ROSS PEROT, 89 Billionaire shook up politics with ’92 prez run
Ross Perot, the brash, selfmade Texas billionaire who twice ran as an independent for president, died at his Dallas home Tuesday after a long battle against leukemia, a family spokesman said. Perot was 89.
Perot rose from Depression-eral poverty, going from delivering newspapers from the back of a pony to making a vast fortune in computers.
He later turned to politics and became the most successful independent presidential candidate in modern American history.
The tough-talking businessman clinched nearly 19% of the vote as an independent in the 1992 election that Bill Clinton won over George H.W. Bush. Some Republicans blamed Perot for costing Bush the election.
He scored 8% during his second independent bid four years later.
Perot’s signature issues were balancing the budget and veterans affairs. He also mounted a fierce fight against the North American Free Trade Agreement, famously slamming “that giant sucking sound” of American jobs heading to Mexico.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Perot’s financial rise began in 1962, when he founded Electronic Data Systems, a pioneer in IT technology for banks and health care providers.
An admirer of Steve Jobs, Perot went on to invest $20 million in the company that eventually became Apple, growing his fortune further.
The 5-foot-6 Perot mounted his first independent bid for the White House after growing disillusioned with the two-party system.
With his no-nonsense military approach to politics, he rocketed in popularity and led Clinton and Bush in polls by the late spring of 1992. He was known for his colorful quips on the campaign trail.
“Let’s get off mud wrestling, let’s get off personalities, and let’s talk about jobs, health care, crime, the things that concern the American people,” Perot said during a 1992 debate.
But Perot’s campaign was poorly organized and he rejected advice from seasoned political pros to take more specific stands on issues.
By summer, he decided to drop out of the race, only to rejoin in September.
After the election, Bush supporters bitterly denounced Perot for siphoning votes away from the GOP and allowing Clinton to win.
In 1996, Perot decided to run again. He was less of a factor in that race, in which Clinton scored a landslide win over Sen. Bob Dole.
After that bid, Perot returned to live in Texas and remained active in Dallas social circles up until his death.
He was diagnosed with leukemia in February. Relatives say he spent his last months fighting back against the cancer with characteristic vigor.