American Decades
Perot, H. Ross 1930-
BUSINESSMAN, POLITICIAN
New Political Force.
Third parties and third-party candidates typically share several characteristics on the American political stage: they do not get elected; they may attract significant voter interest in one election, but both the candidate and party soon thereafter disappear from the public's radar; they do not have an effective state-by-state grassroots organization; and any success they might enjoy contains the seeds for their eventual demise as the major issues they champion are absorbed by one or both of the major parties. H. Ross Perot, however, was not typical, nor was the third party he inspired and initially bankrolled. He ran for president as the Reform Party candidate in 1992 and 1996, and though he lost, he made a credible showing. The Reform Party continued to exist at the end of the decade, with several well-known political figures vying to run under its banner in the 2000...
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1990's Government and Politics
