Ross Perot

Henry Ross Perot, known to most as Ross Perot (prior to 1992, generally known as H. Ross Perot by the public) (born June 27, 1930), is a billionaire American businessman from Texas best known as a candidate for President of the United States (in 1992 and 1996). Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962. He later left the company, and founded Perot Systems with a similar ethos.

Later activities

Later in the 1990s, Perot's detractors accused him of not allowing the Reform Party to develop into a genuine national political party, but rather keeping it a movement to support him, as people close to Perot's electoral campaign had still been in party offices. Perot did not give an endorsement during Jesse Ventura's run for governor of Minnesota in the 1998 election, and this became suspicious to detractors when he made fun of Ventura at a conference after Ventura had a fall-out with the press. The party leadership grew in tighter opposition to groups supporting Ventura and Jack Gargan.

Related Topics:
Jesse Ventura - Governor of Minnesota - 1998

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In the 2000 presidential election, Perot refused to become openly involved in the dispute inside the Reform Party between supporters of Pat Buchanan and of John Hagelin. Perot was reportedly unhappy with how the party was disintegrating, and how he was being portrayed in the press, and chose to remain quiet on the election at that time. Despite his earlier opposition to NAFTA, Perot remained largely silent about expanded use of Guest Worker Visas in the United States. Eventually, Perot endorsed Republican candidate George W. Bush for president, and ended all ties between himself and the Reform Party, which is now largely defunct in most states. (Some state parties have affiliated with the new (Buchananite) America First Party; others gave Ralph Nader their ballot lines in the 2004 presidential election.)

Related Topics:
2000 presidential election - Pat Buchanan - John Hagelin - George W. Bush - America First Party - Ralph Nader - 2004 presidential election

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Since then, Perot has been largely silent on political issues, refusing to answer most questions about politics from the press. Whenever a paper has secured an interview with him he usually remains on the subject of his business career and refuses to answer the more specific questions on politics, candidates, or his past activities.

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The one break from this has been in 2005 when he was asked to testify before the Texas legislature about proposals to extend technology to students, through making laptops available; and changing the process of buying books, through making electronic books available and allowing schools to buy books at the local level instead of going through the state. Perot wrote an editorial promoting the legislation. In his latest interview Perot expresses despondence about the state of progress on issues he had raised in his presidential runs.

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