What is Ron Paul's Net Worth?
Ron Paul is an American physician, author, and former Republican congressman who has a net worth of $8 million. Ron Paul has been a candidate for US President on several occasions, though he never secured a major party's nomination. Paul served as U.S. Representative for Texas' 14th and 22nd congressional districts (1997-2013 and 1976-1977, respectively).
According to his financial disclosures while in office, Ron's net worth fluctuated from a low of around $2.5 million in 2008 to an all-time high of $6 million in 2012. Ron's son Rand Paul followed his father into politics, being elected to the US Senate in 2011.
According to University of Georgia political scientist Keith Poole, Paul had the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress from 1937 to 2002. He was the most conservative of the candidates that sought the 2012 Republican nomination for president. Other analyses, in which key votes on domestic social issues and foreign policy factor more heavily, have judged Paul much more moderate. The National Journal rated Paul as the only 145th most conservative member of the House of Representatives based on votes cast in 2010. 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."
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Early Life
Paul was born on August 20, 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was born to Howard and Margaret Paul. His father ran a small dairy company. Paul attended Dormant High School and then enrolled at Gettysburg College, where he joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Biology in 1957. He then went to Duke University's School of Medicine in 1961 and ultimately served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the United States Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968. After serving, he relocated to Texas, where he began a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology.
Political Career
Paul was influenced by authors like Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig van Mises, and Ayn Rand, as well as economists like Hens Sennholz and Murray Rothbard. Paul decided to try his hand at politics by becoming a Republican candidate for the United States Congress in 1971. However, he lost in 1971 and again In 1974. In 1976, he was able to win a special run-off election when the seat he had been running for became vacant.
Over the next few decades, Paul would serve in Congress three times – from 1976 to 1977, from 1979 to 1985, and from 1997 to 2013. During his time in Congress, Paul served on the House Banking Committee and argued for the return of the gold standard that the U.S. had maintained from 1873 to 1933. He also founded the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a non-profit think tank that was dedicated to promoting principles of limited government and free-market economics. He became the chairman of the Citizens for Sound Economy as well, a conservative political group that aimed to fight for lower taxes and less regulation.
In 1987, Paul decided to leave the Republican Party and launched a bid for the presidency by running on the Libertarian Party ticket. He was on the ballot in 46 states, ultimately earning 0.5% of the overall vote. Paul spoke about his campaign as being more than just about obtaining office, which was a far-fetched idea considering how firmly the two-party system is entrenched in American politics, and rather about the promotion of libertarian ideas.
In 2007, Paul again declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the upcoming 2008 election. While his campaign was largely ignored by the mainstream media, he did attract a very loyal grassroots following and used social media to gain more support. He was able to fundraise more money than any other Republican candidate in the fourth quarter of 2007. However, he was ultimately unable to translate the enthusiasm of his core supporters into large enough numbers of actual primary votes to win in the primary. He ultimately refused to endorse the Republican nominee, John McCain, and instead threw his support behind four third-party candidates: Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader. He encouraged voters to vote for any of these third-party candidates rather than contribute to the "charade" that the two-party system had become.
Paul again ran for the Republican nomination beginning in 2011. While he had an impressive performance and some primaries, he ultimately announced he would be unable to campaign in all primary states due to lack of funding. He also declined to speak at the Republican National Convention as he said the convention planners demanded to vet his remarks before he gave them and wanted him to endorse the official candidate, Mitt Romney, which he refused to do.
After completing his time in Congress in 2013, Paul founded the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, a foreign policy think tank that seeks to promote his view of non-intervention. He also established the Ron Paul Channel, an Internet broadcast, which ultimately morphed into a program called "The Ron Paul Liberty Report." In the 2016 Presidential election, he initially endorsed his son, Senator Rand Paul, in the Republican primary until he dropped out. He did not endorse any other candidate. He also did not endorse any candidate in the 2020 Presidential election, though he did speak favorably of the Democratic primary candidate, Tulsi Gabbard.
Paul's life and political career was the subject of the 2012 film, "Ron Paul Uprising."
Personal Life
Paul has been married to Carol Wells since 1957. The couple met in 1952 after Wells asked Paul to be her escort to her 16th birthday party. Together, they have five children – Ronald, Lori, Randal, Robert, and Joy. His son Randal Paul, who goes by Rand, went on to become a United States senator from Kentucky. Paul was raised Lutheran but became a Baptist later in life. Paul and his wife live in Lake Jackson, Texas. He enjoys biking and exercising every day. He appeared to have a health scare in 2020, when he ended up in the hospital but was ultimately fine. It was reported that in April 2021, his daughter, Lori, had passed away after a fight with breast cancer.
