Ron Paul: Career Overview and Personal Background

Ronald Ernest Paul, born August 20, 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned a B.A. in biology from Gettysburg College (1957) and an M.D. from Duke University Medical Center (1961). He served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force (1963‑1965) and later in the Air National Guard (1965‑1968), completing obstetrics‑gynecology training at the University of Pittsburgh.

Paul was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas’s 22nd district in 1976, later serving Texas’s 14th district from 1997 to 2013. He ran for president as the Libertarian nominee in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and 2012. Known for his strict constitutional stance, he earned the nickname “Dr. No” for voting against legislation he deemed unauthorized, including the Patriot Act. His son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, serves alongside him, marking the first time a father and child served concurrently in Congress.