1. Paul Davis Ryan, the youngest of Paul Sr. and Betty Ryan's four children, was born in Janesville, Wis., on Jan. 29, 1970. Ryan is the fifth generation of his family to live in Janesville.
2. Sharing the same first name as his father, Paul had a childhood nickname: "P. D." (Paul Davis). It was often mistaken for "Petey," which caused Ryan to dislike the nickname.
3. Ryan's father died when Paul was only 16. Using the Social Security survivors benefits he received until his 18th birthday, he paid for his education at Miami University in Ohio, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics and political science in 1992.
4. Ryan worked as a marketing consultant for his family's construction business before being elected to Congress. Ryan Incorporated Central began as an earthmoving business created by his great-grandfather in 1884.
5. At 28, Ryan was elected to Congress in 1998, and he has been re-elected four times, most recently in 2006.
6. Early in his career as a representative to Congress, Ryan held office hours in an old truck he converted into an office. This allowed him to visit the more far-flung towns in his district.
7. Janna Little, the future Mrs. Paul Ryan, was a Washington tax attorney living in Arlington, Va., when she met him. The Oklahoma native graduated from Wellesley College and George Washington University Law School.
8. Demonstrating his love of the outdoors, in April 2000, Ryan asked Janna to marry him at Big St. Germain Lake in northern Wisconsin, one of his favorite fishing spots. The couple was married in Oklahoma City in December 2000.
9. Ryan and his wife are raising their daughter, Elizabeth, and two sons, Charles and Samuel, in Ryan's hometown.
10. Ryan's hobbies include hunting and fishing. He is a bowhunter and belongs to his hometown's archery association, the Janesville Bowmen.
Sources:
- Associated Press
- Biography Resource Center
- Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)
- Congressional Staff Directory
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
- National Journal's House Race Hotline
- Roll Call
- Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)
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