Ron Paul

Ronald Ernest Paul was born on August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied biology at Gettysburg College and earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 1961. He later served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard before establishing a medical career in Texas, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.

Paul entered electoral politics in the 1970s. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 22nd congressional district in a 1976 special election. After an unsuccessful reelection campaign later that year, he returned to Congress in 1979 and served until 1985. He subsequently ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1984.

In 1988, Paul became the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee. He later returned to the Republican Party and was elected to the House in 1996, representing Texas's 14th congressional district from January 1997 through January 2013. During his congressional career, he became associated with positions emphasizing limited federal government, constitutional restrictions on federal power, monetary policy, and a non-interventionist approach to foreign affairs.

Paul sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and again in 2012. His campaigns attracted significant grassroots and internet-based support and brought his views on monetary policy, federal spending, civil liberties, and foreign policy to a wider national audience. He ended his congressional career in January 2013 after deciding not to seek reelection in 2012.

After leaving Congress, Paul continued writing and commenting on political and economic issues. He has authored several books, including The Revolution: A Manifesto and End the Fed. His son, Rand Paul, later became a U.S. senator from Kentucky.