This article will answer every question you have about Rand Paul. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Rand Paul do for a living?
- Who are Rand Paul’s parents and siblings?
- What are Rand Paul’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Rand Paul married or does he have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
- Does Rand Paul have any children?
- Where is Rand Paul now?
- How tall is Rand Paul?
- How much money does Rand Paul earn?
- What is Rand Pauls net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Rand Paul?
Randal Howard Paul is an American physician and politician working as a junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party and is the son of former three-time presidential and 12-term U.S. representative from Texas, Ron Paul. Rand describes himself as a constitutional conservative and supporter of the Tea Party movement.
From 1993 until his election to the Senate in 2010, he was a practicing medical doctor (ophthalmology) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Paul was then re-elected to a second term in 2016 and won a third term in 2022. He was then a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In February 2016, Paul concluded his campaign following in 5th place during the Iowa caucuses. While he initially opposed candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries, Rand supported Trump after his nomination. He also became among his top supporters in the U.S. Senate during and after his presidency.
Rand Paul Career
Medical career
Following finishing his residency in ophthalmology, he moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he has been an ”active, licensed physician” since 1993. Paul worked for Downing McPeak Vision Centers for 5 years. He then joined a private medical group practice, the Graves Gilbert Clinic, in Bowling Green, for 10 years in 1998. Later in 2008, he formed his own private practice across the street from John Downing, his former employer at Downing McPeak. Following his election to the U.S. Senate, Paul merged his practice with Downing’s medical practice.
He faced two malpractice lawsuits between 1993 and 2010. Paul was cleared in one case while the other was settled for $50,000. His medical work has been credited by Downing and has medical privileges at 2 Bowling Green hospitals. Following recovering from COVID-19, in April 2020, he started volunteering at a hospital in Bowling Green helping them in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky.
He specializes in cataract and glaucoma surgeries, LASIK procedures, and corneal transplants. He is a member of the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club and founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic in 2009 to assist provide eye surgery and exams for those who cannot afford to pay. He then received the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for Dedicated Humanitarian Services from the Lions Club International Foundation for his service in establishing the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic.
National Board of Ophthalmology
Paul was certified to practice by the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) in 1995. Three years earlier, the ABO had changed its certification program, which previously awarded lifetime certifications, and required ophthalmologists to recertify every 10 years, while those who had already been given lifetime certification were not required to recertify. Paul felt this was unfair and campaigned to have all ophthalmologists recertify every ten years.
How old is Rand Paul?
Paul is aged 59 years old as of 2022, having been born on January 7, 1963, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. He shared his birthday with famous people such as Aloe Blacc, David Lee Murphy, Lewis Hamilton, Nicolas Cage, Eden Hazard, and more.
Rand Paul Family
Who are Rand Paul’s Parents?
Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Carol and Ron Paul. His father is also a politician and physician.
Does Rand Paul have Siblings?
paul was born in the middle of five Children. His siblings are Ronald Ronnie” Paul Jr., Lori Paul Pyeatt, Robert Paul, and Joy Paul-LeBlanc.
Rand Paul Education
Paul joined Baylor University from the fall of 1981 to the summer of 1984 and was enrolled in the honors program. He then went to the Duke University School of Medicine.
Rand Paul Spouse
Paul has been married to his beautiful wife Kelley Paul since 1990.
Rand Paul Kids
The couple has three children in their marriage who are Duncan Paul, Robert Paul, and William Paul.
Rand Paul Height
Paul has a well-built, muscular, and energetic body with a height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and a weight of 157 lbs (71 kg).
1999
He incorporated the National Board of Ophthalmology (NBO) to offer an alternative certification system in 1999. At a cost substantially lower than that of the ABO. Board members were Paul, his wife, and his father-in-law. His father-in-law, the board’s secretary, stated “I never did go to any meetings. There was really nothing involved. It was more just a title than anything else, for me”.
By Paul’s estimate, about 50 or 60 doctors were certified by the NBO. The NBO was not accepted as an accrediting entity by organizations such as the American Board of Medical Specialties, and its certification was considered invalid by many hospitals and insurance companies. Paul did not file the required paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office for the NBO’s renewal to operate in 2000. He recreated the board in 2005, but it was again dissolved in 2011.
From 1995 to 2005, Paul maintained his own ABO certification Specialty certification does not affect physician licensure, and Paul’s medical license has been valid continuously, with no board actions, since June 1993.
Political activism
Paul was head of the local chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas during his time at Baylor University. In 1984, Paul took a semester off to aid his father’s primary challenge to Republican Senate candidate Phil Gramm.
While joining Duke University School of Medicine, Paul volunteered for his father’s 1988 Libertarian presidential campaign.
In response to President Bush’s breaking his election promise to not raise taxes, Paul founded the North Carolina Taxpayers Union in 1991. In 1994, Paul founded the anti-tax organization Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) and was chair of the organization from its inception. He has often cited his involvement with KTU as the foundation of his involvement with state politics. The group examined Kentucky legislators’ records on taxation and spending and encouraged politicians to publicly pledge to vote uniformly against tax increases.
Paul managed his father’s successful 1996 congressional campaign, in which the elder Paul returned to the House after a twelve-year absence. The elder Paul defeated incumbent Democrat-turned-Republican Greg Laughlin in the Republican primary, despite Laughlin’s support from the NRCC and Republican leaders such as Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush.
Election to U.S Senate
Primary campaign
At the beginning of 2009, there was a movement by political supporters of his father to draft Paul in a bid to replace beleaguered Republican Kentucky senator Jim Bunning. Paul’s potential candidacy was discussed in the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Kentucky press. Paul’s father said, “Should Senator Bunning decides not to run, I think Rand would make a great U.S. Senator.”
Paul gave his first political speech as a potential candidate at a Tea Party rally held in his town of Bowling Green on April 15, 2009. Kentucky, where more than 700 people had gathered in support of the Tea Party movement. The Tea Party Goes to Washington. Nashville: Center Street. 2011.
Paul said that if Bunning, whose fundraising in 2009 matched his poor numbers in opinion polling for the 2010 election on May 1, 2009. declined to seek a 3rd term, he would almost certainly run in the Republican Party primary to succeed him. And formed an exploratory committee soon following while still promising to stay out of the race if Bunning ultimately decided to run for reelection. Paul made this announcement on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, though a Kentucky news site first broke the news.
Bunning revealed that he would not run for reelection in the face of insufficient fundraising on July 28, 2009. The announcement left only Paul and Secretary of State Trey Grayson as the remaining candidates for the Republican nomination. Paul announced on August 5, 2009. That he would officially run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican. The announcement was made through a series of national TV events, radio, and other programs, as well as newspapers in Kentucky.
General Campaign
In the 2010 general election, Paul faced Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. The campaign attracted $8.5 million in contributions from outside groups, of which $6 million was spent to help Paul and $2.5 million to help Conway. This money influx was in addition to the money spent by the candidates themselves: $6 million by Paul and $4.7 million by Conway.
On June 28, 2010, Paul supporters held their first post-primary online fundraising drive, this time promoted as a “money blast”.
Paul’s campaign got off to a rough start after his comments on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stirred controversy. Paul stated that he favored 9 out of 10 titles of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but that had he been a senator during the 1960s, he would have raised some questions on the constitutionality of Title II of the Act.
Paul said that he abhors racism and that he would have marched with Martin Luther King Jr. to repeal Jim Crow laws. He later released a statement declaring that he would have voted for the Act and stated: “unequivocally … that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964”. Later he generated more controversy by characterizing statements made by Obama Administration officials regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup as sounding “un-American”. Paul defeated Conway in the general election with 56% of the vote to 445 for Conway.
U.S Senate
112th Congress (2011 – 2013)
Paul was sworn in on January 5, 2011, along with his father, who was simultaneously in the House of Representatives.
He was assigned to be on the Energy and Natural Resources, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Small Business committees. He also formed the Senate Tea Party Caucus with Jim DeMint and Mike Lee as its inaugural members. His first legislative proposal was to cut $500 billion from federal spending in one year.
This proposal included cutting the Department of Education by 83 percent and the United States Department of Homeland Security by 43 percent, as well as folding the Department of Energy into the Department of Defense and eliminating the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Seven independent agencies would be eliminated and food stamps would be cut by 30 percent. Under Paul’s proposal, defense spending would be reduced by 6.5 percent and international aid would be eliminated. He later proposed a five-year budget plan intended to balance the budget.
Paul was one of two Republicans to vote against extending three key provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act (roving wiretaps in February. Searches of business records, and conducting surveillance of “lone wolves” — individuals not linked to terrorist groups).
113th Congress 2013 to 2015
For the 113th Congress, Paul was added to the Foreign Relations Committee and retained his spot on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Homeland Security and Government Affairs, and Small Business committees.
He engaged in a filibuster to delay voting on the nomination of John O. Brennan as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on March 6–7, 2013. Paul questioned the Obama administration’s use of drones and the stated legal justification for their potential use within the United States. Paul held the floor for 12 hours and 52 minutes.
He ceded to several Republican senators and a Democratic senator, Ron Wyden. Who generally also questioned drone usage. Paul said his purpose was to challenge drone policy in general and specifically as it related to noncombatants on U.S. soil. He requested a pledge from the Administration that noncombatants would not be targeted on U.S. soil. Attorney General Eric Holder responded that the President is not authorized to deploy extrajudicial punishment without due process, against non-combatant citizens.
Press Secretary Jay Carney read Holder’s letter, indicating President Obama’s support. The president has not and would not use drone strikes against American citizens. On American soil”Press Paul answered that he was “quite happy” with the response. The filibuster ended with a cloture vote of 81 to 16 And Brennan was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 63 to 34.
114th Congress 2015 to 2017
At the beginning of 2015. Senator Paul re-introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. He also introduced the FAIR Act. Or the 5th Amendment Integrity Restoration Act. Which would restrict civil forfeiture proceedings. Paul spoke for 10 and a half hours on May 20, 2015. In opposition to the reauthorization of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Sections of the Patriot Act were prevented from being reauthorized on June 1.
Following the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. Paul indicated that he would oppose any nomination by President Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice on February 15.
Within a press briefing on May 6, 2016, President Obama called on Paul to stop “blocking the implementation of tax treaties that have been pending for years”, arguing that they assisted law enforcement in offshore investigations into tax evasion. Paul advocated for the abolition of gun-free zones during a speech to the National Rifle Association on May 20, citing repeated tragedies occurring in these locations. On June 6, Paul spoke of introducing legislation to cease Selective Service, three days after the death of Muhammad Ali. Following whom he intended to name the legislation in tribute.
115th Congress (2017–2019)
Paul introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act that would prohibit the use of United States government funds to provide assistance to Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in March 2017. And the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and countries supporting those organizations. On March 16, Senator John McCain (Rep) accused Paul of being an agent of Vladimir Putin after Paul objected to adding Montenegro to NATO. Paul responded the following day by saying McCain “makes a really, really strong case for term limits”, suggesting McCain had become “a little unhinged” as a result of his seniority. McCain said he did not pay attention to any of Paul’s rhetoric and that the latter did not have “any real influence” in the United States Senate on April 7.
Paul questioned President Trump’s April 2017 missile strike on Syria by saying, “While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked.” He said that further action should not be taken without congressional authorization.
116th Congress 2019 to 2021
Paul condemned Senator Mitt Romney for writing an editorial criticizing President Truman in January 2019. He said that Romney’s criticism of Trump’s character was bad for the country and for the Republican Party.
He blocked Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s motion for unanimous consent on a bill renewing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund along with Utah Senator Mike Lee on July 17, 2019. The fund was estimated to run out by the end of the year.
The bill would renew until the year 2090. Paul argued that he was not blocking the bill. But rather seeking a vote on an amendment that would offset the new spending by other spending cuts due to the deficit. In a segment on Fox News. Which went viral, comedian Jon Stewart and 9/11 first responder John Feal rebuked Paul, accusing him of hypocritical “fiscal responsibility virtue signaling.
For delaying passage of the bill, while at the same time he voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which increased the deficit. In response, Paul said he has always insisted on “pay-go provisions. For any increase in spending, including for disaster relief funding, and called Stewart uninformed and a part of a “left-wing mob.
117th Congress 2021 to present
Paul insisted that the 2020 elections were fraudulent. And in December 2020, claimed that the election “in many ways was stolen.” Later, he accepted the state-certified electors that named Biden.
In a press release and during the Electoral College session count the vote. Which followed the 2021 United States Capitol attack. Paul argued that the electoral college is an indispensable friend of democracy in checking the danger of centralized power in deciding elections. He additionally condemned the attack while it occurred, calling it “violence and mob rule” and “un-American.”
2020
He blamed the rioters for setting back election reform discussions and asked them to “just stop it. Later that month, Paul continued to make false claims of fraud in the 2020 election and refused to say that the election was not stolen. In the subsequent second impeachment trial of Trump. Which sought to convict him on charges of incitement of insurrection. Paul questioned the constitutionality of it due to Trump having left office by the time it reached the Senate.
2021
As well as defending him against the charges, “I want Democrats to raise their hands if they have ever given a speech that says ‘take back. Fight for your country,’ who hasn’t used the word fight figuratively? Once Trump was impeached in January 2021. Paul introduced a motion to the Senate declaring the impeachment to be unconstitutional. Five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats to defeat the motion 55 to 45. With 45 Republican senators supporting him, Paul stated the impeachment was ‘dead on arrival. Paul formally voted against the charges on February 13, 2021.
2022
In January 2022, a video resurfaced of Paul advising medical students at the University of Louisville in 2013, during which he said “misinformation works, so try to trick your opponents”. In May 2022, Paul blocked a bipartisan bill that would provide $40 billion in aid for Ukraine during the Russian invasion, citing the need to create a special inspector general to oversee how the aid is spent.
Background
Paul was considered a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for the Presidency of the United States since at least January 2013. He delivered the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on February 13, 2013. While Marco Rubio gave the official Republican response. This prompted some pundits to call that date the start of the 2016 Republican primaries.
That year, he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C., where he won the 2016 Presidential straw poll. Paul went on to win the straw poll for the next two years as well, leading to some considering Paul to be a front-runner for the nomination, although CPAC attendees are typically considered younger and more libertarian-minded than average Republican voters.
Political Positions
A supporter of the Tea Party movement. Paul has described himself as a “constitutional conservative”. He is generally described as a libertarian. A term he both embraced and rejected during his first Senate campaign. He supports term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and the Read the Bills Act. In addition to the widespread reduction of federal spending and taxation.
He favors a flat tax rate of 14.5% for individuals and businesses while eliminating the FICA payroll taxes. As well as taxes on inheritance, gifts, capital gains, dividends, and interest. Paul has frequently appeared on Infowars with radio show host and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Ideologically. The American Conservative Union has given Paul a lifetime conservative rating of 96% and the Conservative Review gave him a 92% score.
2016
Since the 2016 Republican primary, when Paul was highly critical of Trump. He has “become one of the president’s closest allies despite occasionally voting against Trump’s nominees and legislative proposals.” As of June 2020, according to FiveThirtyEight. Paul had voted with President Trump’s position on congressional issues 70% of the time. The 2nd lowest among all Republican senators.
Abortion
Paul describes him as 100 pro-life believing that legal personhood begins at fertilization. In 2009, his position was to ban abortion under all circumstances. Since 2010, he has said he would allow for a doctor’s discretion in life-threatening cases such as ectopic pregnancies. In 2011, Paul signed the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act which was intended to prohibit federal funding for abortion, with the exception of abortions in the case of rape, and incest, and to save the life of the mother.
Immigration
The Trump administration announced the intended rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program
on September 5, 2017. In tweets responding to the act, Paul stated the executive order that created DACA was illegal and that congressional bipartisanship was needed to solve or fix the program.
Paul was one of 11 Republicans in 2019 to vote against Trump’s demand for “emergency border funding”.
LGBTQ+
Paul has said that same-sex marriage “offends [himself] and a lot of people” on a personal level, and said there is a “crisis that allows people to think there would be some other sorts of marriage.” Prior to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges legalizing same-sex marriage across the United States, Paul held the view that the decision to ban same-sex marriage should be in the hands of states. Following the Court’s decision, Paul said in 2015.
While I disagree with the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract. The Constitution is silent on the question of marriage because marriage has always been a local issue. Our founding fathers went to the local courthouse to be married, not to Washington, D.C. I’ve often said I don’t want my guns or my marriage registered in Washington.
During Rachel Levine’s confirmation hearing with the Senate HELP Committee to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Biden, Paul compared transgender medicine to “genital mutilation” and accused her of supporting “surgical destruction of a minor’s genitalia.” Paul was rebuked by committee chairman Patty Murray, as well as multiple House and Senate Democrats, who were to vote on the Equality Act that same day.
Foreign Policy
Paul was 1 of the members of Congress to come out in opposition to the United States’ support for the Saudi Arabian-let intervention in Yemen in 2016.
2017
He tried to block the Trump administration’s plans to sell more weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2017.
2018
Paul again criticized the U.S- Saudi Arabia alliance, highlighting that Saudi Arabia has funded radical madrassa. Teaching hatred of Americans throughout the world. And that Saudi Arabia also supplied arms to ISIS in the Syrian civil war.
2019
Paul criticized the Trump administration for escalating tensions with Iran. Said Paul: “One of the things I like about President Trump is that he said the Iraq War was a mistake in 2019. I think an Iran war would be an even bigger mistake than the Iraq War.
2020
He criticized the U.S. airstrike on Baghdad International Airport which killed high-level Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020. Paul stated that the attack will increase tensions between the two countries.
The Senate rejected Paul’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act on July 1, 2020. Which would have required the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan within a year and brought an end to the 19-year war.
Paul stopped a vote on a $40 billion spending bill for aid to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion on May 12, 2022. Objecting that it would be the second spending bill for this purpose. and is 3 times larger than the first. Paul has also stated that President Biden provoked Russia by advocating for Ukraine’s entrance into NATO. In July, the Security Service of Ukraine placed Paul on a list of public figures whom it alleges promote Russian propaganda.
Cannabis
Paul says the issue is living up to the states and. You ought to be able to pretty much do what you want to do as long as you don’t hurt somebody else on cannabis legalization. Regarding medical use. Paul has endorsed efforts to legalize in Kentucky and introduced the CARERS Act in 2015. To legalize medical cannabis at the federal level.
2014
He has also supported states’ rights-focused cannabis legislation, introducing the Rohrabacher-Faramendament in 2014. Cosponsoring the STATES Acts in 2018. And introducing other amendments. Paul introduced the Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act in 2015 to allow cannabis businesses increased access to banks.
Paul has supported efforts to legalize in Kentucky. And at the federal level as well as introducing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in 2013. He introduced the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan HEMP Act to increase the THC limit of hemp from 0.3% to 1%.
Climate change
Paul has not definitively accepted the scientific consensus on climate change. Which has found that global warming is real, and progressing. And primarily caused by humans. Paul has said pollution emissions are subject to “onerous regulation.
2018
In 2018, Paul called for an investigation of a National Science Foundation grant that went towards educating meteorologists about the science of climate change. Paul said the grant was “not science” but “propagandizing”. In a January 2020 tweet, Paul said “Despite climate alarmist predictions. Humans will likely survive for hundreds of millions of years into the future. In the meantime, we should begin creating atmospheres on suitable moons or planets.
Disease Control
Paul has spread false claims about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. In 2009, Paul was interviewed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones who suggested mandatory vaccination would be akin to martial law. On February 2, 2015, he told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham about vaccinations.
That “most of them ought to be voluntary”. His remarks generated controversy by suggesting that states should not require parents to vaccinate their children, because parents should have the freedom to make that decision for their children. Later that day, in an interview with CNBC, Paul clarified this statement, commenting “I’m not arguing vaccines are a bad idea.
I think they are a good thing, but I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn’t own your children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom.” Afterward, he added about vaccines, “I’ve heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. On February 3, he posted a photograph to Twitter of himself being vaccinated.
In 2014, Paul argued that the Obama administration and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were downplaying the threat posed by the Ebola virus in the United States. Ultimately, nine people infected with Ebola returned to the United States, two nurses contracted the disease within the US, and two of the returning travelers died.
In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul said that stay-at-home orders amounted to “dictatorship” by Kentucky’s Democratic governor Andy Beshear.
Health care
Paul supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, And opposes universal healthcare, having once equated it to slavery.
Term Limits
He signed a pledge to support a constitutional amendment to limit senators to 2 terms in November 2019.
Rand Paul’s Net Worth
An American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. His net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million as of 2022.
