Paul Ryan

Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. He prevously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2019, representing . A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's vice presidential nominee in the 2012 presidential election, running alongside presidential nominee Mitt Romney; they lost to incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, and graduated from Miami University in 1992. He spent five years working for Congress in Washington, D.C., becoming a speechwriter, then returned to Wisconsin in 1997 to work at his family's construction company. He was elected to Congress to represent Wisconsin's 1st congressional district the following year, replacing Mark Neumann, who had vacated the seat to run for U.S. Senate. Ryan went on to represent the district for 20 years. He chaired the House Budget Committee from 2011 to 2015, and briefly chaired the House Ways and Means Committee in 2015.

A self-proclaimed deficit hawk, Ryan was a major proponent of Social Security privatization in the mid-2000s. During the 2010s, two proposals heavily influenced by Ryan—"The Path to Prosperity" and "A Better Way"—became part of the national dialogue advocating for the privatization of Medicare, the conversion of Medicaid into a block grant program, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and significant federal tax cuts. In October 2015, after Speaker John Boehner's resignation, Ryan was elected to replace him. During his speakership, he played a key role in the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act in 2018, which partially repealed the Dodd–Frank Act.

Ryan declined to run for re-election in the 2018 midterm elections. With the Democratic Party taking control of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi succeeded Ryan as Speaker of the House.

Early life and education

Paul Davis Ryan was born on January 29, 1970, in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest of four children of Elizabeth "Betty" Ann, who later became an interior designer, and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer. He is a fifth-generation Wisconsinite. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother of German and English descent.

Ryan attended St. Mary's Catholic School in Janesville, then attended Joseph A. Craig High School, When he was 16, Ryan found his 55-year-old father lying dead in bed of a heart attack, something Ryan later partially attributed to heavy alcohol consumption. Following the death of his father, Ryan's grandmother moved in with the family. As she had Alzheimer's, Ryan helped care for her while his mother commuted to college in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ryan has a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, In 2012, under Wisconsin election law, Ryan was allowed to run concurrently for vice president and for Congress

Zerban again challenged Ryan in the 2014 House election. Ryan won with 63 percent of his district's vote.

In the 2016 Republican primary election, Ryan faced businessman Paul Nehlen, who had been endorsed by Sarah Palin. Because of Nehlen's support for Trump, Trump publicly thanked him on Twitter and later told The Washington Post that Nehlen was "running a very good campaign", even though he did not endorse him. On August 5, 2016, Trump endorsed Ryan's re-election after pressure from fellow Republican leaders. In the primary election on August 9, 2016, Ryan overwhelmingly defeated Nehlen, taking over 84 percent of the vote. In the November general election, Ryan faced Democrat Rebecca Solen

Committee assignments

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ryan was not a chair or a member of any committee. Prior to his speakership, Ryan held the following assignments:

Committee on Ways and Means (Chairman)
Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

House Republican Caucus
Caucus of House Conservatives Republican Study Committee
Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus
Prayer Caucus
Sportsmen's Caucus (Co-Chair)
Congressional Western Caucus

Pre-Speaker congressional tenure (1999–2015)

thumb|upright|Official U.S. Congress portrait of Ryan in 2001

Ryan became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee in 2007

In 2010, Ryan was a member of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Bowles-Simpson Commission), which was tasked with developing a plan to reduce the federal deficit. He voted against the final report of the commission. through its "Mitt's VP" mobile app. to run on a major party's national ticket.

Also in August 2012, the Associated Press published a story saying that while the Tea Party movement had wanted a nominee other than Romney, it had gotten "one of its ideological heroes" in the vice presidential slot. According to the article, Ryan supports the Tea Party's belief in "individual rights, distrust of big government and an allegorical embrace of the Founding Fathers". Among those interested in the post, Kevin McCarthy—who had wide support among Republicans, including Boehner, and Ryan, who was set to officially nominate him—was considered the presumptive favorite. His candidacy was opposed by conservative House Republicans of the Freedom Caucus, and when it became clear that caucus members would not support his candidacy, McCarthy withdrew his name from consideration on October 8. This led many Republicans to turn to Ryan as a compromise candidate. The push included a plea from Boehner, who reportedly told Ryan that he was the only person who could unite the House Republicans at a time of turmoil. Ryan released a statement that said, "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate." The next day however, close aides of Ryan's confirmed that Ryan had re-evaluated the situation, and was considering the possibility of a run.

Ryan confirmed on October 22, that he would seek the speakership after receiving the endorsements of two factions of House Republicans, including the conservative Freedom Caucus. Ryan, upon confirming his bid for the speakership, stated, "I never thought I'd be speaker. But I pledged to you that if I could be a unifying figure, then I would serve – I would go all in. After talking with so many of you, and hearing your words of encouragement, I believe we are ready to move forward as one, united team. And I am ready and eager to be our speaker."

On October 29, Ryan was elected Speaker, receiving 236 votes, an absolute majority of the 435-member chamber. Democrat Nancy Pelosi received 184 votes, with 12 more going to others. After the vote Ryan delivered his first remarks as speaker-elect and was sworn in by John Conyers, the dean of the House, becoming, at age , the youngest person elected as speaker since James G. Blaine (age ) in 1869. Later, he named lobbyist John David Hoppe as his chief of staff.

Ryan became the leader of the House Republicans upon becoming Speaker. However, by tradition, he largely stopped taking part in debate and made only a few votes from the floor. He was also not a member of any committees.

2016 presidential election

thumb|left|280px|Ryan speaking at [[Conservative Political Action Conference|CPAC in March 2014]]

After Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election on May 4, 2016, Ryan was hesitant to endorse him, stating on May 5 that he was "not ready". Ryan and Trump met in private on May 12, releasing a joint statement afterward, acknowledging their differences but stating "we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground." On June 2, Ryan announced his support for Trump in an op-ed in The Janesville Gazette.

The following day, June 3, amid Trump's criticism of Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, Ryan said Trump's critique "just was out of left field for my mind," and voiced disagreement with him. On June 7, Ryan disavowed Trump's comments about Curiel because he believed they were "the textbook definition of a racist comment". Nevertheless, Ryan continued to endorse Trump, believing that more Republican policies will be enacted under Donald Trump than presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. On June 15, after Kevin McCarthy stated during a conversation among Republicans, "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God", Ryan interjected, "No leaks. This is how we know we're a real family here."

On July 5, after FBI director James Comey advocated against pressing charges against Clinton for her email scandal, Ryan said Comey's decision "defies explanation" and stated that "[d]eclining to prosecute Secretary Clinton for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a terrible precedent."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Ryan suggested that candidate Trump should release his tax returns.

thumb|Ryan shaking hands with [[Donald Trump prior to his address to a joint session of Congress on February 28, 2017]]

In October 2016, following the Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Ryan disinvited Trump from a scheduled campaign rally, and announced that he would no longer defend or support Trump's presidential campaign but would focus instead on Congressional races. He also freed down-ticket congress members to use their own judgment about Trump, saying "you all need to do what's best for you and your district." Trump then went on to attack Ryan, accusing him and other "disloyal" Republicans of deliberately undermining his candidacy as part of "a whole sinister deal".

115th Congress

thumb|Ryan with Donald Trump and Vice President [[Mike Pence, December 2017]]

Two months after the 2016 elections, Ryan was re-elected Speaker of the House on January 3, 2017, the opening day of the 115th Congress. He received 239 votes to House Democratic Leader Pelosi's 189 votes (with 5 more going to others).

On February 7, 2017, Ryan told reporters a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would be introduced "this year" amid speculation Donald Trump would not act toward doing so until the following year. On March 9, Ryan gave a 30-minute lecture explaining the proposed replacement for the ACA, titled the American Health Care Act (AHCA). On March 30, Ryan said that he did not intend to work with Democrats on repealing and replacing the ACA, reasoning their involvement would lead to "government running health care." On April 4, Ryan confirmed renewed discussions of an ACA replacement, but warned that a replacement was in the "conceptual" stages of its development. On May 4, the House narrowly voted for the AHCA to repeal the ACA. On May 9, Ryan said that "a month or two" would pass before the Senate would pass its own ACA repeal and replacement legislation. The Senate created several of its own versions of the act but was unable to pass any of them.

In May 2017, Ryan said Congress' goal was "calendared 2017 for tax reform" and reported progress was being made in doing so. In December 2017, both houses of Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax bill called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed into law on December 22. The tax law is projected to add an additional $1.5 trillion to the national debt over a decade, but the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation also estimated that the GDP level on average would be 0.7% higher during the same period. In the weeks leading up to his retirement announcement, Ryan also championed a $1.3 trillion government-wide spending bill that boosted military spending significantly. He urged Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Congressional oversight committees to "do their jobs so that we can get to the bottom of all of this." In July Congress passed a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia and giving Congress the power to overrule White House attempts to roll back sanctions. Both houses passed the bill with veto-proof majorities (98–2 in the Senate, 419–3 in the House), so Trump reluctantly signed it into law on August 2, 2017. Nunes accused the Obama administration of improperly "unmasking" the identities of Trump associates (which led Nunes' temporary recusal from the committee's Russia investigation), accused the FBI of misconduct, leaked the text messages of Senator Mark Warner (in an effort to misleadingly suggest impropriety on his behalf), and threatened to impeach FBI director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The House Intelligence Committee was one of few so-called "select" committees in Congress, which meant that it was up to Ryan to decide the chairman of the committee. When President Trump ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – which granted temporary stay for undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as minors – Ryan said DACA recipients should "rest easy" because Congress would solve the problem for them, but Ryan backed no bills to protect DACA recipients.

An article in The Washington Post described Ryan's relationship with President Trump as "friendly, if occasionally uneasy," adding that "Ryan did little to check the president or encourage oversight of his administration."

On April 11, 2018, Ryan announced that he would not run for re-election in November, saying, "I like to think I've done my part, my little part in history to set us on a better course." In response, Trump tweeted, "Speaker Paul Ryan is a truly good man, and while he will not be seeking re-election, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question."

In May 2018, Ryan led the House in passing the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which partially repealed the Dodd-Frank Act. It was signed into law by President Trump a few days later.

After Republicans lost control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections, Ryan suggested that there were irregularities about the election results in California. Ryan said that California's election system was "bizarre", "defies logic" and that "there are a lot of races there we should have won." After Ryan's remarks were reported on, Ryan's spokesperson said "The Speaker did not and does not dispute the results".

Assessment of Speaker tenure

250px|thumb| Official portrait by Leslie W. Bowman, 2023

Following Ryan's retirement announcement, an article in The Washington Post stated that Ryan was "leav[ing] behind a legacy of dramatically expanded government spending and immense deficits, a GOP president unchecked, a broken immigration system, and a party that's fast abandoning the free-trade principles that he himself championed."

Constituent services

In fiscal year 2008, Ryan garnered $5.4 million in congressional earmarks, including $3.28 million for bus service in Wisconsin, $1.38 million for the Ice Age Trail, and $735,000 for the Janesville transit system. Ryan has directed major GOP donors towards the CLF.

Political positions

thumb|right|Ryan takes his oath of office following his election as Speaker on October 29, 2015.

Ryan's political positions were generally conservative, with a focus on fiscal policy. While he was a self-proclaimed deficit hawk, Ryan's tenure of Speaker of the House saw a major expansion in government spending and a ballooning of deficits despite unified Republican control of Congress and the White House, no recession and no new foreign conflict.

Ryan subscribed to supply-side economics and supported tax cuts including eliminating the capital gains tax, the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the Alternative Minimum Tax. Ryan believes federal poverty reduction programs are ineffective and he supports cuts to welfare, child care, Pell Grants, food stamps, and other federal assistance programs. Ryan supported President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He stated: "Jerusalem has been, and always will be, the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel."

Following the 2018 Russia–United States Summit, in which Donald Trump stated that he believed Russian government did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Ryan confirmed his belief that Russian government interfered and advocated for more economic sanctions against Russia for the interference.

Ryan supported U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war and used his power to block a House vote on the war in Yemen.

In a 2022 interview, Ryan described himself as a "Never-Again Trumper." While he was "proud of the accomplishments [during the Trump administration]", Ryan highlighted how under Trump, the Republican Party lost elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022, and said that the party should thus distance itself from Trump. A year later, Ryan would deride Trump as a "populist, authoritarian narcissist" and "not a conservative." In June 2024, Ryan stated he would not vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, instead planning to write-in another candidate because of Trump's lack of "character." Prior to the Republican primaries, Ryan privately encouraged Congressman Mike Gallagher to support Nikki Haley's presidential campaign.

History with Objectivism

At a 2005 Washington, D.C., gathering celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth, Ryan credited Rand with having inspired him to get involved in politics.

Post-congressional life

In March 2019, Ryan joined the board of directors of Fox Corporation, the owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network. In August 2019, he joined the board of SHINE Medical Technologies. He was a guest lecturer in political science and economics at the University of Notre Dame for the 2019–2020 academic year. In April 2019, Ryan was nominated as the delegation leader to represent President Trump in a visit to Taipei. With Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, he attended the 40th-anniversary ceremony of the Taiwan Relations Act. In October 2019, Ryan launched a non-profit called American Idea Foundation.

In October 2020, Ryan joined the public relations and advisory company Teneo as a senior advisor. In February 2021 he became a partner in the Boston private equity investment firm Solamere Capital.

On May 17, 2023, Ryan unveiled his official portrait at the U.S. Capitol during a ceremony in Statuary Hall. During his speech, he said, "Only in America would it be possible for a kid from Janesville to go from an intern to the Speaker of the House".

Personal life

thumb|300px|Ryan with his wife and family on the Speaker's balcony at the [[U.S. Capitol, following his election in October 2015]]

In December 2000, Ryan married Janna Christine Little who is a tax attorney. Janna Ryan is a native of Madill, Oklahoma, and a graduate of both Wellesley College and George Washington University Law School. Ryan is a member of St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Janesville. Through his marriage, Ryan is related to Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Due to a family history of fatal heart attacks before age 60, Ryan is involved in an intense cross-training fitness program called P90X. He has always been a fitness enthusiast and was a personal trainer after graduating from college. Speaking of P90X he said, "It works because it's called muscle confusion. It hits your body in many different ways. Pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, lots of cardio, karate, jump training. It has results, it works. It's a good workout."

In a 2010 Politico interview he stated that he weighed 163 pounds and maintained his body fat percentage between 6% and 8%. Tony Horton, creator of P90X, who has personally trained Ryan many times, reiterated the claim saying, "He is very, very, very lean. I know what 6 to 8 percent body fat looks like, and there's no fat anywhere on the man. I'm around 9 percent and he's much leaner than I am. He's easily 6 to 8 percent body fat. You just have to eat right and exercise every day, and that’s what he does."

During a 2012 radio interview, Ryan claimed he had once run a marathon in under three hours; he later said he forgot his actual time and was just trying to give what he thought was a normal time. His one official marathon time is recorded as slightly over four hours.

Awards and honors

2004, 2010 – Guardian of Small Business Award, National Federation of Independent Business
2018 – 23px Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service

References

External links

Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Historical Society