Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan
Official portrait, 2018
54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office
October 29, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byJohn Boehner
Succeeded byNancy Pelosi
Leader of the House Republican Conference
In office
October 29, 2015 – January 3, 2019
DeputyKevin McCarthy
Preceded byJohn Boehner
Succeeded byKevin McCarthy
Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
In office
January 3, 2015 – October 29, 2015
Preceded byDave Camp
Succeeded byKevin Brady
Chair of the House Budget Committee
In office
January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2015
Preceded byJohn Spratt
Succeeded byTom Price
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byMark Neumann
Succeeded byBryan Steil
Personal details
Born
Paul Davis Ryan

(1970-01-29) January 29, 1970 (age 54)
Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Janna Little
(m. 2000)
Children3
EducationMiami University (BA)
Awards Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
Signature

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. A member of the Republican Party, he was the vice presidential nominee in the 2012 election with Mitt Romney, losing to incumbent President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Ryan is a native of 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. His other major piece of legislation, the American Health Care Act of 2017, passed the House but failed in the Senate by one vote, famously withheld by fellow Republican, Senator John McCain in the last year of his life.[1]

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.[2]

  1. ^ Pear, Robert; Kaplan, Thomas (July 28, 2017). "Senate Rejects Slimmed-Down Obamacare Repeal as McCain Votes No". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  2. ^ Barabak, Mark Z. (November 28, 2018). "TJ Cox beats Republican Rep. David Valadao to give Democrats gain of 40 House seats, seven in California". Los Angeles Times.