Ron Paul – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ron Paul Congressional photo portrait (2007) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district In office January 3, 1997 January 3, 2013 Preceded by Greg Laughlin Succeeded by Randy Weber Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 22nd district In office January 3, 1979 January 3, 1985 Preceded by Robert Gammage Succeeded by Tom DeLay In office April 3, 1976 January 3, 1977 Preceded by Robert Casey Succeeded by Robert Gammage Personal details Born Ronald Ernest Paul (1935-08-20) August 20, 1935 (age78) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. Political party Republican Party (19561988, 1988present) Libertarian Party (1988) Spouse(s) Carol Wells (m. 1957present) Children Ronnie Lori Rand Robert Joy Alma mater Gettysburg College (B.S.) Duke University (M.D.) Profession Physician Religion Southern Baptist Signature Website Campaign website Military service Service/branch United States Air Force Texas Air National Guard Years of service 19631965 19651968 Rank Captain[1]

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American physician, author, and former politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Texas' 14th and 22nd congressional districts. He represented the 22nd congressional district from 1976 and 1977 and from 1979 and 1985 and then represented the 14th congressional district, which included Galveston, from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate in the Republican primaries of 2008 and 2012. Paul is a critic of the federal government's fiscal policies, especially the existence of the Federal Reserve, the tax policy, the militaryindustrial complex, and the War on Drugs. Paul was the first chairman of the conservative PAC Citizens for a Sound Economy[2] and has been characterized as the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement.[3][4]

A native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Green Tree, Pennsylvania, Paul is a graduate of Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree. He served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force from 1963 to 1968. He worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist from the 1960s to the 1980s, delivering more than 4,000 babies.[5] He became the first Representative in history to serve concurrently with a child in the Senate when his son, Rand Paul, was elected to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky in 2010.[6]

Paul has been an active writer on the topics of political and economic theory, as well as publicizing the ideas of Austrian economists such as Murray Rothbard and Ludwig von Mises during his political campaigns. Paul has written many books on Austrian economics and classical liberal philosophy, beginning with The Case for Gold (1982) and including A Foreign Policy of Freedom (2007), Pillars of Prosperity (2008), The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), End the Fed (2009) and Liberty Defined (2011). Paul often publishes under the American Ludwig von Mises Institute, an institution he keenly promoted in his campaigns.

On July 12, 2011, Paul announced that he would forgo seeking another term in Congress in order to focus on his presidential bid.[7] On May 14, 2012, Paul announced that he would not be competing in any other presidential primaries but that he would still compete for delegates in states where the primary elections have already been held.[8] At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Paul received 190 delegate votes. In January 2013, Paul retired from Congress but still remains active on college campuses, giving speeches promoting his libertarian vision.[9][10]

Ronald Ernest Paul was born on August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, the son of Howard Caspar Paul, who ran a small dairy company, and Margaret ne Dumont.[11][12] His paternal grandfather emigrated from Germany, and his mother was of German and Irish ancestry.[11][13]

As a junior at suburban Dormont High School, he was the 220-yard dash state champion.[14] He graduated from Gettysburg College with a B.S. degree in Biology in 1957.[14]

Paul earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University's School of Medicine in 1961, and completed his medical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.[15][16] Paul served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the United States Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968. Paul and his wife then relocated to Texas, where he began a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology.[16]

While a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, which caused him to read other publications by Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics.[17]

When President Richard Nixon "closed the gold window" by ending American participation in the Bretton Woods System, thus ending the U.S. dollar's loose association with gold[17] on August 15, 1971, Paul decided to enter politics[18] and became a Republican candidate for the United States Congress.[19]

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Ron Paul - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia