Richard O. Simpson, a self-made Republican businessman who as the first chairman of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission aggressively protected the American public from buying millions of risky goods, died on July 21 in DeLand, Fla., north of Orlando.
His death, in a hospital near his home, was confirmed by his daughter Karen Simpson Tweedie.
Mr. Simpson was appointed to the commission by President Richard M. Nixon in 1973, shortly after it was created by a Democratic Congress.
Still, during his three-year tenure, the commission declared some 25 million items unsafe and demanded that they be recalled, repaired or replaced.
They included flammable mattresses, TV antennas that could lead to electrocution and pill bottles without child-resistant caps.
Persons:
Richard O, Simpson, Karen Simpson Tweedie, Richard M, Nixon
Organizations:
federal, Product Safety, Democratic
Locations:
DeLand, Fla, Orlando