Pete McCloskey, Republican who tried to unseat Richard Nixon, dies aged 96

The California congressman co-wrote the Endangered Species Act, co-founded Earth Day and in his later years disavowed the GOP

Pete McCloskey, a pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day, has died. He was 96.

A fourth-generation Republican “in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt”, he often said, McCloskey represented the 12th congressional district for 15 years, running for president against an incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972.