Born and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan earned a B.A. degree in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio. In the mid to late 1990s, he worked as an aide to United States Senator Bob Kasten of Wisconsin, as legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, and as a speechwriter for former U.S. Representative and 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp of New York. In 1998, Ryan won election to the United States House of Representatives, succeeding the two-term incumbent, fellow Republican Mark Neumann. He is now in his seventh term.

In 1999, Paul Ryan voted in favor of the Gramm"“Leach"“Bliley Act which repealed key provisions of the depression-era Glass"“Steagall Act.^[30]

[ Thus, Ryan is one of the people who set the stage for the current world Depression. ]

On September 18, 2008, Ryan attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the ongoing banking crisis. That same day Ryan sold shares in various troubled banks and invested in Goldman Sachs.^[31] In 2002, Ryan voted in favor of the Iraq War resolution, authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq.^[32] In 2003, Ryan voted in favor of the Medicare Part D prescription drug expansion, which has been criticized due to the fact that it is deficit-financed.^[33] In 2004 and 2005, after the reelection of Bush, Ryan pushed the Bush administration to propose the privatization of Social Security; Ryan's proposal was ultimately not fully supported by the Administration and it failed. After the next election, he was chosen as the ranking member of the House Budget Committee.^[34]

In 2008, Ryan voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Wall Street bailout that precipitated the Tea Party movement, and the bailout of GM and Chrysler.^[35] In 2011, Ryan was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address.^[36] In 2012, Ryan accused the nation's top military leaders of using "smoke and mirrors" to remain under budget limits passed by Congress.^[37] Ryan later said that he misspoke on the issue and called General Martin Dempsey to apologize for his comments.^[38]

[ Did Romney reveal part of the "plan" by naming Ryan as the next President of the US? Note also the three countries that Romney visited just before naming Ryan as VP. The only stop missing from the list was the Vatican. ]

Under Wisconsin law, Ryan is allowed to run concurrently for Vice President as he competes for his eighth term in Congress.^[77]Ryan's candidacy against sitting Vice President Joe Biden makes the 2012 Presidential election the first in U.S. history to feature Roman Catholics on both major parties' tickets.

Ryan married Janna Little, a tax attorney,^[29] in December 2000.^[7] The Ryans live in Janesville, Wisconsin with their three children Elizabeth Anne, Charles Wilson, and Samuel Lowery.^[78] Ryan is Roman Catholic and is a member of St. John Vianney Catholic Church.^[79]