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.
[Check out editorial cartoons about the 2012 presidential campaign.]
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 six times, most recently in 2010.
[See political cartoons about Congress.]
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.
[Check out political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]
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.
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- See photos of Republican nominee Mitt Romney
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.)
Updated 8/13/12







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