In H. Ross Perot`s life, there is usually a them.
Most of them have been business rivals, particularly IBM, General Motors and even Electronic Data Systems, the computer management firm that Perot built into a billion-dollar enterprise.
The Dallas resident also has mixed it up in the public arena. He has advocated stronger drug and wiretap laws (angering civil libertarians), pushed for the no-pass, no-play law (outraging high school football coaches) and opposed President Bush`s military buildup in the Persian Gulf region
(upsetting some Republicans).
Now Perot ponders whether to take on the biggest them of all-the American political establishment, the object of much Perot scorn over the past 2 1/2 decades.
Potential opponents say Perot`s drive to compete, combined with a loathing for Bush, are among the reasons the 61-year-old entrepreneur may start his first political campaign.
”He is competitive, he knows where he`s coming from and he likes to have his way,” said Jim Oberwetter of Dallas, the Texas chairman of Bush`s re-election campaign.
Oberwetter declined to discuss the Perot-Bush relationship but offered a theory about why Perot would want to seek the White House. ”A new world to conquer,” he said.
For his part, Perot has denied any dislike of the Republican incumbent.
Friends describe Perot, the son of a Texarkana cotton broker, as an extraordinary man with reverence for family, patriotism and duty. In this case, they said, his duty is to thousands of volunteers who want to see him seek the presidency.
”I think it`s an old-fashioned American value system that has been instilled by his parents,” said longtime friend Liener Temerlin, a Dallas advertising executive. ”And I think those parental tapes have guided him throughout his life. They keep playing.”
Perot has professed no desire to be president and said he would run as an independent candidate only if supporters put him on the ballot in all 50 states. If that happens, few doubt that Perot would run hard.
A review of Perot`s adventures in the public spotlight shows a man of forcefulness and certitude. Opponents say those qualities-not to mention fame and money-make Perot a formidable threat to nearly 150 years of political dominance by Republicans and Democrats.
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A Perot candidacy also would be well-timed. Any number of voters are profoundly suspicious of government and, like Perot, believe the two-party system may have lost its usefulness.
What might Perot do?
Garry Mauro, Texas land commissioner and state campaign chairman for Democratic presidential contender Bill Clinton, said there is only one thing predictable about the billionaire businessman.
”The key to Perot is you better not underestimate him,” Mauro said.
Perot`s most intense-and successful-battles have been in his natural habitat, the business world.
His early career formed the basis of the Perot legend: A superstar IBM salesman who once met his annual quota in January, Perot left the company in 1962 to invest $1,000 in a venture called Electronic Data Systems.
IBM sold computers to companies that didn`t always know how to use them efficiently. EDS offered to run the computers. Perot`s company basically created the art of data processing by waging successful battles for employees and contracts with other companies-notably IBM.
When Perot took EDS public in 1968, he became a billionaire overnight. Fortune, a conservative financial magazine, dubbed him ”the fastest, richest Texan ever.”
Although Perot extols individual entrepeneurship, EDS made much of its money from government contracts, such as those involving Medicare and Medicaid. Ramparts, a socialist political magazine, was less charitable than the business media about Perot`s success, calling him ”America`s first welfare billionaire.”
Perot has maintained that his company was much more efficient than the government, an enterprise he has never accorded much respect.
Perot firmly established himself as a billionaire in 1984, when he sold EDS to General Motors for $2.6 billion and a spot on GM`s board of directors. In one of the stormiest marriages in business history, Perot flogged GM for poor management that was failing to meet the Japanese challenge.
GM annulled its relationship with Perot in 1986, paying him $700 million to leave the company. The agreement prohibited Perot from competing against EDS for 18 months, a series of clauses that led to a legal civil war between Perot and the company he created.
When not making business deals, Perot has found more than enough time for political causes.
At the state, national and even international levels, Perot has fought battles with a righteous intensity, carrying his ”us versus them” banner against enemies ranging from Iranian revolutionaries to high school athletic coaches.
Perot`s first appearance in the political spotlight came with his 1969 flight to North Vietnam in an attempt to embarrass the Communist government into letting him deliver food and supplies to prisoners of war. Hanoi refused. Perot said he made the trip at the request of the Nixon administration but was quick to add that he organized it himself.
”If I had depended on the government, I`d still be planning the trip,”
Perot said when he got back.
So began Perot`s longtime interest in prisoners of war, one of whom-retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale from Stanford University-is now his interim running mate. Perot, a Cold War-era graduate of the Naval Academy, has said the federal government has not done enough to find soldiers still listed as missing in action in Southeast Asia.
Over the years, Perot has not hesitated to engage in other foreign policy ventures, the most famous being the rescue of two EDS employees held hostage in Iran-the source for the book and film, ”On Wings of Eagles.”
In Texas, Perot has been involved in high-profile efforts to attack drugs and improve education. In both cases, Perot earned praise for focusing attention on important issues but he suffered criticism for belittling those who disagreed with him.
As chairman of the Texas War on Drugs, Perot-backed by former Republican Gov. Bill Clements-called for longer prison terms and a ban on ”head shop”
paraphernalia. Perot also supported more bugs and wiretaps. Critics said drug dealers could easily dodge the taps by using call forwarding, and innocent people would have their privacy invaded.
”Clements and Perot are behaving like advance men for the police state,” said John Duncan, then-executive director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union.
In a later role as the head of a special education committee created by former Democratic Gov. Mark White, Perot battled education associations over teacher testing and high school football coaches over the no-pass, no-play law. But the Texas Legislature approved both measures.
Some of Perot`s ideas call for little less than an overhaul of the nation`s political system. For example, Perot has proposed ending Congress`
authority to increase taxes without voter approval, a measure many have derided as unconstitutional.
Less than a week before the start of the Persian Gulf war, Perot told talk show host Phil Donahue that one way to avoid conflict would be to ”get rid” of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, although he didn`t use the term
”assassinate.” Killing foreign leaders is illegal, but Perot said the president could rescind the order prohibiting such action.
Perot once advocated door-to-door searches for drug dealers in south Dallas. Last year he said he favored a state income tax to replace lost oil and gas revenue and to improve education. Last month he called for some sort of gun restrictions.
So why would Perot-a fabulously successful businessman who also has had success as a freelance politician-possibly want to subject himself to the rigors of a presidential race?
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More than a few observers, most of them Republicans, privately suggest that Perot`s current target was a fellow Texan-Bush, who has been on the receiving end of more than a few Perot barbs.
Perot criticized Bush`s buildup to the war with Iraq, partly because he believed Kuwait`s government had not earned U.S. support. Also, in a 1990 speech, he asked: ”Can you even conceive in a free society like ours that one man can put 450,000 lives at risk, when he can`t even buy paper clips without Congress` approval?”
Asked for a response, Gary Foster, deputy press secretary for Bush, said: ”We would not have a comment on a private citizen`s point of view.”
Some Texas Republicans say privately that they believe Perot resents advantages Bush has enjoyed from a privileged background. Other GOP critics said Perot is resentful because he doesn`t enjoy the same entree with the Bush administration as he has had with others.
Nonsense, says Perot, who denied any animosity toward Bush.
”I think the record is clear that I think he`s a good man with a wonderful family,” Perot said last month. ”I have said again and again and again: I respect everybody who is running.”