American History TV continues to reair C-SPAN's history series “The Contenders,” which features profiles of key figures who ran for president and lost, but changed political history. This week, we focus on the life and career of Ross Perot.
In 1992, Ross Perot garnered almost 19 percent of the popular vote as a third party independent presidential candidate. Although he lost that race, many of the issues he spoke about in this and his Reform Party run for the presidency in 1996 still resonate today – from government debt and deficit spending, to campaign reform, balanced budgets, and dissatisfaction with the two main political parties.