Ross Perot, the billionaire tycoon who mounted two unsuccessful third-party presidential campaigns in the 1990s, died Tuesday, family spokesman James Fuller confirmed to CNN. He was 89.
Perot died after a five-month battle with leukemia, Fuller said.
A billionaire by his mid-50s after he sold a controlling interest in the data processing business he founded to General Motors for $2.5 billion, Perot’s foray into presidential politics made him one of the more colorful political figures of the 1990s.
His Texas twang, populist platform – he memorably railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement, warning of a “giant sucking sound” of American jobs to other countries if passed – and frequent TV appearances brought him wide recognition, and his 1992 campaign, in which he garnered nearly 19% of the vote and finished third behind Bill Clinton and incumbent President George H.W. Bush, remains one of the most successful third-party bids in American history.
videoFor years, Bush blamed Perot for his defeat, saying in a 2012 HBO documentary that he believed Perot “cost me the election.” Election experts and scholarly research, however, has challenged that theory: The New York Times found Perot’s effect on the outcome of the election “appears to have been minimal,” and The Washington Post reported Clinton would have still won by a large margin if Perot hadn’t run.
In 1995, Perot created the Reform Party, and the following year received 8% of the vote in the presidential election as the party’s candidate.
Following his second and final bid for the presidency, Perot served as president and CEO of Perot Systems Corporation, which he founded in 1988. He was the head of the company until 2000, when he passed the title on to his son, Ross Perot Jr.
Nine years later, Dell Incorporated bought Perot Systems for $3.9 billion, which was a net gain of about $400 million for the Perot family.
Aside from his business and political careers, Perot also received national attention for his efforts during the Vietnam War to create better conditions for US prisoners of war. He traveled to Laos, where he met with ambassadors from Russia and North Vietnam, and was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the Department of Defense in 1974 for his efforts. In 1979, when two EDS employees were taken hostage during a revolution in Iran, he organized and paid for a successful private mission called Operation Hotfoot to rescue the men and bring them home.
“In business and in life, Ross was a man of integrity and action. A true American patriot and a man of rare vision, principle and deep compassion, he touched the lives of countless people through his unwavering support of the military and veterans and through his charitable endeavors,” Fuller said in a statement. “Ross Perot will be deeply missed by all who loved him. He lived a long and honorable life.”
Early success in business
Ross Perot campaigns for president in July 1996. It was the second time he ran as a third-party candidate. Brooks Kraft/Sygma/Getty Images 
Perot grew up in Texarkana, Texas, a small town that straddles the Texas-Arkansas state line. This photo is from the 1949 Texarkana Junior College yearbook. Perot was class president. AP 
After community college, Perot attended the US Naval Academy. He graduated in 1953 and served in the Navy until 1957, when he became a data processing salesman for IBM. In 1962, Perot founded his own data processing business. By 1968, it made him a billionaire. Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma/Getty Images 
Perot, right, listens to a North Vietnamese prisoner in April 1970. Perot received national attention for his efforts during the Vietnam War to create better conditions for US prisoners of war. He traveled to Laos, where he met with ambassadors from Russia and North Vietnam. POWs later claimed that the publicity ultimately resulted in better treatment by the North Vietnamese. AP 
Britain's Prince Charles presents Perot with the Winston Churchill Award in February 1986. Perot was being honored for his work in Vietnam as well as his efforts to help rescue two of his employees from an Iranian prison in 1979. AP 
Perot sits in his office at his company, Electronic Data Systems, in December 1986. He started the company in Dallas with a $1,000 loan from his wife. Shelly Katz/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 
Perot, an Eagle Scout, gives the Boy Scout salute at a luncheon in New York in June 1990. He was receiving a Boy Scouts Award for Courage. Marty Lederhandler/AP 
Perot laughs while talking to reporters in New York in May 1992. Perot was asked when he formally planned to enter the presidential race. He said "watch my lips" — a jab at President George H.W. Bush. Richard Drew/AP 
Judy Woodruff questions Perot during "The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour" on September 18, 1992. That day, Perot qualified for the Arizona ballot, completing efforts to put his name on all 50 state ballots. He had said he would run only if he could get enough signatures to put him on the ballot on every state. Charles Tasnadi/AP 
Perot walks toward his position on stage before debating Bill Clinton, left, and US President George H.W. Bush in October 1992. Perot was running as an independent. Amy Sancetta/AP 
During the 1992 election cycle, Perot directly challenged Clinton and Bush's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He argued the treaty would cause the loss of American jobs. Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma/Getty Images 
Perot uses visual aids during a 30-minute television commercial in October 1992. AP 
Perot laughs with 12-year-old supporter Kevin Grace following a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, in October 1992. Perot and his supporters embraced his large ears, and Perot even joked about them in a debate. When talking about the gas tax, Perot broke out the one-liner: "If there's a fairer way, I'm all ears!" Kathy Willens/AP 
Perot attends a campaign rally in November 1992. Shelly Katz/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images 
Perot shakes hands with actor Richard Crenna after speaking at a rally in Long Beach, California, in November 1992. Bob Galbraith/AP 
Perot and his wife, Margot, wave to supporters in Dallas at the last campaign rally before the 1992 election. He finished third to winner Clinton and runner-up Bush, but he went on to receive one of the largest percentages ever for an independent presidential candidate (18.9%). Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images 
Perot rallies against the North American Free Trade Agreement in November 1993. John Duricka/AP 
Perot ran for president again in the 1996 election. Here, he addresses a gathering of the Christian Coalition. Mark Peterson/Redux 
Perot introduces running mate Pat Choate, right, to campaign volunteers in September 1996. James Stockdale was Perot's running mate in 1992. Eric Gay/AP 
Perot appears on CNN's "Larry King Live" following a presidential debate in October 1996. King was giving Perot a platform after Perot was refused entry into the official debates. Richard Ellis/AFP/Getty Images 
Perot poses for a portrait inside his office in September 2008. He founded Perot Systems Corp., an information technology company, two decades earlier. Ed Lallo/Bloomberg/Getty Images 
Perot accepts a Distinguished Leadership Award in Kansas City, Missouri, in April 2010. Ed Zurga/APRoss Perot's life in pictures
Prev NextHenry Ray Perot – he later legally changed his name to Henry Ross – was born on June 27, 1930, in Texarkana, Texas, where his father ran a cotton mill.
By the time he was 7 years old, Perot was an accomplished horseman and a budding businessman. His father was training him to make a profit by buying and selling bridles, Perot said.
Perot graduated from the Naval Academy in 1953 and spent four years at sea. After the Navy, Perot worked as a salesman at IBM before starting his own corporation, Electronic Data Systems, in 1962 with a $1,000 loan from his wife, Margot. The company grew quickly, and when the company went public in 1968, Fortune magazine put Perot on its cover, calling him the “fastest, richest Texan.”
He later sold a controlling interest in EDS to General Motors, becoming a billionaire and GM’s single largest stockholder and a director. He netted approximately $750 million in 1986 when he resigned from the General Motors board of directors as part of a buyout agreement and sold his GM shares.
Getty ImagesAlthough he had never held public office, by the early 1990s, Perot, sensing an opportunity for an outsider campaign with an anti-Washington message, was openly talking about a presidential run. Speaking to CNN’s Larry King in 1992, he said that if he were to launch a campaign, he would run as an independent and “get both parties’ heads straight.”
“I was down in Texas taking care of business, tending to my family, (but) this situation got so bad that I decided I better get into it,” he later said during a presidential debate.
At one point during the summer of 1992, Perot dropped out, stating he couldn’t win and that staying in the race would only create problems for the electoral process. His withdrawal came shortly after he stumbled during a speech at the NAACP, where his comments on unemployment were interpreted as patronizing and insensitive.
But he later re-entered the race in October.
“Few people in this country have been able to live the American Dream to the extent that I have,” Perot said when he re-entered, adding, “Neither political party has effectively addressed the issues that concern the American people.”
This story has been updated.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLrNZ5qopV9nfXKFjmluaGhpZL2wuMitoJyrX6e8tL%2BMqZyrp6Risaatw2igp5yVrXupwMyl