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Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American
business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...
, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of
Electronic Data Systems Electronic all cash BSN acc: 1311729000110205 Data Systems (EDS) was an American multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a s ...
and
Perot Systems Perot Systems was an information technology services provider founded in 1988 by a group of investors led by Ross Perot and based in Plano, Texas, United States. Perot Systems provided information technology services in the industries of healt ...
. He ran an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
campaign in the 1992 U.S. presidential election and a third-party campaign in the
1996 U.S. presidential election The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican nomine ...
as the nominee of the Reform Party, which was formed by
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
supporters of Perot's 1992 campaign. Although he failed to carry a single state in either election, both campaigns were among the strongest presidential showings by a third party or independent candidate in U.S. history. Born and raised in
Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 censu ...
, Perot became a salesman for IBM after serving in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. In 1962, he founded Electronic Data Systems, a data processing service company. In 1984,
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
bought a controlling interest in the company for $2.4 billion. Perot established Perot Systems in 1988 and was an
angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownersh ...
for
NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
, a computer company founded by
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
after he left
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...
. Perot also became heavily involved in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, arguing that hundreds of American servicemen were left behind in Southeast Asia after the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. During the presidency of George H. W. Bush, Perot became increasingly active in politics and strongly opposed the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
and ratification of the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
. In 1992, Perot announced his intention to run for president and advocated a balanced budget, an end to the outsourcing of jobs, and the enactment of
electronic direct democracy E-democracy (a combination of the words electronic and democracy), also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in political and governance processes. The term is bel ...
. A June 1992 Gallup poll showed Perot leading a three-way race against President Bush and presumptive Democratic nominee
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
. Perot briefly withdrew from the race in July, but re-entered the race in early October after he qualified for all 50 state ballots. He chose Admiral James Stockdale as his running mate and appeared in the 1992 debates with Bush and Clinton. In the election, Perot did not win any electoral votes, but won over 19.7 million votes for an 18.9% share of the popular vote. He won support from across the ideological and partisan spectrum, but performed best among self-described moderates. Perot ran for president again in 1996, establishing the Reform Party as a vehicle for his campaign. He won 8.4 percent of the popular vote against President Clinton and Republican nominee
Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...
. Perot did not seek public office again after 1996. He endorsed Republican George W. Bush over Reform nominee
Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
in the 2000 election and supported Republican
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
in 2008 and 2012. In 2009,
Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
acquired Perot Systems for $3.9 billion. According to ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'', Perot was the 167th richest person in the United States as of 2016.


Early life, education, and military career

Ross Perot was born in
Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 censu ...
, the son of Lula May (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Ray) and Gabriel Ross Perot, a commodity broker specializing in cotton contracts. His patrilineal line traces back to a
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
immigrant to the colony of Louisiana in the 1740s. He attended a local private school, Patty Hill, before graduating from
Texas High School Texas High School (THS) is a public high school in Texarkana, Texas, United States. It is part of the Texarkana Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. In 2015, it was rated "Met St ...
in Texarkana in 1947. One of Perot's childhood friends was Hayes McClerkin, who later became the
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
of the
Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...
and a prominent lawyer in Texarkana, Arkansas. Perot started his first job at 8 years old, helping to distribute the ''Texarkana Gazette'' as a paperboy. His father died when Perot was 25 years old. Perot had an older brother, Gabriel Perot Jr., who died as a toddler. Perot joined the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...
and made
Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
in 1942, after 13 months in the program. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. From 1947 to 1949, he attended Texarkana Junior College, then entered the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
in 1949 and helped establish its honor system. Perot claimed his appointment notice to the academy—sent by telegram—was sent by W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, Texas's 34th governor and former senator. Perot served as a junior officer on a destroyer, and later, an aircraft carrier from 1953 to 1957. Perot, who had only ever owned one pair of shoes at a time, was shocked to find that he was issued multiple pairs of shoes in the navy, which he would later point to as "possibly my first example of government waste". Perot then went to the Naval Reserve, which he left on June 30, 1961, with the rank of
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. In 1956 Perot married Margot Birmingham, whom he met on a blind date as a midshipman docked in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
.


Business

After he left the Navy in 1957, Perot became a salesman for IBM. He quickly became a top employee (one year, he fulfilled his annual sales quota in a mere two weeks) and tried to pitch his ideas to supervisors, who largely ignored him. He left IBM in 1962 to found
Electronic Data Systems Electronic all cash BSN acc: 1311729000110205 Data Systems (EDS) was an American multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a s ...
(EDS) in
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, Texas, and courted large corporations for his data processing services. Perot was denied bids for contracts 77 times before receiving his first contract. EDS received lucrative contracts from the
US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
in the 1960s, computerizing Medicare records. EDS went public in 1968, and the stock price rose from $16 a share to $160 within days. ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' called Perot the "fastest, richest Texan" in a 1968 cover story. In 1984,
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
bought a controlling interest in EDS for $2.4 billion. In 1974, Perot gained some press attention for being "the biggest individual loser ever on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
" when his EDS shares dropped $450 million in value in a single day in April 1970. Just before the 1979
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...
, the government of Iran imprisoned two EDS employees in a contract dispute. Perot organized and sponsored their rescue. The rescue team was led by retired
United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mi ...
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...
Arthur D. "Bull" Simons. When the team was unable to find a way to extract the two prisoners, they decided to wait for a mob of pro-
Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word ...
revolutionaries to storm the jail and free all 10,000 inmates, many of whom were political prisoners. The two prisoners then connected with the rescue team, and the team spirited them out of Iran via a risky border crossing into Turkey. The exploit was recounted in the book ''
On Wings of Eagles ''On Wings of Eagles'' is a 1983 non-fiction thriller written by British author Ken Follett. Set against the background of the Iranian revolution, it tells a story based on the rescue of Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord from prison in Tehran by ...
'' by
Ken Follett Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works. Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
. In 1986 this was turned into a 2-part television mini-series (alternatively titled "Teheran") with the actor
Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
playing the role of Colonel Simons. In 1984, Perot's Perot Foundation bought a very early copy of
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...
, one of only a few to leave the United Kingdom. The foundation lent it to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where it was displayed alongside the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nati ...
. In 2007, the foundation sold it to
David Rubenstein David Mark Rubenstein (born August 11, 1949) is an American billionaire businessman. A former government official and lawyer, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group,The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
for $21.3 million to be used "for medical research, for improving public education and for assisting wounded soldiers and their families". It remains on display at the National Archives. After
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
lost the power struggle at Apple and left to found
NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
, his angel investor was Perot, who invested over $20 million. Perot believed in Jobs and did not want to miss out, as he had with his chance to invest in
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
's fledgling
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
. In 1988, he founded
Perot Systems Perot Systems was an information technology services provider founded in 1988 by a group of investors led by Ross Perot and based in Plano, Texas, United States. Perot Systems provided information technology services in the industries of healt ...
in Plano, Texas. His son, Ross Perot Jr., eventually succeeded him as CEO. In September 2009, Perot Systems was acquired by Dell for $3.9 billion.


Political activities


Early political activities

After a visit to
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
in 1969, made at the request of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
, in which he met with senior North Vietnamese officials, Perot became heavily involved in the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. He believed that hundreds of American servicemen were left behind in Southeast Asia at the end of the U.S. involvement in the war, and that government officials were covering up POW/MIA investigations to avoid revealing a drug-smuggling operation used to finance a secret war in Laos. Perot engaged in unauthorized back-channel discussions with Vietnamese officials in the late 1980s, which led to fractured relations between Perot and the
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and George H. W. Bush administrations. In 1990, Perot reached an agreement with Vietnam's Foreign Ministry to become its business agent if diplomatic relations were normalized. Perot also launched private investigations of, and attacks upon,
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
official Richard Armitage. In Florida in 1990, retired financial planner Jack Gargan, employing a famous quotation from the 1976 movie ''
Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...
'', funded a series of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" newspaper advertisements denouncing Congress for voting to give legislators pay raises at a time when average wages nationwide were not increasing. Gargan later founded "Throw the Hypocritical Rascals Out" (THRO), which Perot supported. Perot did not support President George H. W. Bush, and vigorously opposed the United States' involvement in the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War. He unsuccessfully urged Senators to vote against the war resolution, and began to consider a presidential run.


1992 presidential campaign

On February 20, 1992, Perot appeared on CNN's '' Larry King Live'' and announced his intention to run as an independent if his supporters could get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. With such declared policies as balancing the federal budget, favoring certain types of gun control, ending the outsourcing of jobs and enacting
electronic direct democracy E-democracy (a combination of the words electronic and democracy), also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in political and governance processes. The term is bel ...
via "electronic
town halls In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually house ...
," he became a potential candidate and soon polled roughly even with the two major-party candidates. Perot's candidacy received increasing media attention when the competitive phase of the primary season ended for the two major parties. With the insurgent candidacies of Republican
Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
and Democrat
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
winding down, Perot was the natural beneficiary of populist resentment toward establishment politicians. On May 25, 1992, he was featured on the cover of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' with the title "Waiting for Perot," an allusion to
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...
's play '' Waiting for Godot''. Several months before the Democratic and Republican conventions, Perot filled the vacuum of election news, as his supporters began petition drives to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. This sense of momentum was reinforced when Perot employed two savvy campaign managers in Democrat Hamilton Jordan and Republican
Ed Rollins Edward Rollins (born March 19, 1943) is an American political consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile Republican political campaigns in the United States. In 1983 and 1984, he was national campaign director for the succe ...
. While Perot was pondering whether to run for office, his supporters established a campaign organization United We Stand America. Perot was late in making formal policy proposals, but most of what he did call for was intended to reduce the deficit, such as a fuel tax increase and cutbacks to
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
. In June, Perot led a Gallup poll with 39% of the vote. In July, the Perot campaign fell into disarray and his polls fell sharply. The
1992 Democratic National Convention The 1992 Democratic National Convention nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for president and Senator Al Gore from Tennessee for vice president; Clinton announced Gore as his running-mate on July 9, 1992. The convention was held at Madiso ...
was held on Monday, July 13 through Thursday, July 16, during which time there was increased media coverage of the general election. ''
The Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currentl ...
'' reported that Perot's campaign managers were becoming increasingly disillusioned by Perot's unwillingness to follow their advice to be more specific on issues, and his need to be in full control of operations. The '' St. Petersburg Times'' reported such tactics as forcing volunteers to sign loyalty oaths. Perot's poll numbers had slipped to 25%, and his advisers warned that if he continued to ignore them, he would fall into single digits. Hamilton Jordan (a high-ranking manager in the Perot campaign) allegedly threatened to quit, but senior campaign officials denied this. On July 15, Ed Rollins resigned after Perot fired advertisement specialist Hal Riney, who had worked with Rollins on the
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
campaign. Rollins would later claim that a member of the campaign accused him of being a Bush plant with ties to the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. Amid the chaos, Perot's support fell to 20%. The next day, Perot announced on ''Larry King Live'' that he would not seek the presidency. He explained that he did not want the House of Representatives to decide the election if the result caused the electoral college to be split. Perot eventually stated the reason was that he received threats that digitally altered photographs would be released by the Bush campaign to sabotage his daughter's wedding. Whatever his reasons for withdrawing, his reputation was badly damaged. Many of his supporters felt betrayed, and public opinion polls subsequently showed a largely negative view of Perot that was absent before his decision to end the campaign. In September, he qualified for all 50 state ballots. On October 1, he announced his intention to re-enter the presidential race. He campaigned in 16 states and spent an estimated $12.3 million of his own money. Perot employed the innovative strategy of purchasing half-hour blocks of time on major networks for
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
-type campaign advertisements; this advertising garnered more viewership than many sitcoms, with one Friday night program in October attracting 10.5 million viewers. At one point in June, Perot led the polls with 39% (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton). Just prior to the debates, Perot received 7–9% support in nationwide polls. The debates likely played a significant role in his ultimate receipt of almost 19% of the popular vote. Although his answers during the debates were often general, Frank Newport of
Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...
concluded that Perot "convincingly won the first debate, coming in significantly ahead of both the Democratic challenger Clinton and incumbent President George H.W. Bush". In the debate, he remarked: Perot denounced Congress for its inaction in his speech at the
National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Pre ...
in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 1992; he said: In the 1992 election, he received 18.9% of the popular vote, about 19,741,065 votes, but no electoral college votes, making him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of share of the popular vote since
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
in the 1912 election. Unlike Perot, however, other third-party candidates since Roosevelt won multiple electoral college votes:
Robert La Follette Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...
in 1924,
Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Car ...
in 1948, and
George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...
in 1968. Compared with Thurmond and Wallace, who polled very strongly in a small number of states, Perot's vote was more evenly spread across the country. Perot managed to finish second in two states: In
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
, Perot received 30.44% of the vote—ahead of part-time resident Bush's 30.39% (Clinton won Maine with 38.77%); in
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
, Perot received 27.34% of the vote—ahead of Clinton's 24.65% (Bush won Utah with 43.36%). Although Perot did not win a state, he received a plurality of votes in some counties. His popular vote total is still by far the most ever garnered for a third-party candidate, almost double the previous record set by Wallace in 1968. A detailed analysis of voting demographics revealed that Perot's support drew heavily from across the political spectrum, with 20% of his votes coming from self-described liberals, 27% from self-described conservatives, and 53% coming from self-described moderates. Economically, however, the majority of Perot voters (57%) were middle class, earning between $15,000 and $49,000 annually, with the bulk of the remainder drawing from the upper-middle class (29% earning more than $50,000 annually). Exit polls also showed that 38% of Perot voters would have otherwise voted for Bush, and 38% would have voted for Clinton. Though there were widespread claims that Perot acted as a "spoiler," post-election analysis suggested that his presence in the race likely did not affect the outcome. According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A strong third-party candidate was a rare event. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups. In 2016, FiveThirtyEight described the theory that Perot was a spoiler as "unlikely." Based on his performance in the popular vote in 1992, Perot was entitled to receive federal election funding for 1996. Perot remained in the public eye after the election and championed opposition to the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA). During the campaign, he had urged voters to listen for the " giant sucking sound" of American jobs heading south to Mexico should NAFTA be ratified.


Reform Party and 1996 presidential campaign


1996 presidential campaign

Perot tried to keep his movement alive through the mid-1990s, continuing to speak about the increasing national debt. He was a prominent campaigner against NAFTA, and frequently claimed that American manufacturing jobs would go to Mexico. On November 10, 1993, Perot debated with then-Vice President
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
on the issue on ''Larry King Live'' with an audience of 16 million viewers. Perot's behavior during the debate was a source of mirth thereafter, including his repeated pleas to "let me finish" in his southern drawl. The debate was seen by many as effectively ending Perot's political career. Support for NAFTA went from 34% to 57%. In 1995, he founded the Reform Party and won their presidential nomination for the 1996 United States presidential election. His vice presidential running mate was Pat Choate. Because of the ballot access laws, he had to run as an Independent on many state ballots. Perot received 8% of the popular vote in 1996, lower than in the 1992 race, but still an unusually successful third-party showing by U.S. standards. He spent much less of his own money in this race than he had four years prior, and he also allowed other people to contribute to his campaign, unlike his prior race. One common explanation for the decline was Perot's exclusion from the presidential debates, based on the preferences of the Democratic and Republican party candidates. Jamie B. Raskin of ''Open Debates'' filed a lawsuit over Perot's exclusion years later.


Later activities

In the 2000 presidential election, Perot refused to become openly involved with the internal Reform Party dispute between supporters of
Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
and John Hagelin. Perot was reportedly unhappy with what he saw as the disintegration of the party, as well as his own portrayal in the press; thus, he chose to remain quiet. He appeared on ''Larry King Live'' four days before the election and endorsed George W. Bush for president. Despite his earlier opposition to NAFTA, Perot remained largely silent about expanded use of guest-worker visas in the United States, with Buchanan supporters attributing this silence to his corporate reliance on foreign workers. In 2005, Perot was asked to testify before the Texas Legislature in support of proposals to extend access to technology to students, including making laptops available to them. He supported changing the process of buying textbooks by making
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...
s available and by allowing schools to purchase books at the local level instead of going through the state. In an April 2005 interview, Perot expressed concern about the state of progress on issues that he had raised in his presidential runs. In January 2008, Perot publicly came out against Republican candidate
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
and endorsed
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
for president. He also announced that he would soon be launching a new website with updated economic graphs and charts. In June 2008, his blog launched, focusing on entitlements ( Medicare,
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...
,
Social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
), the U.S. national debt, and related issues. In 2012, Perot endorsed Romney for president again. Perot did not give any endorsements for the 2016 election.


Political views

Perot did not fit the usual political stereotypes; his views were seen as either pragmatic or populist, depending on the observer, and usually focused on his economic policy, such as balancing the budget, to gain support from both Democratic and Republican voters. Perot supported
gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...
, stricter gun controls such as an
assault weapons In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...
ban and increased research in
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...
. From 1992, Perot was a pro-choice activist, and a strong supporter of
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
. He stated that poorer women in particular should have access to abortions via federal funding. From 2000, he was pro-choice reluctantly.


Economic policy

Perot believed taxes should be increased on the wealthy, while spending should be cut to help pay off the national debt. Perot also believed the capital gains tax should be increased, while giving tax breaks to those starting new businesses. In his 1993 book ''Not For Sale at Any Price'', Perot expressed support for giving tax cuts for small and medium-sized enterprises, as opposed to larger corporations. Additionally, Perot supported a
balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budget ...
amendment, stating, "spending should not exceed revenue for 27 consecutive years." On trade, Perot stated that
NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
caused the trade deficit between Mexico and the United States and a loss of manufacturing jobs. His position on free trade and NAFTA became his defining campaign principle of both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. Perot argued: "We have got to stop sending jobs overseas. It's pretty simple: If you're paying $12, $13, $14 an hour for factory workers and you can move your factory south of the border, pay a dollar an hour for labor, ... have no health care—that's the most expensive single element in making a car—have no environmental controls, no pollution controls and no retirement, and you don't care about anything but making money, there will be a giant sucking sound going south."


Personal life

Perot and his wife Margot (née Birmingham), a graduate of Goucher College, had five children ( Ross Jr., Nancy, Suzanne, Carolyn, and Katherine) and 19 grandchildren. With an estimated net worth of about US$4.1 billion in 2019, he was ranked by ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' as the 167th-richest person in the United States.


Death

Perot died from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, Texas, on July 9, 2019, less than two weeks after his 89th birthday. He was buried at the
Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas, Texas (USA). It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are: *Mary Kay Ash (1 ...
and a memorial service was held at
Highland Park United Methodist Church Highland Park United Methodist Church is a United Methodist church in Dallas, Texas. Location It is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University, at 3300 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75205. History In February 1916, a Methodist congreg ...
, with 1,300 invited guests.


Honors and achievements

* In 1970, he was the recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. * In 1985, he was inducted into the
Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American ...
of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. * In 1986, Perot became the third American to receive the Winston Churchill Award for his efforts on behalf of American POWs in Vietnam in the 1960s and for organizing the rescue of two EDS employees from a prison in Iran. * In 1980, he received the Oak Cliff Lions Clubs' "Humanitarian Award". * In 1986, Perot received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. * Perot was inducted into the Junior Achievement
U.S. Business Hall of Fame The Global Business Hall of Fame, powered by JA Worldwide, was established by Junior Achievement in 1975 as the U.S. Business Hall of Fame, the result of an idea by Willard F. Rockwell, Jr. (former chairman and CEO of Rockwell International) an ...
in 1988. * On April 22, 2009, Ross Perot was made an honorary Green Beret at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...
, North Carolina. * In May 2009, he was appointed an honorary chairman of the
OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...
Society. * On September 18, 2009, the Texarkana Independent School District named him (1947 graduate of
Texas High School Texas High School (THS) is a public high school in Texarkana, Texas, United States. It is part of the Texarkana Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. In 2015, it was rated "Met St ...
) as a 2009 Distinguished Alumnus. * On October 15, 2009, the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
at West Point awarded him with the distinguished
Sylvanus Thayer Award The Sylvanus Thayer Award is an honor given annually by the United States Military Academy at West Point to an individual whose character and accomplishments exemplifies the motto of West Point. The award is named after the 'Father of the Military ...
. * On April 20, 2010, Perot was presented with the Distinguished Leadership Award from the
Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
Foundation, Inc., Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. * In honor of Perot's 80th birthday, the bridge connecting Walton and University drives in Texarkana, Texas, was named the H. Ross Perot Bridge. * On October 2, 2010, Perot was given the
William J. Donovan William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bur ...
Award from the OSS Society at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C. He is the 26th recipient of the award. * In September 2011, Perot accepted the
Army Heritage Center Foundation The Army Heritage Center Foundation (AHCF) is a membership-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that is coordinating a public-private partnership to assist the United States Army to develop the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) in ...
's Boots on the Ground Award. * On October 28, 2011, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science announced it was naming a new species of the dinosaur genus '' Pachyrhinosaurus'' after the Perot family. The new species is named ''Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum''.


Electoral history


References


Further reading

* Berens, Charlyne. "Amplifying the giant sucking sound: Ross Perot and the media in the NAFTA negotiations." ''Newspaper Research Journal'' 20.2 (1999): 90-103. * DeFrank, Thomas M. et al. ''Quest for the Presidency, 1992''. (Texas A&M University Press. 1994). * Gold, Howard J. "Third party voting in presidential elections: A study of Perot, Anderson, and Wallace." ''Political Research Quarterly'' 48.4 (1995): 751-773. * Gross, Ken. ''Ross Perot: The Man Behind the Myth'' (Random House, 2012). * Holian, David B., Timothy B. Krebs, and Michael H. Walsh. "Constituency opinion, Ross Perot, and roll-call behavior in the US House: The case of the NAFTA." ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' (1997): 369-392. * Jelen, Ted G., ed. ''Ross for boss: The Perot phenomenon and beyond'' (SUNY Press, 2001). * Lacy, Dean, and Barry C. Burden. "The vote-stealing and turnout effects of Ross Perot in the 1992 US presidential election." ''American Journal of Political Science'' (1999): 233-255
online
* Levin, Doron P. ''Irreconcilable Differences: Ross Perot Versus General Motors'' (New York: Plume, 1990) * Mason, Todd. ''Perot''. (Business One Irwin, 1990). An
unauthorized biography An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...
by a longtime Perot watcher. * Moore, Thomas
''The GM System is Like a Blanket of Fog''
''Fortune'', February 15, 1988 * Owen, Diana, and Jack Dennis. "Anti‐partyism in the USA and support for Ross Perot." ''European Journal of Political Research'' 29.3 (1996): 383-400. * Posner, Gerald ''Citizen Perot: His Life and Times'' (Random House, 1996). * Post, Jerrold M. "The Political psychology of the Ross Perot phenomenon." in ''The Clinton Presidency'' (Routledge, 2019. 37-56). * Rapoport, Ronald and Walter Stone. ''Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, and Republican Resurgence'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005). * Simons, Herbert W. "Judging a policy proposal by the company it keeps: The Gore‐Perot NAFTA debate." ''Quarterly Journal of Speech'' 82.3 (1996): 274-287.


Primary sources

* Clinton, Bill. ''My Life''. (Vintage, 2005). . * Perot, Ross. ''United We Stand: How We Can Take Back Our Country'' (1992
online
* Schulte-Sasse, Linda. "Meet Ross Perot: The Lasting Legacy of Capraesque Populism." ''Cultural Critique'' 25 (1993): 91-119
online
* ; text of the book published by Perot in 1992 to mark the launch of his presidential campaign, complete with charts. The text is hosted by the site of the organization he created that year ''United We Stand America'', as saved by ''The Internet Archive''.


External links

* * *
''Booknotes'' interview with Carolyn Barta on ''Perot and His People: Disrupting the Balance of Political Power'', January 16, 1994.
*
"Ross Perot, Presidential Contender"
from
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's ''
The Contenders ''The Contenders'' is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) i ...
'' * *
1992 election episode in CNN's Race for the White House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perot, Ross 1930 births 2019 deaths American billionaires American technology company founders IBM employees Businesspeople from Texas 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Candidates in the 1992 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1996 United States presidential election Reform Party of the United States of America presidential nominees American political party founders Texas Independents Texas Republicans 20th-century American politicians Vietnam War POW/MIA activists Writers from Texas People of the Iranian Revolution 20th-century American naval officers Military personnel from Texas United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Order of Saint Maurice Businesspeople from Dallas People from Texarkana, Texas American people of French-Canadian descent Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Texas Right-wing populism in the United States Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery