Ron Paul

Ronald Ernest Paul was born on August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, the son of Howard Caspar Paul (1904–1997), who ran a small dairy company, and Margaret Paul (née Dumont; 1908–2001). His paternal grandfather emigrated from Germany, Ron Paul has two older brothers, William and David, and two younger brothers, Jerrold and Wayne. As a junior at suburban Dormont High School, he was the 200-meter dash state champion. He graduated with a B.S. degree in biology in 1957. Paul earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University's School of Medicine in 1961, and completed his medical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. One child that he helped deliver was famous Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. == Early congressional career (1976–1985) ==

While a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, which caused him to read other publications by Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits his interest in the study of economics to them. Paul decided to enter politics, and became a Republican candidate for the United States Congress. Elections In 1974, incumbent Robert R. Casey defeated him for the 22nd district. Paul lost the next regular election to Democrat Robert Gammage by fewer than 300 votes (0.2%), but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch, and was reelected in 1980 and 1982. Gammage underestimated Paul's popularity among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner." Tenure Paul served in Congress three different periods: first from 1976 to 1977, after he won a special election, then from 1979 to 1985, and finally from 1997 to 2013. In his early years, Paul served on the House Banking Committee, where he blamed the Federal Reserve for inflation and spoke against the banking mismanagement that resulted in the savings and loan crisis. In 1984, Paul became the first chairman of the Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), In 2004, Citizens for a Sound Economy split into two new organizations, with Citizens for a Sound Economy being renamed as FreedomWorks, and Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation becoming Americans for Prosperity. The two organizations would become key players in the Tea Party movement from 2009 onward. Paul proposed term-limit legislation multiple times. In 1984, he decided to retire from the House in order to run for the U.S. Senate, complaining in his House farewell address that "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare... It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic." Paul lost the Republican primary to Phil Gramm, who had switched parties the previous year from Democrat to Republican. Another candidate of the senatorial primary was Henry Grover, a conservative former state legislator who had lost the 1972 gubernatorial general election to Democrat Dolph Briscoe, Jr. On Paul's departure from the House, his seat was filled by former state representative Tom DeLay, who would later become House majority leader. == Libertarian Party and ventures ==

1985–1997 Following the loss of the 1984 senate race, Paul returned to his obstetrics practice and took part in a number of other business ventures. Along with his former congressional chief of staff, Lew Rockwell, Paul founded a for-profit enterprise, Ron Paul & Associates, Inc. (RP&A) in 1984, with Paul serving as president, Rockwell as vice president, Paul's wife Carol as secretary, and daughter Lori Pyeatt as treasurer. The company published a variety of political and investment-oriented newsletters, including Ron Paul Freedom Report and Ron Paul Survival Report, and by 1993 was generating revenues in excess of $900,000. Paul also co-owned a mail-order coin dealership, Ron Paul Coins, for twelve years with Burt Blumert, who continued to operate the dealership after Paul resumed office in 1996. Paul spoke multiple times at the American Numismatic Association's 1988 convention. His candidacy was seen as problematic because of the party's platform position of support for freedom of choice on abortions. Native American activist Russell Means, Paul's rival for the nomination, emphasized that he was in favor of abortion rights. In a forum held prior to the nomination, Means dismissed the greater funds raised by Paul's campaign, commenting that Means was receiving "10 times more press" than the former Congressman and was therefore "100 times more effective". On September 25, 1988, American psychologist and psychedelic advocate Timothy Leary held a fundraiser for Paul, who attended the event. Journalist Debra Saunders attended and wrote about her experience. In the 1988 presidential election, Paul was on the ballot in 46 states, scoring third in the popular vote with 432,179 votes (0.5%). Paul was kept off the ballot in Missouri due to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch termed a "technicality," and received votes there only when written in, just as he did in North Carolina. According to Paul, his presidential campaign was about more than obtaining office; he sought to promote his libertarian ideas, often to school and university groups regardless of vote eligibility. He said, "We're just as interested in the future generation as this election. These kids will vote eventually, and maybe, just maybe, they'll go home and talk to their parents." but instead chose to endorse Republican Pat Buchanan that year, and served as an adviser to Buchanan's ultimately unsuccessful presidential primary campaign against incumbent President George H. W. Bush. == Later congressional career (1997–2013) ==

Elections ;1996 campaign During 1996, Paul was re-elected to Congress after a difficult campaign. The Republican National Committee endorsed incumbent Greg Laughlin in the primary; Paul won with assistance from baseball pitcher, constituent, and friend Nolan Ryan, tax activist and publisher Steve Forbes he defeated Friendswood city councilman Chris Peden, with over 70 percent of the vote and ran unopposed in the general election. In the 2010 Republican primary, Paul defeated three opponents with 80 percent of the vote. On July 12, 2011, Paul announced that he would not seek re-election to the House in order to pursue the 2012 presidential election. Tenure ;Legislation In 2009, Paul authored H.R. 2121, a bill which allowed a federal customhouse to be sold to a local historic preservation society. This bill was later signed into law. By amending other legislation, he helped prohibit funding for national identification numbers, funding for federal teacher certification, In November 1997, Paul was one of eighteen Republicans in the House to co-sponsor a resolution by Bob Barr that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton. This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the eruption of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. The eruption of that scandal would ultimately lead to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton in 1998. On October 8, 1998, Paul voted in favor of legislation that was passed to open an impeachment inquiry. On December 19, 1998, Paul voted in favor of all four proposed articles of impeachment against Clinton (only two of which received the needed majority of votes to be adopted). Two days prior, on December 16, Paul had stated that he would vote to impeach based on Clinton's military attacks in the Middle East, namely the 1998 bombing of Iraq and Operation Infinite Reach, and not necessarily the Lewinsky scandal, which he described as far less serious than the "unconstitutionality of presidents waging wars". In June 2005, he was the sole congressperson to vote against H.Res.199, to commemorate and condemn the Srebrenica massacre and the Bosnian genocide during the breakup of Yugoslavia. ;Affiliations Paul was honorary chairman of, and is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action committee that describes its goal as electing "liberty-minded, limited-government individuals". He is an initiating member of the Congressional Rural Caucus, which deals with agricultural and rural issues, and the 140-member Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus. Committee assignments Paul served on the following committees and subcommittees. • Committee on Financial Services • Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology (chairman) • Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade • Committee on Foreign Affairs • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations With the election of the 112th Congress, and a resulting GOP majority in the House, Paul became the chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology starting in January 2011. Paul's congressional career ended on January 3, 2013, with the swearing in of the 113th Congress. == 2008 presidential campaign ==

2008 Republican primary campaign , June 2007 Paul formally declared his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination on March 12, 2007, on C-SPAN. Few major politicians endorsed him, and his campaign was largely ignored by traditional media. However, he attracted an intensely loyal grassroots following, interacting through internet social media. In May 2007, shortly after the first televised primary debates, the blogs search engine site Technorati.com listed Paul's name as the term most frequently searched for; Paul fundraised more money than any other Republican candidate in the fourth quarter of 2007, as the primary season headed into the Iowa caucuses. Despite benefiting from campaign contributions from individual donors, and the supporters determined to keep his name a frequent topic of discussion on the internet, and the January 8 New Hampshire primary (8%). With the exception of the Nevada caucuses January 19, where he came in 2nd (14%) behind Mitt Romney (51%), he did little better through the rest of January: Michigan 4th (6%), South Carolina 5th (4%), Florida 5th (3%). On Super Tuesday, February 5, he placed 4th in almost every state, generally taking in a mere 3–6% of the votes although he did better in the northern states of North Dakota (21%, 3rd place) and Montana (25%, 2nd place). By March, front-runner John McCain had secured enough pledged delegates to guarantee that he would win the nomination, and Romney and Mike Huckabee had both formally withdrawn from the race. Paul, who had won no state primaries, knew that it was now impossible for him to win the nomination, as he had captured only 20—40 pledged delegates compared to more than 1,191 for McCain, yet he refused to concede the race and said that it was unlikely that he would ultimately endorse McCain. Over the next few weeks, Paul's supporters clashed with establishment Republicans at several county and state party conventions over state party rules, the party platforms, and selection of delegates for the national convention. In one instance, Nevada's state party leaders in response to Paul's supporters at the state nominating convention, resorted to prematurely shutting down the convention before selecting national delegates, with a plan to reconvene at a later date. On June 12, 2008, Paul withdrew his bid for the Republican nomination. He later said that one of the reasons he did not run in the general election as a third-party candidate, after losing the primaries, was that, as a concession to gain ballot access in certain states, he had signed legally binding agreements to not run a third-party campaign if he lost the primary. Some of the $4 million remaining campaign contributions was invested into the political action and advocacy group called Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty. Endorsement after ending campaign '', held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 2, 2008 At a September 10, 2008, press conference, Paul announced his general support of four third-party candidates: Cynthia McKinney (Green Party); Bob Barr (Libertarian Party); Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party); and Ralph Nader (independent). He said that each of them had pledged to adhere to a policy of balancing budgets, bringing the troops home, defending privacy and personal liberties, and investigating the Federal Reserve. Paul also said that under no circumstances would he be endorsing either of the two main parties' candidates (McCain—Republican Party, or Obama—Democratic Party) because there were no real differences between them, and because neither of them, if elected, would seek to make the fundamental changes in governance that were necessary. He urged instead that, rather than contribute to the "charade" that the two-party election system had become, the voters support the third-party candidates as a protest vote, to force change in the election process. Later that same day, Paul gave a televised interview with Nader saying much the same again. Two weeks later, "shocked and disappointed" that Bob Barr (the Libertarian nominee) had pulled out of attending the press conference at the last minute and had admonished Paul for remaining neutral and failing to say which specific candidate Paul would vote for in the general election, Paul released a statement saying that he had decided to endorse Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate, for president. Paul withdrew from active campaigning in the last weeks of the primary election period. He received 42,426 votes, or 0.03% of the total cast, in the general election. == 2012 presidential campaign ==

2012 Republican primary campaign , Nevada, in October 2011 Paul won several early straw polls for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and formed an official exploratory committee in late April 2011. He participated in the first Republican presidential debate on May 5, 2011 and on May 13, 2011, formally announced his candidacy in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America. He placed second in the 2011 Ames Straw Poll, missing first by 0.9%. Paul indicated in a June 2011 interview that if nominated, he would consider former New Jersey Superior Court judge Andrew Napolitano as his running mate. In December 2011, with Paul's increased support, the controversy over racist and homophobic statements in several Ron Paul newsletters in the 1980s and early 1990s once again gained media attention. During this time Paul supporters asserted that he was continually ignored by the media despite his significant support, citing examples where television news shows failed to mention Paul in discussions of the Republican presidential hopefuls even when he was polling second. Iowa Ron Paul's presidential campaign managers Jesse Benton, John Tate and Demetri Kesari were all found guilty of paying former Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson $73,000 to switch his support from Rep. Michele Bachmann to Paul. In court papers filed in August 2014, Sorenson said that he had been paid by both presidential campaigns for his endorsement and pled guilty to criminal charges stemming from the incident. Paul came in third in the Iowa Republican Caucus held on January 3, 2012. Out of a turnout of 121,503 votes, Paul took 26,036 (21%) of the certified votes. Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney finished in a virtual tie for first place with 25% each, although Ron Paul had ultimately won Iowa at the Republican National Convention gathering 22 delegates to Mitt Romney's 5. In the New Hampshire primary held on January 10, 2012, Paul received 23% of the votes and came in second after Romney's 39%. South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada on the day of the 2012 Michigan primary Paul's results then declined, despite the withdrawal of candidates Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry. He had fourth-place finishes in the next two primaries, on January 21 in South Carolina (with 13% of the vote) and on January 31 in Florida (where he received 7% of the vote). On February 4, Paul finished third in Nevada with 18.8% of the vote. Three non-binding primaries were held on February 7; Paul took 3rd place in Colorado and Missouri with 13% and 12% of the vote, respectively. He fared better in Minnesota with 27%, finishing second to Rick Santorum. On May 14, Paul's campaign announced that due to lack of funds (though despite financial backing from financiers Peter Thiel and Mark Spitznagel) he would no longer actively campaign for votes in the 11 remaining primary states, including Texas and California, that had not yet voted. He would, however, continue to seek to win delegates for the national party convention in the states that had already voted. Alleged irregularities In June, a group of 132 supporters of Paul, demanding the freedom as delegates to the upcoming Republican Party National Convention to cast votes for Paul, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Republican National Committee and 55 state and territorial Republican party organizations for allegedly coercing delegates to choose Mitt Romney as the party's presidential nominee. The suit alleged that there had been "a systematic campaign of election fraud at state conventions", employing rigging of voting machines, ballot stuffing, and falsification of ballot totals. The suit further pointed to incidents at state conventions, including acts of violence and changes in procedural rules, allegedly intended to deny participation of Paul supporters in the party decision-making and to prevent votes from being cast for Paul. An attorney representing the complainants said that Paul campaign advisor Doug Wead had voiced support for the legal action. Republican National convention Paul declined to speak at the Republican National Convention as a matter of principle, saying that the convention planners had demanded that his remarks be vetted by the Romney campaign and that he make an unqualified endorsement of Romney. Paul had felt that "It wouldn't be my speech... That would undo everything I've done in the last 30 years. I don't fully endorse him for president." Supporters and media commentators had noted that the delegations from states where Paul had had the most support were given the worst seats in the convention hall, while delegations from regions with no electoral votes, such as the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico, were given prime seats at the front. Endorsement after ending campaign As in 2008, Paul ultimately refused to endorse the ticket selected by the Republican Party in 2012. He said that there was no essential difference between Romney and his Democratic opponent, President Obama, on the most critical policies: "I've been in this business a long time and believe me there is essentially no difference from one administration to another no matter what the platforms... The foreign policy stays the same, the monetary policy stays the same, there's no proposal for any real cuts and both parties support it." Paul received 26,204 write-in votes, or 0.02% of the total cast in the election. == Political party identification ==

Throughout his entire tenure in Congress, Paul has represented his district as a member of the Republican Party; however, he has frequently taken positions in direct opposition to the other members and the leadership of the party, and he has sometimes publicly questioned whether he really belonged in the party. Paul voted for Dwight D. Eisenhower for president in 1956 when he was 21 years old. He had been a lifelong supporter of the Republican Party by the time he entered politics in the mid-1970s. and he actively campaigned for Reagan in 1976 and 1980. After Reagan's election in 1980, Paul quickly became disillusioned with the Reagan administration's policies. He later recalled being the only Republican to vote against Reagan budget proposals in 1981, aghast that "in 1977, Jimmy Carter proposed a budget with a $38 billion deficit, and every Republican in the House voted against it. In 1981, Reagan proposed a budget with a $45 billion deficit—which turned out to be $113 billion—and Republicans were cheering his great victory. They were living in a storybook land." Paul predicted that "the Republicans are on their way out as a major party," He added that in terms of a political label he preferred to call himself "a constitutionalist. In Congress I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the (Republican) platform." In the 2012 presidential campaign, during which he acknowledged it was unlikely that he would win the Republican Party nomination, Paul again asserted that he was participating in the Republican Party on his own terms, trying to persuade the rest of the party to move toward his positions rather than joining in with theirs. He expressed doubt that he would support any of his rivals should they win the nomination, warning that, "If the policies of the Republican Party are the same as the Democrat Party and they don't want to change anything on foreign policy, they don't want to cut anything, they don't want to audit the Fed and find out about monetary policy, they don't want to have actual change in government, that is a problem for me." On that same theme he said in another interview, "I would be reluctant to jump on board and tell all of the supporters that have given me trust and money that all of a sudden, I'd say, [all] we've done is for naught. So, let's support anybody at all ... even if they disagree with everything that we do." == Political positions ==

Paul has been described as conservative and libertarian. and is the most conservative of the candidates that had sought the 2012 Republican nomination for president. Other analyses have judged Paul much more moderate. The National Journal, for instance, rated Paul only the 145th-most-conservative member of the House of Representatives (out of 435) based on votes cast in 2010. The National Journals analysis gave Paul a 2011 composite ideological rating of 54% liberal and 46% conservative. The foundation of Paul's political philosophy is the conviction that "the proper role for government in America is to provide national defense, a court system for civil disputes, a criminal justice system for acts of force and fraud, and little else." He has been nicknamed "Dr. No", reflecting both his medical degree and his insistence that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution." In 2008, Paul spoke at the John Birch Society's 50th-anniversary celebration. Foreign policy An anti-war activist, Paul promotes a noninterventionist foreign policy and an end to American imperialism. He advocates withdrawal from the United Nations and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, for reasons of maintaining strong national sovereignty. Paul voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists in response to the September 11 attacks, but suggested war alternatives such as authorizing the president to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal targeting specific terrorists, in lieu of launching an Afghanistan invasion. An opponent of the Iraq War and potential war with Iran, he has criticized neoconservatism and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, arguing that both inadvertently cause terrorist reprisals against Americans, such as the 9/11 attacks. Paul has stated that "Israel is our close friend" and that it is not the place of the United States to "dictate how Israel runs her affairs". Paul, a critic of the US's implementation of most foreign aid, said in 2011 that "it was our foreign aid that helped Mubarak retain power to repress his people in the first place." Following the Orange Revolution protests in 2004, which led to Viktor Yanukovych's ouster from government, Paul accused the National Endowment for Democracy of having staged a coup in Ukraine. Paul supported the 2014 Crimean status referendum, for which he was called a friend of Vladimir Putin by The Atlantic, and has objected to sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War and foreign aid to Ukraine. Domestic issues Paul endorses constitutional rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and habeas corpus for political detainees. He was one of only three Republicans in the House to vote against the Patriot Act. Paul opposes federal use of torture, presidential autonomy, a national identification card, warrantless domestic surveillance, and the draft. He has also called for shutting down the TSA and moving matters of airline security to private businesses. Paul believes that the notion of the separation of church and state is currently misused by the court system: "In case after case, the Supreme Court has used the infamous 'separation of church and state' metaphor to uphold court decisions that allow the federal government to intrude upon and deprive citizens of their religious liberty." After the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Paul commented on the tactics used by governing forces into a harsh criticism that he has written as a "military-style occupation of an American city". on his office wall. He regularly voted against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes; he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period. and states he has never voted to approve a budget deficit. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual income tax by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels; with government operations being primarily financed through excise taxes and non-protectionist tariffs. He endorses eliminating most federal government agencies, terming them unnecessary bureaucracies. On April 15, 2011, Paul was one of four Republican members of Congress to vote against Representative Paul Ryan's budget proposal, known as "The Path to Prosperity". Paul has consistently warned of hyperinflation and called for a return to the gold standard as far back as 1981. From 1999 until his retirement, he introduced bills into each Congress seeking to eliminate the Federal Reserve System in a single year, a position he outlines in his 2009 book End the Fed. Paul is a strong proponent of free trade, once saying that "free trade is an answer to a lot of conflicts around the world". He has also advocated for open trade and better relations with the country of Cuba. In addition, Paul argued in 2012 that "as well intentioned as sanctions are, they almost always backfire and hurt the people." Paul has described his interest in ending wars and lowering military spending as partly an "economic issue", adding, "We'd save a lot of money by not being engaged [in overseas conflict] like this." He rejects the scientific consensus on climate change and has claimed that global warming is a hoax in a 2009 Fox Business interview. Healthcare Paul has stated, "The government shouldn't be in the medical business." He pushes to eliminate federal involvement with and management of health care, which he argues would allow prices to decrease due to the fundamental dynamics of a free market. He also opposes federal government influenza inoculation programs. Immigration Paul endorses increased border security and opposes welfare for illegal immigrants, birthright citizenship, and amnesty; he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. In a 2019 interview, Paul expressed disapproval of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall along the southern US border, saying, "I don't like walls. I don't want to wall people in and wall people out." Ballots and voting Paul is an outspoken proponent of increased ballot access for third-party candidates. He has sought to repeal the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Motor Voter law. Secession Paul has stated that secession from the United States "is a deeply American principle" and that "If the possibility of secession is completely off the table there is nothing to stop the federal government from continuing to encroach on our liberties and no recourse for those who are sick and tired of it." Paul wrote the remarks in a post on his Congressional website in one of his final public statements as a member of Congress, noting that many petitions had been submitted to the White House calling for secession in the wake of the November 2012 election. Social issues Convention Citing the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, Paul advocates states' rights to decide how to regulate social matters not cited directly by the Constitution. He opposes federal regulation of such matters as the death penalty (although he opposes capital punishment), of education, of drugs, and of marriage. Regarding same-sex marriage, he stated in 2011 that "My personal opinion is government shouldn't be involved. The whole country would be better off if individuals made those decisions and it was a private matter." He endorsed revising the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to concern mainly disruptive sexual behavior (whether heterosexual or homosexual). His abortion-related legislation, such as the Sanctity of Life Act in 2005, is intended to negate Roe v. Wade and to get "the federal government completely out of the business of regulating state matters." Paul says his years as an obstetrician led him to believe that life begins at conception. Paul was critical of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that it sanctioned federal interference in the labor market and did not improve race relations. He once remarked: "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 not only violated the Constitution and reduced individual liberty; it also failed to achieve its stated goals of promoting racial harmony and a color-blind society". Paul opposes affirmative action. Paul opposes the federal war on drugs, and advocates that states should decide whether to regulate or deregulate drugs such as medical and recreational marijuana, and other substances. In 2001, he joined with Democratic Congressman Barney Frank in helping pass the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act (H.R. 2592), an attempt to stop the federal government from preempting states' medical marijuana laws. Paul again partnered with Frank in support of online gambling rights. In 2006, both strongly opposed H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, and H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In June 2018, Paul posted a tweet containing a racist cartoon and a caption which invoked the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory. The tweet read "Are you stunned by what has become of American culture? Well, it's not an accident. You've probably heard of 'Cultural Marxism,' but do you know what it means?" The tweet was later deleted with an apology, stating that a staff member had inadvertently posted what Paul described as an "offensive cartoon". == Post-congressional career ==

student activism organization In April 2013, Paul founded the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, a foreign policy think tank that seeks to promote his non-interventionist views. The institute is part of his larger foundation Foundation for Rational Economics and Education. In the same month, he began to offer the Ron Paul Curriculum, a homeschool online curriculum developed by Gary North and taught from a "free market and Christian" perspective. In June 2013, Paul criticized the NSA surveillance program and praised Edward Snowden for having performed a "great service to the American people by exposing the truth about what our government is doing in secret". In April 2015, Paul began appearing in infomercials for Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, warning about an upcoming financial meltdown as a result of the imminent crash of the world's currencies. In March 2017, Paul predicted a market downturn again. Paul was a critic of President Trump's plans to increase the number of military personnel in Afghanistan. In August 2017, he said that Americans do not see Afghanistan as a threat to their personal security and being aggressive in foreign policy only loses Trump some of his support base. Paul has also called for Trump to bring American troops back from Syria in April 2018, on the grounds that the threat from ISIS has been eliminated. He continues to voice his disagreements regarding foreign policy, and more recently, regarding the events involving America and Iran. In 2013, Paul established the Ron Paul Channel, an Internet broadcast. Its slogan was "Turn Off Your TV. Turn On the Truth". In 2015, Paul ended all relationships with the Ron Paul Channel in order to start a new Internet program, which he co-hosts with Daniel McAdams, called The Ron Paul Liberty Report. 2016 presidential election Paul endorsed his son, Senator Rand Paul, in the 2016 Republican primary and campaigned for him in Iowa. After his son dropped out, Paul said that no Republican or Democratic candidate even came close to holding libertarian views. Paul expressed disappointment in former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson's Libertarian Party nomination for president, and told independent voters that Green Party nominee Jill Stein was a better candidate for those who "lean towards progressivism and liberalism", while emphasizing that he was not endorsing her. Paul received one electoral vote from a Texas faithless elector, South Texas College political science professor William Greene (who had been pledged to Donald Trump), in the 2016 presidential election, making Paul the oldest person ever to receive an electoral vote, and the second Libertarian Party member to receive an electoral vote, after John Hospers in 1972. 2020 presidential election In the 2020 Democratic primary, Paul described Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard as "the most intelligent" and "the very, very best" option of the Democratic candidates, primarily for her views on foreign policy, adding, "We probably wouldn't agree with too much on economics." 2024 presidential election In April 2023, in an episode of The Ron Paul Liberty Report titled "President Kennedy?", Paul praised then-Democratic (later Independent) presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his stances on noninterventionism, the pharmaceutical industry, and crony corporatism, saying "[Kennedy's] baggage is telling the truth" and advocated for his participation in the major party presidential debates. A few days before the election, Elon Musk expressed interest in having Paul join the proposed Department of Government Efficiency during a second Trump presidency, which Musk has suggested could help cut the U.S. federal budget by up to US$2 trillion. Paul responded that he was happy to discuss the idea with Musk, although declined any "official position" within the new department. == Personal life ==

, in October 2010, along with his son, senatorial candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky, and his grandson, William Paul (pictured from right to left)Paul has been married to Carol (Carolyn) Wells since 1957. They met in 1952 when Wells asked Paul to be her escort to her 16th birthday party. They have five children, who were baptized Episcopalian: Ronald, Lori, Randal, Robert, and Joy. Paul's son Randal (Rand) is the junior United States senator from the state of Kentucky. Raised a Lutheran, Paul later became a Baptist. Since 1995, Carol Paul has published the Ron Paul Family Cookbook, a collection of recipes she and her friends contributed, and which was sold in part to support Ron Paul's political campaigns. His life and career is the subject of the 2012 film Ron Paul Uprising. Paul and his wife reside in Lake Jackson, Texas. On September 25, 2020, Paul was hospitalized after slurring his words while speaking during a livestream event. Paul later posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed to his Twitter page, along with the statement "I am doing fine. Thank you for your concern." In April 2021, following Paul's absence from his daily show, the Ron Paul Liberty Report, his co-host Daniel McAdams revealed Paul's daughter, Lori Pyeatt, had recently died. == Media relating to Ron Paul ==

Books • Ron Paul: Father of the Tea Party, by Jason Rink, 2011 • ''Ron Paul's rEVOLution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired'', by Brian Doherty, 2012 Films • The Housing Bubble, a 2018 documentary starring Ron Paul, and featuring numerous archival clips of his predictions over the years. • America: Freedom to Fascism, 2006 film featuring an interview from Paul. • American Drug War: The Last White Hope, 2007 documentary in which Paul has a cameo appearance. • I.O.U.S.A., 2008 documentary featuring Paul among the cast. • Brüno, 2009 film by Sacha Baron Cohen in which Paul has a cameo appearance. • An Inconvenient Tax, 2010 documentary featuring Paul among the cast. • Ron Paul Uprising, 2012 film by William Lewis, about Paul and his campaign for the presidency. • Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?, 2014 adaptation of Atlas Shrugged in which Paul has a cameo appearance. == Bibliography ==