David Nolan | A Libertarian founder, 66

David Nolan, 66, whose opposition to the Vietnam War and President Richard M. Nixon's wage and price controls impelled him in 1971 to join with a few friends to found the Libertarian Party to fight against government power, died Sunday in Tucson, Ariz.

Mark Hinkle, chairman of the party's national committee, said Mr. Nolan appeared to have had a heart attack or stroke while driving his car.

Although its membership has been relatively small, the Libertarian Party became a forceful voice for limiting government regulation of Americans' economic and political lives. It has argued for curbs on police power, lifting abortion limits, open immigration, and an end to foreign wars.

In recent elections, Libertarian positions were echoed in the firestorm of concern about deficits and government spending expressed most loudly by Republicans and tea party advocates. But Libertarians' dovish views on military involvement and liberal attitudes about abortion veer sharply from those of conservatives.

The party's mix of conservative and liberal positions reflects an underlying belief that almost all government power is inherently coercive.

The Libertarians grew to become commonly regarded as the nation's most enduring political party after the Democrats and Republicans; several times the party put a presidential candidate on the ballot in all 50 states. In this month's election, he ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Arizona held by John McCain, a Republican, who easily won reelection.

- N.Y. Times News Service