During the war, he aided soldiers by providing supplies and holding rallies for those returning home. servicemen held as prisoner of war and a supporter of their families. Perot was a hawk on the Vietnam War, an advocate for U.S. By 1992, his fortune was judged to be $3 billion. Perot eventually sold his company to General Motors in 1984 for $2.55 billion, and founded Perot Systems in 1988. The episode inspired the 1983 novel, On Wings of Eagles. His best known venture with the company was in 1979, when he sent a private militia into Iran in the midst of the Iranian Revolution to rescue two of his employees who had been imprisoned. Perot earned a fortune with the company, and by 1968 was named by Fortune as the "fastest, richest Texan." Perot was known to run the company in a militaristic fashion, built on loyalty and duty. After the company ignored his idea for electronic storage, he founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, which was then contracted by the United States government to store Medicare records. He surpassed his one-year sales quota in just two weeks. After serving in the United States Navy in the 1950s, Perot joined IBM as a salesman.
Ross Perot had never been elected to public office, but he ran several successful corporations and was involved in public affairs for decades. Perot stands next to a portrait of George Washington at his office in 1986. Wallace in 1968 both to win counties and to finish as high as second place in any state. Perot remains the only non-major-party presidential candidate since George C. However, Perot won several counties, placed second in two states, and finished far ahead of any other candidate in third place overall, receiving close to 18.97 percent of the popular vote, the most won by a third-party presidential candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. In the general election, Clinton defeated Bush in a landslide while Perot carried no states and received no votes in the Electoral College. Perot appeared on every state ballot as a result of the earlier draft efforts. His polling numbers never fully recovered from his initial exit, despite his aggressive use of commercials on prime-time television. He dropped out in July 1992 amid controversy, but re-entered in October, participating in all three presidential debates. Bush, the incumbent President, and Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, the Democratic nominee. In certain polls, he led the three-way race with Republican nominee George H. Perot largely financed his own campaign and relied on marketing and wide grass roots support. Supporters saw him as a non-political and witty "folk hero", but critics described him as "authoritarian" and "short-tempered". His views were described as a combination of " East Texas populism with high-tech wizardry". Perot focused the campaign on his plans to balance the federal budget, further economic nationalism, strengthen the war on drugs, and implement "electronic town halls" throughout the nation for "direct democracy". James Stockdale, a retired Navy vice admiral, was Perot's running mate. Grass-root organizations sprang up in every state to help Perot achieve ballot access following his announcement on the Februedition of Larry King Live. Perot was a Texas industrialist who had never served as a public official, but he had experience as the head of several successful corporations and had been involved in public affairs for the previous three decades. In 1992, Ross Perot ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for President of the United States. For his 1996 campaign, see Ross Perot 1996 presidential campaign. "Ross Perot presidential campaign" redirects here.