Ryan, Paul Davis

Ryan, Paul Davis,

1972–, U.S. politician, b. Janesville, Wis., grad. Miami Univ. (B.S. 1992), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2015–19). A politically active, conservative Republican, he was influenced by the economic theories of HayekHayek, Friedrich August von
, 1899–1992, British economist, b. Vienna. He was raised and educated in Austria and taught at the London School of Economics in the 1930s, where he gained attention for his criticism of Keynes.
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 and FriedmanFriedman, Milton
, 1912–2006, American economist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1946. Friedman was influential in helping to revive the monetarist school of economic thought (see monetarism).
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 and the political philosophy of Ayn RandRand, Ayn
, 1905–82, American writer, b. St. Petersburg, Russia, as Alissa Rosenbaum. She came to the United States in 1926, became a citizen five years later, and worked for many years as a Hollywood screenwriter.
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. In 1998 he first won election as a U.S. representative from Wisconsin. A member of the House Budget Committee, he became its ranking Republican in 2007 and chairman in 2011. Ryan has advocated reducing government spending, privatizing Social Security, replacing Medicare with a voucher program, turning Medicaid into block grants to states, repealing President Obama's health-care legislation, and lowering income-tax rates. A favorite of Tea PartyTea Party,
in the early 21st cent., U.S. political movement that arose in reaction to the economic crisis of 2008 and the government rescue and aid measures for the financial, automobile, and other industries as well as broader stimulus measures enacted in 2008 and 2009.
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 Republicans, he was chosen by Mitt RomneyRomney, Mitt
(Willard Mitt Romney) , 1947–, American politician and business executive, b. Detroit, Mich., grad. Brigham Young Univ. (B.A., 1971), Harvard (M.B.A., 1975, J.D., 1975). Son of George W. Romney, he worked for Bain and Co.
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, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, as his running mate; the two lost to the incumbents, ObamaObama, Barack
(Barack Hussein Obama 2d), , 1961–, 44th president of the United States (2009–17), b. Honolulu, grad. Columbia (B.A. 1983), Harvard Law School (J.D. 1991).
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 and BidenBiden, Joseph Robinette, Jr.
, 1942–, Vice President of the United States (2009–17), b. Scranton, Pa. A lawyer and Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware, where his family had moved when he was young, in 1972, and was reelected six times, retiring
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, in the general election. When John BoehnerBoehner, John Andrew
, 1949–, American congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2011–15), b. Cincinnati. A business executive and a Republican member (1985–90) of the Ohio house of representatives, he first won election to the U.S.
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 stepped down as House speaker in 2015 due in large part to party squabbles, Ryan succeeded him with some reluctance. He retired from Congress in 2019.