9 Things You Might Not Know About Paul Ryan
Aug. 7, 2012 -- It's that time, again. Now that Mitt Romney has returned from his trip overseas, it's back to business as usual on the campaign trail, and business as usual in the summer of an election year has a constant: VP speculation.
Political observers are on high alert watching and waiting for signs of when Romney will announce his pick for the No. 2 spot on the ticket and, more importantly, whom he has picked. ABC News' Jonathan Karl has ranked the contenders, and joining the frequently discussed front-runners Tim Pawlenty and Rob Portman is Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and author of the controversial budget proposal colloquially referred to as "the Ryan budget."
Ryan's economic knowledge is well documented, but there's more to the congressman than just numbers. ABC News has a list of nine things you might not know about the potential VP pick.
1.) He's relatively young at 42, but he got an early start in politics. He was elected to represent Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District in Congress at 28.
2.) His campaign experience extends beyond his own candidacy for Congress. He was a speechwriter for Jack Kemp in 1996, when Kemp was the vice-presidential candidate.
3.) He's had a number of odd jobs. He worked in college as an Oscar-Mayer salesman one summer and once drove the Weinermobile. As a congressional staffer in Washington, he worked as a trainer at Washington Sport and Health Club.
4.) He has credited novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand as the reason he got into public service.
5.) He's a strong fundraiser. By the end of March, Ryan had brought in $3.1 million for this election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Only five House candidates had surpassed him.
6.) His father died from a heart attack when Ryan was 16. Ryan was the person who discovered his father after he had died.
7.) He's worth at least $1.9 million, according to his financial disclosure reports from 2011. His only debt? A mortgage of at least $250,000 on his home.
8.) In high school, he was voted prom king. He was also voted "biggest brown-noser."
9.) His real love besides numbers crunching? Bowhunting, or hunting animals by archery.
