Henry Ross Perot (June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, political activist, and former lieutenant in the Navy. He is best known for being the most influential independent presidential candidate in recent memory, running two well-known, albeit unsuccessful, presidential campaigns in the 1990s.
Ross Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas to a cotton commodities broker. After graduating from high school in 1947, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949, helping to create its honor system, and left the Navy in 1961 with the rank of lieutenant.
After a brief stint as a salesman for IBM, where he once met his annual sales quota in two weeks, he went on to found Electronic Data Services, or EDS), where he made a large fortune processing Medicare records for the federal government. The IPO for EDS in 1968 led him to amass one of the quickest fortunes in the business world. In 1984 he sold an interest in EDS to General Motors for $2.4 billion and funded Steve Jobs' NeXT, a business venture Jobs started after his temporary departure from Apple. In 1988, he founded Perot Systems, an information technology provider which was sold to Dell in 2009 for $3.9 billion by Perot's son.
In 1979, he sponsored a rescue of his employees who were trapped in Iran in the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution, which was dramatized in the book On Wings of Eagles.
Of course, Perot isn't as well known for these ventures as he is known for his quixotic political career.
Perot had been a Republican Party insider, but his relationship with Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr. broke down over his belief that the government was not doing enough to bring American POWs home, as well as his opposition to the Gulf War.
On February 20, 1992, he announced on Larry King Live that he would launch his own independent bid for the presidency, focusing on balancing the federal budget and opposing free trade agreements. With a weak economy and President Bush losing his allure after the end of the Cold War made his foreign policy expertise irrelevant, Perot quickly gained popularity for his populist and centrist positions. Despite at one point leading both President Bush and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, the Democratic nominee, in the polls, he turned himself into a punchline with numerous antics: shouting "you people" at an NAACP meeting, his Control Freak tendencies, disregarding his campaign advisors, and accusing the Republicans of wanting to sabotage his daughter's wedding. On July 16, he withdrew from the race but then re-entered on October 11 and was allowed to participate in the presidential debates, where his performance regained some of his popularity. His running mate, Vice Admiral James Stockdale, became a laughingstock after his seemingly confused introduction, "Who am I? Why am I here?" led to the public perception that he was senile.
Ultimately, Clinton won the presidency with a comfortable popular and electoral vote margin. While Perot failed to win any states, he managed to win 18.9% of the national popular vote and came in second in Maine and Utah. There are accusations that he acted as a spoiler for Bush, although polls showed he drew equally from Bush and Clinton voters.
Despite his loss, he remained in the public eye, appearing on Larry King Live to debate with Al Gore over the effects of NAFTA.note In 1995, he founded the Reform Party and launched a second presidential campaign with economist Pat Choate as his running mate. Unlike in 1992, Perot's novelty had worn off and he failed to receive the same media attention, and a robust economy and greatly reduced federal deficit under President Clinton robbed him of several signature campaign issues. He was excluded from the presidential debates and only received 8% of the vote.
The Reform Party briefly had a chance at becoming a major force, even electing Jesse Ventura governor of Minnesota and attracting high-profile candidates like Colorado Governor Richard Lamm and Donald Trump. But quickly the party became a battleground for various fringe interests and Perot was accused of wanting to create a vehicle for himself rather than a viable political party.
In 2000, Perot left the party he founded and endorsed George W. Bush. By the Turn of the Millennium he'd become a non-entity, only giving the occasional interview and endorsement.
He married Margot Johnson in 1956 and had five children. He succumbed to leukemia in 2019 at the age of 89.
Media
Live-Action Television- Saturday Night Live: He was portrayed by Dana Carvey during his 1992 campaign.note After Carvey left the show, he was played by Cheri Oteri. Perot himself apparently approved of Carvey's portrayal enough that he asked Carvey to play his parody at Perot's headquarters
during the 1992 election night.
- All That: He was portrayed by Katrina Johnson and was a recurring character in the Walter the Earboy sketches, often helping him with his issue of the episode.
Western Animation
- Smiling Friends: He served as a two-term president in the 90's in this show's universe.
