Basic bio info
Rand Paul was born on Jan. 7, 1963, in Pittsburgh. His father, Ron Paul, a physician and congressman from Texas, ran for president three times.
Paul dropped out of Baylor before completing his bachelor’s degree when he was accepted into his father’s alma mater, the Duke University School of Medicine. Paul, an ophthalmologist in Kentucky, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He still does eye surgery on patients from time to time — when his Senate schedule permits. He traveled to Guatemala last year, for instance, where he removed cataracts for needy patients.
Rand is short for Randal. Often, because of his libertarian-steeped upbringing, people incorrectly assume that his parents named him after Ayn Rand, the libertarian heroine. People called him Randy when he was younger, but his wife decided that Rand sounded more adult. He and his wife have three children.
His stand (entering the race)
Paul became the second Republican to enter the 2016 presidential campaign, promising a crowd of cheering supporters in Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday, April 7, that he is ready to shake up Washington and disprove those in his own party who doubt that a fiercely libertarian conservative can be a serious contender.
“The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped,” Paul said. “I want to be part of a return to prosperity.”
In a speech outlining his small-government vision for the country, he leaned heavily on his biography, describing his experience as an eye surgeon, a career that inspired him after his grandmother’s vision failed. Recalling his own story of living the American dream, Paul scolded Republicans and Democrats for failing Americans.
“Those of us who have enjoyed the American dream must break down the wall that separates us from the other America,” he said.
“What kind of America will our grandchildren see?” he asked. “It seems to me that both parties and the entire political system are to blame.”
Paul sought to fend off criticism that he is overly isolationist and potentially weak against defense.
“Conservatives should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow succeed at building nations abroad,” he said. “I envision an America with a national defense unparalleled, undefeatable and unencumbered by overseas nation building.”
Regarding negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, Paul said any deal must be approved by Congress.
“I will oppose any deal that does not end Iran’s nuclear ambitions and have strong verification measures,” he said. “I will insist that any final version be brought before Congress.”
Paul drew loud cheers by criticizing President Barack Obama’s domestic surveillance program, arguing that the U.S. has been compromising liberty for a false sense of security.
“The president created this vast dragnet by executive order,” he said. “As president, on Day 1 I will immediately end unconstitutional surveillance.”
Paul also outlined his positions on economic policy, saying that poor cities should benefit from “economic freedom zones” and manufacturing jobs could be created by cutting taxes for American companies that return overseas profits to the United States.
Paul’s brand of politics could make him both an outlier and a target among his rivals. In a primary contest of candidates debating which of them is the most committed conservative, Paul is likely to be the only one arguing for reducing federal drug penalties, clamping down on the nation’s intelligence agencies and taking a more deliberative approach to military intervention.
On social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, however, he does not stray from the Republican Party line.
While Paul’s political resume may be short — he entered politics with the emergence of the tea party movement, winning election to the Senate in 2010, in his first run for office — he has built over the past year and a half what Republican strategists say are some of the most extensive political operations in the states that will vote first in the party’s nominating process: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Much of the backbone for that political operation will come from the voters and volunteers who gave his father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a base of energetic support in his own unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 2008 and 2012.
However, Rand Paul has made it clear in his appeals over the past two years to constituencies as varied as students at black colleges, tech executives, movement libertarians and establishment Republicans that his intention is to seek out a far wider path to the nomination than his father did.
His support
The crowd of at least 1,500 at his announcement speech for the Republican presidential nomination was a mixture of young and old, and those familiar and unfamiliar with the Paul family’s political legacy. There were people who said they had supported his father in his two presidential campaigns, and those who were not even old enough to vote when the younger Paul ran for Senate in 2010.
At the splashy kickoff rally with videos, a series of guest speakers and a cameo from his father, Paul promised a government restrained by the Constitution and beholden no more to special interests.
“I have a message, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words,” he told cheering supporters. “We have come to take our country back.”
Paul has been viewed as a challenge to his fellow Republicans’ views on both foreign and domestic policy, as well as the nuts and bolts of how campaigns are run. Tech-savvy and youth-focused, Paul is viewed as an Internet pacesetter.
He’s also firm on his stands - staging a 13-hour filibuster in 2013 against the U.S. drone policy (and which delayed the confirmation of CIA chief John Brennan) and a nearly 11-hour filibuster (depending on one’s definition) this year over the Patriot Act’s surveillance policies.
His critics
The most heated exchange at the first Republican debate in August came between Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over the Patriot Act. Paul has worked to restrict the federal government’s surveillance powers because, he said, he does not trust Obama with the information. Christie said the powers are crucial to fight terrorism.
Paul jabbed back by mentioning Christie’s conduct seeking aid after Hurricane Sandy. “I know you gave (Obama) a big hug, ” Paul said. “And if you want to give him a big hug again, go right for it.”
Christie shot back: “The hugs I remember are the hugs I gave to the people who lost their families on 9 /11.”
Paul is a frequent contrarian against his party’s orthodoxy, questioning the size of the U.S. military and proposing relaxation of some drug laws that imprison offenders at a high cost to taxpayers.
