Ron Paul Campaigns in Maine

About the Author (Author Profile)

Ron Paul is an American politician, author and physician. He currently serves in the House of Representatives for the 14th Congressional District of Texas. He is well known for his contrarian views on the economy and foreign policy.

Born Ronald Ernest Paul in Pittsburgh on August 20, 1935, Mr. Paul attended Dormont High School, where he became the 220-yard dash state champion. He moved on to study at Gettysburg College, receiving a B.S. in biology in 1957. In 1961 he earned his Doctor of Medicine from Duke University. His early career years were spent as an intern at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. From 1963 to 1968 he served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard.

Mr. Paul relocated to Texas where he opened a private medical practice specializing in gynecology and obstetrics. He was well-liked in Brazoria county, where he was responsible for more than half of the local child births. He never accepted money from Medicare or Medicaid and often worked for free. Even during his terms in Washington D.C. he continued delivering babies on weekends in Texas.

During his residency in Detroit, Ron Paul was strongly influenced by the teachings of the Austrian School economists Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises as well as Ayn Rand’s novels and philosophy. He came to be good friends with Murray Rothbard, another well known Austrian economist. When Richard Nixon closed the gold window on August 15, 1971, Ron Paul decided to enter politics. He saw the departure from the gold standard as proof that Austrian economic theory is correct, for the Austrians had been warning for years that the United States would have to float the dollar or face default and bankruptcy.

With his free market ideals Mr. Paul entered Congress in 1976 after winning a special election for a vacant seat. He was defeated in the general election but won the seat back in 1978. He served in Congress until 1985, when he resigned after being defeated for a U.S. Senate seat.

Mr. Paul returned to his medical practice full time and ran for president in 1988 representing the Libertarian Party. He returned to Congress in 1997 after winning the general election.

Know as “Dr. No” by his fellow Congressmen, Mr. Paul has earned the respect of millions of people for his voting record. He consistently votes no on most bills knowing they are nothing more than pork barrel projects wrapped in thousands of sheets of paper. Since the 2008 financial crisis, his popularity has exploded as more and more people discover his Austrian-tuned economic discourse. To this day, on principle, he refuses to sign up for his Congressional pension.

Ron Paul lost a bid for the Republican Party presidential nomination for the 2008 elections. He is not running for re-election in 2012 in order to concentrate on another push for the White House.

Mr. Paul currently serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee and the Committee on Financial Service. Through the House Finance Committee he frequently spars with Fed chairman Ben Bernanke in a modern-day tug-of-war between Keynesian and Austrian economic theory.

Mr. Paul is the author of several books, including:

The Case For Gold
A Foreign Policy of Freedom
Pillars of Prosperity
The Revolution: A Manifesto
End the Fed
Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom