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Ron Paul
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district
In office 1976–1977; 1979–1985; 1997–present
Preceded by	Rob Casey; Bob Gammage; Greg Laughlin
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Carol Paul
Profession	Physician

Ronald Ernest “Ron” Paul (born 20 August 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman, physician (M.D.), and a 2008 presidential candidate from the U.S. state of Texas, seeking the nomination of the Republican party.

As a Republican, he has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, and had previously served as the representative from Texas's 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985.

Paul advocates the limited role of government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname "Dr. No" for voting against any bill he claims violates the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill. He has never voted to raise taxes or congressional pay. He has consistently voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the Iraq War.

Early life and education

Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Howard Caspar Paul (1904–1997), a dairy farmer, and Margaret Paul (1908–2001). He graduated from Dormont High School in Dormont, Pennsylvania, in 1953. Paul attended Gettysburg College, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1957, and the Duke University School of Medicine, where he received his M.D. in 1961. He did his internship and residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit from 1961 to 1962.

Paul was a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and served in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968, when he moved to Texas to take over a medical practice.

Paul began his medical practice in Texas as a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology and has delivered more than 4,000 babies. Paul didn't accept Medicare or Medicaid as a physician; instead, he would do the work for free or work out a lowered payment for needy patients.

Paul and his wife have five children, 17 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. He supported his children during their undergraduate and medical school years, refusing to allow them to take part in national student loan programs. He has not signed up for a congressional pension.

Early political career

He became a delegate to the Texas state Republican convention in 1974. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to Congress in 1974, a heavily Democratic year, against the incumbent Democrat Robert R. Casey. When President Gerald R. Ford appointed Casey as head of the Federal Maritime Commission, a special election was held in April 1976 to choose a new congressman. Paul won that election but lost six months later in the general election to Democrat Robert A. Gammage. He then defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch. Paul won new terms in 1980 and 1982.

Paul was the first congressman to propose term limit legislation for the House of Representatives, where he declined to attend junkets or register for a congressional pension. Paul was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 1984 GOP primary against Phil Gramm. In 1985, Paul returned to medical practice and was succeeded in his seat by Tom DeLay, then a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

In 1988, Paul won the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the U.S. Presidency. He placed third in the popular vote (with 431,750 votes - 0.47%), behind George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. Although he had been an early supporter of Ronald Reagan, Paul was critical of the unprecedented deficits incurred by Reagan's administration, for which his opponent George H.W. Bush had been vice-president.

Return to Congress

In 1996, Paul was again elected to the House as a Republican. Paul won the primary and went on to win the general election despite opponent Greg Laughlin's support from leaders within the Republican Party, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Leaders of the Texas Republican Party made similar efforts to defeat him in 1998, but he again won the primary and the election. The Republican congressional leadership then agreed to a compromise: Paul would vote with the Republicans on procedural matters, and remain nominally Republican, in exchange for the committee assignments normally due to him according to his seniority. Paul was re-elected in 2000 and 2002. Unopposed in 2004 he was re-elected to his ninth term in the Congress, and was re-elected again in 2006 for his tenth term by a 20-point margin.

Political affiliations and support

Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas. He also remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its national convention as recently as 2004.

Paul served as honorary chairman and is a current member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.

Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions (96.8% in 2005-2006) from individuals.

2008 Presidential Campaign

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Ron Paul formally declared his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination in March 12, 2007 as a guest on Washington Journal on C-SPAN. . Political analyst James Kotecki interviewed him regarding his candidacy, foreign policy, Congress and the Constitution, and personal liberties.

On February 20, 2007, prior to Paul formally announcing his candidacy, Radley Balko of FoxNews.com wrote an article titled "Ron Paul, the Real Republican?" Balko concludes the piece with these two sentences. "Of all the candidates so far declared, only Paul can credibly lay claim to the legacy of the Reagan-Goldwater revolution. How well he does, how long he lasts, and who ends up defeating him will reveal whether there's any limited government allegiance at all still stirring the Republican Party."

May 3 GOP Presidential Debates

Ron Paul participated along with nine other Republican presidential candidates in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library's 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007, sponsored by MSNBC. An ABC News article reported that the MSNBC hosted web based vote following the debate "registered Paul with higher positive ratings and lower negative numbers than any of the other nine candidates on the stage." As of May 9 Paul had received over 40% of the approximately 70,000 votes. In an ABC News debate vote on which Republican came out on top, Ron Paul garnered over 85%. The C-SPAN debate vote had similar results with over 70 percent casting their votes for Paul. ABC News attributed Paul's success to viral marketing by his supporters, noting that Paul has a "robust online presence".

Since May 9, 2007, the term "Ron Paul" has been listed as the #1 top Internet search term by Technorati.com and on May 9, 2007, was ranked #815 on Wikicharts, a measurement of most-viewed Misplaced Pages pages, above better-known Republican contenders such as Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and John McCain. The U.S. News & World Report article titled "Ron Paul's Online Rise" states "Technorati spokesman Aaron Krane confirmed that, to the best of the company's knowledge, the online support for Paul is genuine. (Tech-savvy devotees occasionally attempt to enlist programs called "bots" to artificially boost their candidate on search engines, but Krane said Technorati is usually able to detect and delete the cheaters.)"

In a May 10, 2007, article titled "Defeat the Media Clones" on LewRockwell.com Thomas Woods wrote that, "The same media establishment that bought the Iraq propaganda package and then claimed to be oh-so-sorry is now trying to keep out of the limelight the one presidential contender (Ron Paul) who has actually bucked the establishment and does something other than parrot government/media slogans."

On May 11, 2007, Jim Capo National Spokesman for the John Birch Society and writer for The New American, the organization's biweekly news magazine, published an article titled "Media Elites Struggle to Keep Ron Paul Under Wraps" in which the author observes that "the silent treatment of Ron Paul" in the mainstream media is "becoming deafening". He then criticizes "scientific off-line polls of a few thousand people that (the mainstream media) control and tell you about are correct".

A May 12, 2007, article on OpEdNews.com by Alex Wallenwein titled "MEDIA BLACKOUT BOOSTS PAUL CAMPAIGN" recommends that "the Paul campaign should probably avoid courting the media’s attention. Not only that, the campaign should actually avoid talking to big media reporters, period. Having big media cover the debates live is good enough. The Internet is very well capable of disseminating Ron Paul’s message of Hope for America. Big media always injects a sense of doom and hopelessness into everything they touch, anyway."

As of May 18, 2007, techPresident.com reports that Dr. Ron Paul's YouTube Video Website statistics have surged to place him well ahead of all other Republican candidates at 3,875 subscriptions and growing. The next closest Republican candidate, Romney, has 1,955 subscriptions. Of the Democratic candidates only Barack Obama has more YouTube subscriptions at 5,598.

According to Joshua Dorkin at TimeForBlogging.com, "As you can see, this candidate (Ron Paul) is fast becoming a real internet sensation, not a manufactured one. He generated passion and curiousity and the people took over from there. I don’t really foresee this guy ripping off his supporters by stealing their MySpace support page (really stupid move for Obama)."

May 15 GOP Presidential Debate

In a May 15, 2007, GOP debate in South Carolina, Paul took a close second (25%) to Romney, who received the most votes (29%) in a Fox News-sponsored unscientific poll. On other sites, such as ABC News and MSNBC, Paul was the night's winner, according to respondents in unscientific polls.

During the debate, Paul commented that America's history of interventionism in the Middle East has led to an unpopular view of the U.S. in Middle Eastern countries. Agreeing with what has previously been asserted by the 9/11 Commission Report and the CIA's specialists on al Qaeda, Paul stated that the CIA removal of an elected Iranian leader (the 1953 removal of the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohammed Mosaddeq in Operation Ajax) and the bombing of Iraq in the 1990s, culminating in the ongoing Iraq war, has led to increasing anti-American sentiment in the Middle East. He went on, stating that these events have also led to terrorists developing such a hatred for America that they're willing to die in suicide attacks and are able to recruit others for their cause. Then he said:

They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East . I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. Right now, we're building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting.

Rudy Giuliani interrupted to suggest Paul was implying that America had invited the September 11, 2001, attacks; he demanded a retraction and called the idea "absurd". Paul defended his previous statement, which did not mention 9/11, and further explained, "I believe the CIA is correct when it warns us about blowback. We overthrew the Iranian government in 1953 and their taking the hostages was the reaction. This dynamic persists and we ignore it at our risk. They’re not attacking us because we’re rich and free, they’re attacking us because we’re over there."

While Paul's assertions have received criticism, other reports have found that Ron Paul is factually correct with his assertion; as cited in the 9/11 Commission Report, Osama bin Laden's 1996 fatwa called "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places," published in Britain, reveals his anger with American policies as his reason for declaring a fatwa. In his fatwa, bin Laden cites the reasons for attacking America. In order, they are:

1. American involvement in the Middle East, including U.S. armies in Saudi Arabia
2. Palestine, and
3. Bombings of Iraq in the 1990s

The Nation detailed how the CIA's former bin Laden and al Qaeda specialist, Michael Scheuer, told CNN, "We're being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live." Chalmers Johnson, a CIA analyst, political scientist and author of the year 2000 book "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire" spoke of blowback in regards to the September 11 attacks in October 2001.

In a press release following the debate, Paul's campaign chairman Kent Snyder said in response to Giuliani, "It is clear from his interruption that former Mayor Giuliani has not read the 9-11 Commission Report and has no clue on how to keep America safe" and on May 16, 2007, during an appearance on The Situation Room with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Paul asked for an apology from Giuliani and suggested that Giuliani should read the 9/11 Commission's Report.

Andrew Sullivan, an early supporter of the war, responded to Paul's remarks by saying:

The question serious supporters of a real war on terror must now ask is: will continuing the fight in Iraq help reverse this trend or cement it for decades to come? Is the war making us less secure and the world much less safe? Would withdrawal or continued engagement makes things better? At the very least, it seems to me, this question should be on the table in the Iraq debate. And yet the Republicans - with the exception of Ron Paul - don't even want to talk about it. Until they do, they are not a party serious about national security.

In the debate, only Paul and McCain did not endorse torture.

Political positions

In his 2008 presidential campaign, Paul has stated that he would like to "reinstate the Constitution and restore the Republic." His voting record is consistent in rejection of a welfare state role for the federal government, and advocacy of hard currency and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

Paul is the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq war in 2002 and has offered alternatives, such as granting the President authority to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which would allow war to be carried out against individuals rather than foreign countries, and allowing armed pilots.

Paul's desire to secure U.S. borders remains a key topic in his 2008 presidential campaign. He opposes the North American Union proposition and its proposed integration of Mexico, the United States of America, and Canada. Paul voted "yes" on the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorizes the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico. Paul opposes illegal immigration as well as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

In the May 3, 2007, GOP Debate, Paul stated that as President, he would seek the immediate abolition of the IRS and the abolition of the income tax. As Congressman, he has long fought for the prohibition of direct taxes by repeal of the 16th Amendment which created the income tax.

Paul is pro-life, but supports allowing individual states to decide on the legality of abortion instead of the federal government.

Paul said, "There is but one special interest that we should be working for, and that would solve just about all of our problems, and that is our Liberty."

Allegations of racism

A 1996 article in the Houston Chronicle alleges that Ron Paul made comments in his newsletter that could be construed as racist, and that this could help his political opponents . In a 2001 interview, Paul revealed that the comments had been made by a ghostwriter on his staff, but since they were under his name, he felt a "moral responsibility" for them.

In his weekly column, Paul criticizes racism, calling it a form of collectivism that groups an entire race into one, rather than judging people individually. At the same time, he defends the free-speech rights of people to say what they wish, and criticizes people who defend minorities by "presuming to speak collectively for minority groups."

See also

• Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008

Books by Ron Paul

• Challenge to Liberty. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
• Gold, Peace, and Prosperity. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
• Ten Myths About Paper Money. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
• The Case for Gold. Reprinted by Cato Institute, 1982; Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. ISBN 0-932790-31-3. ()
• A Republic, If You Can Keep It
• Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1984.
• Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution After 200 Years. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 1987. ( Book distributed with permission in 7 parts in pdf-format)
• A Foreign Policy of Freedom. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 2007. ISBN 0-912453-00-1

Footnotes

1. http://news.com.com/They+call+him+Dr.+No+for+good+reason/2010-1071_3-940767.html
2. http://www.house.gov/paul/bio.shtml
3. http://dailypaul.com/node/53
4. http://www.wargs.com/political/paul.html
5. http://dailypaul.com/node/53
6. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070323/23paulfacts.htm
7. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070323/23paulfacts.htm
8. Paul vs. Laughlin - Ron Paul's campaign against Representative Greg Laughlin on Find Articles accessed on May 5 2007
9. Paul vs. Laughlin - Ron Paul's campaign against Representative Greg Laughlin on Find Articles accessed on May 5 2007
10. Paul vs. Laughlin - Ron Paul's campaign against Representative Greg Laughlin on Find Articles accessed on May 5 2007
11. State Races, Texas on CNN accessed at March 4 2007
12. Liberator online archive on Advocates for self-governing accessed at March 4 2007
13. Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida accessed at March 4 2007
14. Martin, Gary (2007-03-12). "Paul formally launches presidential bid". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
15. Ron Paul announcing candidacy on C-SPAN
16. James Kotecki interviews Ron Paul
17. "Ron Paul, the Real Republican?" FoxNews.com accessed May 9, 2007.
18. ABC analysis of "The Ron Paul Effect"
19. "MSNBC Republican Debate Poll" MSNBC accessed May 9, 2007.
20. "WHICH REPUBLICAN CAME OUT ON TOP?" ABC News
21. "Ron Paul Press Hub Polls"
22. ABC analysis of "The Ron Paul Effect"
23. Ron Paul's Online Rise
24. wikicharts
25. Ron Paul's Online Rise
26. "Defeat the Media Clones" LewRockwell.com
27. "Media Elites Struggle to Keep Ron Paul Under Wraps" The John Birch Society
28. "MEDIA BLACKOUT BOOSTS PAUL CAMPAIGN" OpEdNews.com
29. "YouTube stats" techPresident.com
30. "The Real 2008 Political Internet Sensation: Ron Paul" TimeForBlogging.com
31. You Decide: Viewers Say Who Won Tuesday Night's GOP Presidential Debate Fox News Poll for May 15 GOP debate
34. "Rudy Giuliani Vs. Ron Paul, and Reality". The Nation. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
35. "Rudy Giuliani Vs. Ron Paul, and Reality". The Nation. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
36. "Rudy Giuliani Vs. Ron Paul, and Reality". The Nation. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
37. {ISBN 0805062394}
38. "Blowback". The Nation. 2001-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
39. Ron Paul Press Release May 16, 2007
40. "May 16, 2007". The Situation Room. May 16, 2007. CNN. {{cite episode}}: Check |episodelink= value (help); External link in |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
41. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/blowback.html#more
42. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/la-oe-brooks18may18,0,2989659.column?coll=la-util-opinion-sunday
43. "Ron Paul talks about the abusive Patriot Act!"
44. Houston Chronicle reprint
45. http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2007/05/17/the-attack-machine-goes-after-ron-paul/
46. http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst041607.htm

References

• Gwynne, Sam (1 October 2001). Texas Monthly.
• Bernstein, Alan (23 May 1996). “Newsletter excerpts offer ammunition to Paul's opponent; GOP hopeful quoted on race, crime”, The Houston Chronicle, p. A33.

External links

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• Official Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Website
• Official Ron Paul 2008 YouTube Video Website
• Official Ron Paul 2008 Meetups and Calendars
• Official Ron Paul 2008 Forums
• Official Ron Paul 2008 MySpace Page
• Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Summary
• Ron Paul in America: Freedom to Fascism
• Official Website of Congressman Ron Paul
• On the Issues - Ron Paul issue positions and quotes
• United States Congress. "Ron Paul (id: P000583)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Project Vote Smart - Ron Paul
• Congresspedia - Ron Paul
• Online NewsHour - Ron Paul
• Ron Paul's Voting Record - Washington Post
• Ron Paul 2005-2006 Campaign Contributions
• Ron Paul's Financial Disclosure statement 1st quarter 2007
• Congressman Ron Paul and Medical Marijuana
• Congressman Ron Paul Talks About Gold, Oil & the Economy
• Audio: A Texas Republican Comes Out Against the War in Iraq
• National Taxpayers Union Honors Ron Paul as “Taxpayers’ Friend”
• Ron Paul Articles and Archives on LewRockwell.com
• We Just Marched In (So We Can Just March Out) by Ron Paul before the U.S. House of Representatives on April 17, 2007
• Iran: The Next Neocon Target by Ron Paul before the U.S. House of Representatives on April 5, 2006
• Is America a Police State? by Ron Paul before the U.S. House of Representatives on June 27, 2002
• The American Dream - Through the Eyes of Mrs. Ron Paul by Carol Paul on TheDailyPaul.com
• Taking Ron Paul Seriously by Andrew Sullivan
• Ron Paul's Official Facebook Profile
• Ron Paul's Largest Facebook Support Group created by Jeff Frazee
• Students for Paul created by Jeff Frazee

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