Former Mission Viejo resident David F. Nolan, who helped found the Libertarian Party in his Denver living room on Dec. 11, 1971, died Sunday, two days before his 67th birthday.
Nolan opposed government intrusion in daily life, and believed in personal freedom, according to an obituary in Sentinel of Tucson, where he lived most recently. He opposed the war in Iraq, called for an end to personal income taxes, and wanted to legalize drugs. He supported a guest-worker program over building a border wall, wanted to close the Federal Reserve System, and end the Patriot Act.
"He was sort of a guiding light," Fullerton's Jack Dean, past chairman of the California Libertarian Party, told the Arizona Daily Star. "He was kind of our conscience. Dave was a presence at every national convention; everyone respected him. He kept reminding everybody what the goal was.
"He was a low-key and extremely reasonable radical. "And he could make Libertarian positions sound reasonable and logical to anyone."
Nolan also developed the "Nolan Chart," which plots a participant's answers to a questionnaire on a political grid which an axis for social issues and one for fiscal issues, and shows the relationship between the political parties. The Libertarian Party is now the third largest political party in the country.
In 2002, while living in Mission Viejo, Nolan unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives against incumbent Christopher Cox, R-Newport Beach. He moved to Arizona in 2005.
In 2006, Nolan unsuccessfully ran against Gabrielle Giffords for a seat in Arizona's 8th Congressional District.
This year, he challenged John McCain for his Senate seat and racked up 63,000 votes – in a state with only 24,000 registered Libertarians, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
Nolan's cause of death was unclear late Sunday, and no information was immediately available on memorial services, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth.
Posted on the Orange County Register
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