EPA was founded December 2, 1970, employs 17,000 people across the country & deals with United States environmental issues both domestically & abroad. President Richard Nixon proposed & Congress supported a strong, independent agency." that viewed "the environment as a whole." The President's charge to the first EPA Administrator [a 38-year-old Assistant Attorney General named William Ruckelshaus] was to treat "air pollution, water pollution and solid wastes as different forms of a single problem." The main purpose of the reorganization giving birth to EPA was to introduce a "broad systems approach [that]...would give unique direction to our war on pollution." Ruckelshaus said that he & EPA were starting with "no obligation to promote commerce or agriculture." By promising to enforce "reasonable standards of air quality," Ruckelshaus positioned himself as the government advocate of environmental progress; not merely a mediator between industry & the public. In fact, he envisioned for EPA a crucial role in the "development of an environmental ethic" among businessmen & citizens alike.