Henry Ross Perot is n’t a name you hear too often these daytime , but the 78 - class - quondam Texas businessman is still kick : He still makes an one-year appearance on Forbes 400 rich listing ( number 68 this twelvemonth ) ; he ’s still as deeply opinionated as he ’s always been ; and his ears still stick out .
And he ’s still a fascinating American creation , which is why we ’ve comply a short list of thing you probably did n’t make love about H. Ross Perot :
1. He pulled himself up by his cowboy boot straps
H. Ross Perot was born on June 27 , 1930 , in Texarkana , Texas " “ just west of range the line between Arkansas and Texas , hence the name " “ and had his first occupation about the same fourth dimension he lose his Milk River teeth . The soon - to - be billionaire grew up training gymnastic horse , selling magazines and garden seed , and delivering newspaper before entering the Naval Academy , where he was doubly elect class chairman . Fast frontwards a few year , after Naval service and doing clock time as a salesman in the deep at IBM , and Perot borrows $ 1000 from his married woman to start Electronic Data Systems Leasing Corporation , or EDS as it ’s more usually known , in 1962 . Within eight age " “ and after closing in on some moneymaking state contracts to cybernate Medicare and Medicaid claims " “ that $ 1000 investment became a multi - billion one dollar bill tummy hire more than 70,000 people .
2. He convinced Ollie North to stay in the Marines
Young Oliver North wanted to ferment for EDS , but Perot discouraged him from it , saying the bright young police officer should stay right were he was , in the Marines . This , of course , may not have been the best career way for young North " “ who end up a home name at the center of the Iran - Contra dirt .
3. He’s hardcore
In 1979 , when two EDS employee were abduct and hold hostage by Iranian revolutionaries , Perot did n’t wait around for help to come . The billionaire organized his own storm - the - castle delivery military mission with the assistant of retired Green Beret Colonel Arthur " Bull" Simons .
The rescue mission, which was staffed by EDS employees, was ultimately successful ““ Perot himself walked into the Tehran prison where his men were being held and walked them out.
Ken Follett wrote a book about it , On the Wings of Eagles , which was later turned into a goggle box miniseries .
This was not the only time Perot would undertake to bankroll a rescue mission into uncongenial territories " “ this one just happen to be the most successful .
4. He’s tough on drugs
Nineteen - seventy - nine was a in use twelvemonth for Perot : In plus to mount a ranger foray to rescue his employee from Iranian revolutionist , he was ask by the Texas regulator to head up up the Texas War on Drugs committee . Which he did pretty effectively " “ the committee proposed five legal philosophy to fight drug dealings , all of which were passed by the state legislature and signed into law of nature .
5. He’s a speed freak
Perot used to race his son on Lake Texoma " “ him in a Cigarette gravy boat souped up with two $ 250,000 super C engines , against his son , Ross , Jr. , overhead in a helicopter . Fellow boater reported seeing Perot gripping the guidance rack ofBlue Thunder , his boat , his goggles on and doing well over 100 miles an hour .
6. He never did get that heliport
Perot has never been particularly pretentious with his money , a large chunk of which has long been wrapped up in benevolent endeavors . While he ’s always up for spending money for a secure lawsuit , having parted with $ 120 million for inner - city schools and anti - drugs measures within the first few months of his Greek valerian ’s establishment , Perot did n’t exactly splash the cash around ( except for the horses , the house , and his wife ’s cars ) . But unhappily , the city of Dallas deny Ross Perot one matter he in truth want : a heliport for his 22 - acre North Dallas mansion house . The Dallas Plan Commission denied the billionaire ’s request after his neighbors complained .
7. He’s a collector
In 1984 , Perot bought a copy of the Magna Carta " “ actually a 1297 copy of the one sign in 1215 by King John at the behest of some pissed off nobles , and defining rights for citizen of British Commonwealth nation for years to do . Perot , through his foundation , buy the papers from a British family of aristocracy for $ 1.5 million ; it had been in their ownership since the Middle Ages . He lent it to the National Archives in Washington , DC , where it share the elbow room with original copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution " “ until 2007 , that is . In 2007 , the foundation Perot control abruptly make up one’s mind to take the Magna Carta back and put it up on the auction block , where it promptly trade for $ 21.3 million .
8. He hates John McCain
Alter ’s conversation with Perot also revealed that the former presidential prospect , like many others in the state , had been duped by email chains claiming that Barack Obama was a Muslim and had refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance . At that time , Perot say he ’d be voting for former Massachusetts regulator and Mormon Mitt Romney in the Texas Republican primary , explaining , " When I pass to the Naval Academy and met my first Mormons I enquire why so many were fantabulous officer " ¦ I learned it was because of their strong folk unit . “
9. He’s a family man
During an interview on60 Minutes , Perot take that he so abruptly dropped out of the 1992 presidential election to protect his daughter . accord to Perot , his girl Carolyn ’s hymeneals was in peril of being disrupt by a villainous Republican plot to embarrass her with lurid and on the face of it doctored au naturel photographs . And this same nefarious plot included some form of disruption of the wedding Clarence Shepard Day Jr. itself . And there was this other villainous plot to tap his phones . Perot had no proof of that either plot exist , but hey , a man ca n’t be too careful with his daughter ’s happiness , now can he ? ( It was by and by discover that the man who severalize Perot about the plots actually made it up , in an effort to discredit Bush . )
( For more on the presidential election of 1992 , check out our previous stake , Secrets of Past Elections : 1992 . )
