Preeti Panwar
Paul Ryan, the 42-year old candidate of the Republican Party for the Vice Presidential post in the US Elections 2012, is considered to be the most conservative Republican member of Congress to be picked for the vice-presidential slot in the last century or so.
Ryan was officially nominated as former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s running mate on August 29, 2012 at the Republican convention in Tampa.
Born as Paul Davis Ryan on the 29th January, 1970 in Janesville, Wisconsin, he is the youngest of four children of Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer and Elizabeth A Betty. He attended St Mary’s Catholic School and Joseph A Craig School, both in Janesville where he was much into sports such as ski, track, soccer and basketball.
However, he majored in Political Science and Economics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio which eventually led to joining politics and becoming the chairman of the House of Budget Committee of the Republicans.
He currently chairs the House Budget Committee and is considered a fiscally conservative voice in the Republican Party.
Considering that he was first elected to the House of Representatives at a young age of 28, Ryan has 14 years of experience that could fittingly support Mitt Romney’s fight for the Presidential post in the US elections 2012. He is known to be a charismatic leader, and combined with his youthfulness, Ryan could well be the candidate that the Republicans need to add life to their campaign and attract the youths of the country. He is a fitness fanatic too considering he was heavily into sports and athletics during his college days.
In his acceptance speech, he promoted Romney as the presidential candidate and said that he and Romney have a plan to generate 12 million new jobs over the next four years.
On the second day of the Republican National Convention, Ryan took center stage with a lengthy speech to the Republican Party: "When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, `Let`s get this done.` And that is exactly what we are going to do," he said during the speech.
On October 11, 2012, Ryan debated with his Democratic counterpart and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, in the only Vice Presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle.
A Roman Catholic, Ryan is married to Janna Little since 2000 and the couple is blessed with three children.