Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) was an activist and a politician—he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic candidate for the governorship of California in 1934—but he is best remembered for his muckraking journalism. In The Jungle, a novel that was based on the meatpacking industry that thrived near the Chicago stockyards, Sinclair exposed the unsanitary conditions in which American meat was processed. After the book’s release the sale of American meat collapsed, both domestically and internationally. In reaction, Congress quickly passed a series of federal laws meant to ensure standards of cleanliness and quality in the industry, including the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.