Editing Ron Paul (section)

== Early congressional career (1976–1985) ==
While a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by [[Friedrich Hayek]]'s ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'', which caused him to read other publications by [[Ludwig von Mises]] and [[Ayn Rand]]. He came to know economists [[Hans Sennholz]] and [[Murray Rothbard]] well, and credits his interest in the study of economics to them.<ref name="gold"/> When President [[Richard Nixon]] "[[Nixon shock|closed the gold window]]" by ending American participation in the [[Bretton Woods System]], thus ending on August 15, 1971, the [[United States dollar|U.S. dollar]]'s loose association with [[gold]],<ref name="gold">{{cite web |work=J. Taylor's Gold & Technology Stocks |date=May 11, 2000 |title=Taylor Interview with Ron Paul. In Defense of our 'Unalienable Rights{{'-}} |url=http://www.usagold.com/gildedopinion/taylorpaulintrvw.html |author=Taylor, Jay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000829130227/http://www.usagold.com/gildedopinion/taylorpaulintrvw.html |url-status=live |archive-date=August 29, 2000}}</ref> Paul decided to enter politics,<ref name="drno">{{cite news |last=Gwynne |first=S. C. |title=Dr. No |url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/dr-no |newspaper=Texas Monthly |date=October 2001}}</ref> and became a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate for the [[United States Congress]].<ref name="lambda">{{cite news |url=http://www.crossandcrescent.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-presidential-bid |title=Ron Paul's Presidential Bid |author=Barrick, Chris |date=November 2, 2007 |publisher=[[Lambda Chi Alpha]] |work=Cross and Crescent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104075054/http://www.crossandcrescent.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-presidential-bid/ |archive-date=November 4, 2007}}</ref>

=== Elections ===
In 1974, incumbent [[Robert R. Casey]] defeated him for the [[Texas's 22nd congressional district|22nd district]].<ref name="psul"/> President [[Gerald Ford]] later appointed Casey to the [[Federal Maritime Commission]], and Paul won an April 1976 [[special election]] to the vacant office after a [[Two-round system|runoff]].<ref name="1976-election">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eswtAAAAIBAJ&dq=ron%20paul&pg=1316%2C978854 |title=Names in the News |work=[[Tri-City Herald]] |date=April 4, 1976}}{{dead link|date=April 2016}}</ref><ref name="casey">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFXP0ZxhxE0C&q=Robert+R.+Casey+%22Federal+Maritime+Commission&pg=PA270 |title=A Concise History of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations |author=House Committee Print |date=December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070323/23paulfacts.htm |title=10 Things You Didn't Know About Ron Paul |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=March 23, 2007 |first=Danielle |last=Burton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517082524/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070323/23paulfacts.htm |archive-date=May 17, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Paul lost the next regular election to [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Robert Gammage]] by fewer than 300&nbsp;votes (0.2%), but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch, and was reelected in 1980 and 1982.<ref name="fewer-than-300">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6TZfAAAAIBAJ&dq=ron%20paul&pg=4829%2C3755468 |title=In Texas |work=The Bonham Daily Favorite |date=November 12, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C14FA395B167493C6A9178AD95F428785F9 |title=Many Democrats in South Winon Carter's Coattails; G.O.P. Weakened in Region at All Political Levels |date=November 4, 1976 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=B. Drummond Jr. |last=Ayres}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/opinion/sunday/douthat-Pariahs-and-Prophets.html |title=Pariahs and Prophets |work=The New York Times |date=December 31, 2011 |first=Ross |last=Douthat |archive-date=January 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109114706/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/opinion/sunday/douthat-Pariahs-and-Prophets.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> Gammage underestimated Paul's popularity among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in [[Brazoria County, Texas|Brazoria County]], where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15016924 |title=Paul Has Long Drawn Support from Unlikely Places |publisher=NPR |date=October 7, 2007 |author=Goodwyn, Wade |work=the '08 Candidates' First Campaign |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228231605/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15016924 |archive-date=December 28, 2007 |url-status=live |author-link=Wade Goodwyn}}</ref>

===Tenure===
[[File:Ron Paul 1979.jpg|thumb|upright|Paul in 1979]]
Paul served in Congress three different periods: first from 1976 to 1977, after he won a special election, then from 1979 to 1985, and finally from 1997 to 2013.<ref name="congress-bio">{{cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000583 |title=Biography |work=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127005610/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000583 |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In his early years, Paul served on the [[House Banking Committee]], where he blamed the [[Federal Reserve]] for [[inflation]] and spoke against the banking mismanagement that resulted in the [[savings and loan crisis]].<ref name="ny" /><ref name="2008bio" /> Paul argued for a return to the gold standard maintained by the U.S. from 1873 to 1933, and with Senator [[Jesse Helms]] convinced the Congress to study the issue.<ref name="gold" /> He spoke against the reinstatement of registration for the military draft in 1980, in opposition to President [[Jimmy Carter]] and the majority of his fellow Republican members of Congress.<ref name="wsj1997" />

During his first term, Paul founded the [[Foundation for Rational Economics and Education]] (FREE), a non-profit [[think tank]] dedicated to promoting principles of [[limited government]] and free-market economics.<ref name="RPFREE">{{cite web |url=http://www.free-nefl.com/html/introduction.html |title=Introduction to FREE and NEFL |publisher=[[Foundation for Rational Economics and Education]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430160810/http://www.free-nefl.com/html/introduction.html |archive-date=April 30, 2008}}</ref><ref name="RPFEE2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iBiq513excQC&q=%22Foundation+for+Rational+Economics+and+Education%22&pg=PA229 |title=The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission |first1=Ron |last1=Paul |first2=Lewis |last2=Lehrman |publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-61016-053-7 |access-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref> In 1984, Paul became the first chairman of the [[Citizens for a Sound Economy]] (CSE),<ref name="CSE"/> a [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[politics|political]] group founded by [[Charles Koch|Charles]] and [[David Koch]] "to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation." CSE started a [[Tea Party protest]] against high taxes in 2002.<ref name="TEA2002">{{cite web |url=http://www.usteaparty.com/ |title=Welcome to the US TEA PARTY |publisher=[[Citizens for a Sound Economy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020913052026/http://www.usteaparty.com/ |archive-date=September 13, 2002}}</ref> In 2004, Citizens for a Sound Economy split into two new organizations, with Citizens for a Sound Economy being renamed as [[FreedomWorks]], and Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation becoming [[Americans for Prosperity]]. The two organizations would become key players in the [[Tea Party movement]] from 2009 onward.

Paul proposed [[term limit|term-limit]] legislation multiple times, while himself serving four terms in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]].<ref name="wsj1997">{{cite journal |last=Fund |first=John H. |date=January 13, 1997 |title=The Libertarian Congressman Is Back |journal=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |page=A18, column 3}}<!--http://www.seedship.com/politics/ronpaul1.html {{cite web |url=http://www.seedship.com/politics/ronpaul1.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=September 27, 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127124847/http://www.seedship.com/politics/ronpaul1.html |archivedate=November 27, 2010}} --></ref> In 1984, he decided to retire from the House in order to [[1984 United States Senate election in Texas|run for the U.S. Senate]], complaining in his House farewell address that "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare... It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic."<ref name="insight1997">Berlau, John. "Now Playing Right Field". ''[[Insight on the News]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul433.html |title=Some Observations on Four Terms in Congress |author=Paul, Ron |work=[[LewRockwell.com]] |date=September 19, 1984}}</ref> Paul lost the Republican primary to [[Phil Gramm]], who had switched parties the previous year from Democrat to Republican.<!--<ref>{{cite news |publisher=National Public Radio |date=July 26, 2007 |author=Rudin, Ken |title=Ron Paul, George and Ringo |work=Political Junkie}}</ref>--> Another candidate of the senatorial primary was [[Henry Grover]], a conservative former state legislator who had lost the 1972 gubernatorial general election to Democrat [[Dolph Briscoe]], Jr.<ref name="elections_texas">{{cite web |url=https://texasalmanac.com/sites/default/files/images/uploads/gov1845-2010table.pdf |work=Texas Almanac |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |title=Elections of Texas Governors, 1845–2010}}</ref><ref name="rep-primary">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9MMcAAAAIBAJ&dq=henry%20grover&pg=4858%2C2017191 |title=Gramm Voices Surprise |newspaper=[[The Victoria Advocate]] |date=May 6, 1984}}</ref> On Paul's departure from the House, his seat was assumed by former state representative [[Tom DeLay]], who would later become [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Leader]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/members/roster.cfm?leg=68 |title=Members and leaders of the Texas Legislature |publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208130606/http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/roster.cfm?leg=68 |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>