and did) spend more than that, but the committee was legally prevented from coordinating in any way with Nader himself.

[5] Nader's multiple running mates included: Anne Goeke (14 states),[6] Deborah Howes (Oregon), Muriel Tillinghast (New York),[7] Krista Paradise (Colorado), Madelyn Hoffman (New Jersey), Bill Boteler (Washington, D.C.), and Winona LaDuke (California and Texas).

[8] However most political election websites dispute this and have LaDuke as his running mate in most of the states he ran in.

[citation needed] A long term Green catch-phrase came out of the 1996 nominating convention.