Ron Paul, 76, is a Texas congressman who has built a reputation in Washington for cutting his own path -- primarily because he says he doesn’t vote for anything unless it is specifically authorized by the Constitution.
His political beliefs include support for auditing the Federal Reserve, making gold and silver legal tender and withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. His campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination attracted avid online supporters, if few votes.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Paul graduated from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and the Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina. He served as a flight surgeon in the Air Force and in 1968 moved to Texas, where he established a medical practice as an obstetrician.
He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in an April 1976 special election, lost his seat that November, then was returned to the House in 1978. In 1984, he gave up his House seat for an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. In 1988 Paul was the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president, winning 431,750 votes, or 0.5 percent of the total.
Paul has written several books, including “Challenge to Liberty,” “The Case for Gold” and “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.” He and his wife, Carol Paul, have five children and 18 grandchildren. Paul’s high profile in Republican politics helped propel one of his sons, eye surgeon Rand Paul, to a U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky in 2010.
Ron Paul News
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U.S. Representative Ron Paul’s presidential campaign said today it had raised $4.5 million last month, bringing its total to more than $30 million.
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Ron Paul, trailing in delegates needed for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, could be positioning himself to force his party to accept changes in the way the Federal Reserve operates.
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While campaigning on calls to reduce government spending, three of the four Republican presidential candidates are receiving or will be eligible to draw taxpayer-financed pensions. Ron Paul is eligible, but he has opted out of the plan.
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Presidential candidate Ron Paul’s campaign committee sued the unidentified makers of a video attacking ex-Republican rival Jon Huntsman claiming it falsely implies it was made or endorsed by the Texas congressman.
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Polls show that in the U.S. Republican presidential primary two candidates without any personal military experience, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, are running stronger than two veterans, Ron Paul and Rick Perry.
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Four years ago, Ron Paul arrived at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, with just 15 delegates and was shunned by party elites who gave him no speaking role. Paul probably will be a more forceful presence at this summer’s Tampa, Florida, convention, to the consternation of some Republican leaders.
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Ron Paul called former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum a spendthrift with federal money as the Texas congressman began a five-day New Hampshire campaign push he said will highlight his Republican presidential rivals’ backing for “big government.”
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Texas Representative Ron Paul blasted former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum as a spendthrift with federal money, starting a five-day New Hampshire campaign push Paul said will highlight his Republican presidential rivals’ backing for “big government.”
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U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas dismissed criticism from Republican presidential rivals that his views are outside the U.S. political mainstream, saying he is “pretty electable.”
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When about 500 voters packed into a New Hampshire town hall last week to hear Ron Paul speak, they saved their biggest applause for something no other Republican presidential candidate is talking about.
Opinion From Bloomberg View
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In almost every recent Republican presidential debate, some candidates have advocated for a "strong dollar." What gets lost in this clamor is any discussion of winners and losers from a strong U.S. currency, and the recent correlation between the greenback's strength and declines in the stock market.
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Here's a fun game to liven up Republican presidential debates: Down a shot of some potent beverage each time one of the candidates mentions the need to return to the gold standard. You might not make it through the evening.
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We haven’t heard much, during the many Republican presidential debates this campaign, about some issues that actually are relevant to the presidency. Here are a few questions I’d like to hear the candidates address.
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The much-maligned Iowa phase of the campaign has been extraordinarily useful at clarifying the ideas, weaknesses and strengths of the Republican field.
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Mitt Romney, who as governor of Massachusetts turned to John Sasso for help in getting a health- care bill through the state legislature, may want to solicit the Democratic operative’s advice again, this time on how to handle Ron Paul.
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Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican and a candidate for the presidential nomination, doesn’t mind long odds, and doesn’t mind standing alone.
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It’s betting season in the Republican presidential primaries. Mitt Romney has proposed a $10,000 wager and Newt Gingrich has put $10 on the table. The one certain to remain in the game after the early contests is Texas Representative Ron Paul, who has a fervent following.
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Ron Paul performed a valuable public service when he unveiled a budget plan that shows exactly what balancing the $3.8 trillion budget through spending cuts would look like. Paul's blueprint, released Oct. 17, would balance the books in three years.
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Representative Ron Paul claims he could balance the budget in just three years. It's a radical blueprint, and the scary part is that Paul believes it can be done--without destroying the U.S. economy and its relationships with the rest of the world.
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Debate over the debt ceiling has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, with each side trying to outdo the other in a game of political chicken. If you believe some of the things that are being written, the world will come to an end if the U.S. defaults on even the tiniest portion of its debt.
Presidential Campaign News
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Updated 34 minutes ago
They drive trucks. They wait on tables. Some still have factory jobs. And they likely will determine which Republican presidential candidate walks away with one of Super Tuesday’s biggest prizes.
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Updated 18 minutes ago
Iranians voted today in the country’s first election since the disputed presidential contest of 2009 sparked mass protests, as sanctions targeting the country’s nuclear program squeeze the economy.
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Updated 27 minutes ago
Christina Hull Paxson, dean of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, will become Brown University’s 19th president.
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Updated 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
U.S. companies led by General Electric Co. and Pfizer Inc. stockpiled an additional $187 billion in untaxed overseas profits over the past year, boosting their offshore holdings by 18.4 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Updated 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
Investors are too bearish on Russian equities and should bet on a rally using options as Vladimir Putin will probably win the presidential election and implement reforms to stay in power, according to Societe Generale SA.
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Updated 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
After Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, two Democratic congressmen from New York, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last month, Engel’s wife summed it up:
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Updated 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he expects to win passage of a limited school-voucher program this year, even as the state’s largest teachers union tries to block it.
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Updated 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
Iranians voted today in the country’s first election since the disputed presidential contest of 2009 sparked mass protests, as sanctions targeting the country’s nuclear program squeeze the economy.
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Updated 59 minutes ago
U.S. food-stamp use, which Republicans have cited as evidence of a failing economy, rose 0.5 percent to a record in December, the government said.
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Updated 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
<p>Vladimir Putin may ride out a wave of protests and return to the presidency on the back of an economic track record that he says marks Russia out from the turmoil sweeping parts of Europe.</p><p>Polls show Putin, 59, may win about 60 percent of the vote in a March 4 election, enough to avoid a runoff. While that's down from the 71 percent he captured in 2004's election and the 70 percent garnered by Dmitry Medvedev four years later, it suggests that protests since a December parliamentary vote have failed to undermine his authority.</p><p>Left, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a candidate in the country's presidential election, speaks to campaign activists in Moscow, on Feb. 29.</p> Source: Photograph by Alexei Druzhinin, Government Press Service/AP
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