Dr. Ron Paul

A Biography

By Jonathan Jennings

Contents

1. Who is Ron Paul?2. What is a Libertarian?3. Dr. Paul’s Timeline4. Dr. Paul’s Early Life5. Dr. Paul’s Political Career6. Dr. Paul’s U.S. Presidential Election Results (1988, 2008-12)

7. U.S. Presidential Elections (1988, 2008-12)8. Dr. Paul’s Activism9. Newsletters Controversies10. Ron Paul Quotes11. Dr. Paul’s Family, Colleagues & Supporters12. Sources

Who is Ron Paul?

� American author, doctor & politician

� Born 20th August 1935 in Green Tree, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

� Elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican (1976-77, 1979-85 & 1997-2013)

� Stood for the Presidency three times (1988, 2008 & 2012)

� Stands on the libertarian wing of the Republican Party

� Was the official candidate of the Libertarian Party in the 1988 Presidential Election

What is a Libertarian?� (adj.) One who advocates

maximising individuals rights and minimising the role of the state; One who believes in free will.

� The notion that other people are not your property.

� The polar opposite of communism / fascism (cohesion).

� One who believes in economic and personal freedom (a free market of goods and ideas, autonomy over one’s own body etc.)

� All taxation is theft!� 18-19th century classical

liberalism (as opposed to modern social liberalism).

Dr. Paul’s Timeline

20.8.1935:Born inPittsburgh

1957:Graduated fromGettysburg College

(Biology)

1961:Earned hisdegree from

Duke University’sSchool of Medicine

1963:Joined theU.S.A.Fas a

flight surgeon

1957:Marriedwife Carol

1965:Joined the

U.S. Air NationalGuard

1968:Set up his ownmedical practice

in Texas

1974:First stoodfor electionto the

U.S. Congress

1976:Won and losthis seat inCongress

1976:Founded

FREE and his firstnewsletter

1978-82:Re-electedto Congress

1984:Failed in his bidto stand electionfor the Senate

1987:Resigned from theRepublican party

1988:Third in Presidential

poll as theLibertarian Partycandidate

1996:Re-electedto Congress

as a Republican

2008 & 2012:Failed to gainthe Republicannomination forthe Presidency

2008 to present:Founder / Chairman

of the C4L

2010:Rand

is electedto the Senate

2013:Retired fromCongress

7.1.1963:His son Randis born

Dr. Paul’s Early Life

� As a child he helped out in his family dairy business, worked as a paperboy and later at a drug store (pharmacy).

� In high school, he was a member of the track and field and wrestling teams and served as student council president.

� He met his wife Carol at high school and they married in his final year of college.

� Attended Duke University School of Medicine (graduated in 1961). Had an internship at Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, Michigan).

� Was a doctor in the U.S.A.F. (1963-5) and U.S. Air National Guard (1965-8).

� Opened his own practice in Texas and is said to have delivered over 4,000 babies during his medical career.

Dr. Paul’s Political Career� Lost his first election bid in 1974.

� First stint in Congress lasted only months.

� Wrote books on economic theory, advocating a return to the Gold Standard.

� Gold, Peace and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, 1981.

� The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission, 1982.

� Wrote about his pro-life and anti-government views in Abortion and Liberty (1983) and Liberty Defined (2011).

� Wants to reduce the burden of taxation by reducing the size of ‘big’ government and opposes the war on drugs.

Dr. Paul’s U.S. Presidential Election Results (1988, 2008-12)

Election 1988 2008 2012

Number of votes

431,750 42,426 26,204

% of the vote

0.47% 0.04% 0.02%

U.S. Presidential Elections (1988, 2008-12)

41,809,074

48,886,097

431,750

69,498,516

59,948,323

42,426

65,907,213

60,931,767

26,204

0

10,000,000

20,000,000

30,000,000

40,000,000

50,000,000

60,000,000

70,000,000

Votes

1988 2008 2012

Campaigns

DemocratCandidate

RepublicanCandidate

Dr. Ron Paul

Dr. Paul’s Activism

� “The intellectual godfather” of the Tea Partymovement.

� Founded and has served as the Chairman of the Campaign for Liberty (C4L) since June 2008.

� Signed with the Greater Talent Network speakers’ bureau to talk about freedom, liberty and the state of the union.

� Supported the Occupy Movement of 2011-2.� Created the Foundation for Rational Economics

and Education (FREE) in 1976 to promote free-market principles.

� Published a series of political and investment-related newsletters under his name from 1978 until the mid-1990s.

Newsletters Controversies� Dr. Paul’s newsletters contained a series of controversial statements

about homosexuals, African-Americans, Jews and conspiracy theories between 1988 and 1994.

� Martin Luther King Jr. is described as a paedophile and a “lying socialist satyr”.

� Questioned whether the Israeli Mossad were behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

� Claims “that AIDS is a deliberately engineered hybrid” virus developed by the World Health Organisation.

� Paraphrases an ex-cop’s following advice: “If you use a gun on a youth, you should leave the scene immediately, disposing of the wiped-off gun as soon as possible. Such a gun cannot, of course, be registered to you, but one bought privately (through the classifieds, for example)”.

� Originally took personal responsibility for many of these statements, or claimed he had been taken out of context during his 1996 Congressional election campaign.

� Later denied authorship during the 2008 Presidential Republican candidate primaries.

Ron Paul Quotes

� “Personal liberty is the purpose of government, to protect liberty – not to run your personal life, not to run the economy, and not to pretend that we can tell the world how they ought to live.”

� “Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple.”� “You want to get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let’s just get rid of all the drug laws.”

� “A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank.”

� “When one gets into bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads.”

� “Government is the enemy of liberty. Government should be very restrained.

� “Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defence.”

Dr. Paul’s Family, Colleagues & Supporters

Sources

� Dr. Ron Paul, Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (New York, Grand Central Publishing, 2011) – Non-ICT source

� Jjenningsitec’s Favorite Links on ICTProject from Diigo (https://www.diigo.com/user/Jjenningsitec/ICTProject)