Early life

A fifth-generation Texan, Perry grew up in Haskell County in West Texas, to cotton farmers Joseph Ray Perry and the former Amelia June Holt. Perry's ancestry is almost entirely English, dating as far back as the original Thirteen Colonies. His family has been in Texas since before the Texas Revolution.

His father, a Democrat, was a long-time Haskell County commissioner and school board member. Perry has said that his interest in politics probably began in November 1961, when his father took him to the funeral of U.S. Representative Sam Rayburn (D-TX), who during his long public career served as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives for a short time at the age of 29 and then later for 17 years as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Perry was in the Boy Scouts (BSA) and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. The BSA has honored Perry with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Perry graduated from Paint Creek High School in 1968.

College

Upon graduation of high school, Perry attended Texas A&M University where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, was elected senior class social secretary, and was also elected as one of A&M's five yell leaders. Perry graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in animal science.

Perry said that the Corps of Cadets gave him the discipline to complete his animal sciences degree and earn a commission in the Air Force. In a 1989 interview he said that "I was probably a bit of a free spirit, not particularly structured real well for life outside of a military regime, I would have not lasted at Texas Tech or the University of Texas. I would have hit the fraternity scene and lasted about one semester." Ultimately, Perry was elected a yell leader—a student that leads Aggie fans in a series of "yells" during athletic events or other school events—and social secretary for his class.

First jobs

In the early 1970s, Perry interned during several summers with the Southwestern Company, as a door-to-door book salesman. "I count my time working for Dortch Oldham as one of the most important formative experiences of my life," Perry said in 2010. "There is nothing that tests your commitment to a goal like getting a few doors closed in your face." He said that "Mr. Oldham taught legions of young people to communicate quickly, clearly and with passion, a lesson that has served me well in my life since then."

Upon graduation from college in 1972, Perry was commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force and completed pilot training in February 1974. He was then assigned as a C-130 pilot to the 772nd Tactical Airlift Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base. Perry's duties included two-month overseas rotations at RAF Mildenhall in England and Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany. His missions included a 1974 U.S. State Department drought relief effort in Mali, Mauritania and Chad, and two years later, earthquake relief in Guatemala. He left the United States Air Force in 1977 with the rank of Captain, returned to Texas, and went into business farming cotton with his father.

Early political career

Texas Legislature

In 1984, Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from district 64, which included his home county of Haskell. He served on the House Appropriations and Calendars committees during his three two-year terms in office. He befriended fellow freshman state representative Lena Guerrero of Austin, a staunch liberal Democrat who endorsed Perry's reelection bid in 2006.

Perry was part of the "Pit Bulls", a group of Appropriations members who sat on the lower dais in the committee room (or "pit") who pushed for austere state budgets during the 1980s. At one point, The Dallas Morning News named him one of the ten most effective members of the legislature.

In 1987, Perry voted for a $5.7 billion tax increase proposed by Republican governor Bill Clements. Perry supported Al Gore in the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries and worked in an unspecified capacity for Gore's campaign in Texas. On September 29, 1989, Perry announced that he was switching parties, becoming a Republican.

Agriculture Commissioner

In 1990, as a newly minted Republican, Perry challenged Jim Hightower, the incumbent Democratic Agriculture Commissioner. Karl Rove was Perry's campaign manager.

In the Republican primary on March 13, 1990, Perry polled 276,558 votes (47%), with Richard McIver garnering 176,976 votes (30%) and Gene L. Duke, who placed third, polling 132,497 votes (23%). Since Perry fell shy of the necessary 50% to win outright, a runoff was held between Perry and McIver set on April 10, 1990. In the runoff, he emerged victorious, garnering 96,649 votes (69%) to McIver's 43,921 votes (31%).

During 1990, Hightower's office was embroiled in an FBI investigation into corruption and bribery. Three aides were convicted in 1993 of using public funds for political fundraising, although Hightower himself was not found to be involved in the wrongdoings. Perry narrowly defeated Hightower in November 1990, garnering 1,864,463 votes (49%) to Hightower's 1,820,145 votes (48%).

According to the book Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush, Rove raised $3 million to raise Perry's profile, "while tarnishing the name of Jim Hightower" resulting in Perry's name becoming a "household name in Texas—and Hightower's name synonymous with corruption".

As Agriculture Commissioner, Perry was responsible for promoting the sale of Texas farm produce to other states and foreign nations, and for supervising the calibration of weights and measures, such as gasoline pumps and grocery store scales.

In April 1993, Perry, while serving as Texas agriculture commissioner, expressed support for the effort to reform the nation's health care, describing it as "most commendable". The health care plan, first revealed in September, was ultimately unsuccessful due to Republican congressional opposition. In 2005, after being questioned on the issue by a potential opponent in the Republican governor primary, Perry said that he expressed his support only in order to get Clinton to pay more attention to rural health care.

In 1994, Perry was reelected Agriculture Commissioner by a large margin, getting 2,546,287 votes (62 percent) to Democrat Marvin Gregory's 1,479,692 (36 percent). Libertarian Clyde L. Garland received the remaining 85,836 votes (2 percent). Gregory, a chicken farmer from Sulphur Springs, Texas, was on the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority with Perry in the early nineties as a Republican, but became a Democrat before running against Perry in 1994.

Lieutenant Governor

In 1998, Perry chose not to seek a third term as Agriculture Commissioner, running instead for Lieutenant Governor to succeed the retiring Democrat Bob Bullock. During this election, Rick Perry had a notable falling out with his previous top political strategist Karl Rove, which began the much-reported rivalry between the Bush and Perry camps. Perry polled 1,858,837 votes (50.04 percent) to the 1,790,106 (48.19 percent) cast for Democrat John Sharp of Victoria, who had relinquished the Comptroller's position after two terms to seek the lieutenant governorship. Libertarian Anthony Garcia polled another 65,150 votes (1.75 percent). Perry thus became the state's first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction, taking office on January 19, 1999.

Governor of Texas

Main article: Governorship of Rick Perry

Perry assumed the office of governor on December 21, 2000, following the resignation of George W. Bush—who was preparing to become President of the United States. He won the office in his own right in the 2002 gubernatorial election, where he received 58% of votes to Laredo oilman and businessman Tony Sanchez's 40%. He was re-elected in the 2006 gubernatorial election against three major opponents, polling 39% of votes against runner-up former U.S. Congressman Chris Bell of Houston with 30%. In the 2010 gubernatorial election, Perry became the first Texas governor to be elected to three four-year terms, polling 55% of votes to former Houston Mayor Bill White's 42%.

In his three gubernatorial campaigns, Perry received hard-money campaign contributions of $102 million, half of which came from 204 donors.

In the 2001 legislative session, Perry set a record for his use of the veto, rejecting 82 acts, more than any other governor in any single legislative session in the history of the state since Reconstruction.

In 2003, Perry formed the non-profit organization, the OneStar Foundation, designed to connects such the non-profits with resources and expertise to accomplish their missions and to promote volunteerism. He tapped the state Republican chairman Susan Weddington, who stepped down from that position after six years, as the president of OneStar. She left in 2009, and he chose Elizabeth Seale as her successor.

Fiscal policies

In his presidential campaign, Perry highlighted the economic success Texas achieved under his governorship, although the true success of his policies has been questioned. A proclaimed proponent of fiscal conservatism, Perry has often campaigned on job growth and tax issues, such as his opposition to creating a state income tax. Perry refused in 2002 to promise not to raise taxes as governor, and in the following years did propose or approve various tax and debt increases. In 2009, Perry signed Grover Norquist's pledge to "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes".

Texas began borrowing money in 2003 to pay for roads and will owe $17.3 billion by the end of 2012, increasing total state debt, from $13.4 billion in 2001 to $37.8 billion in 2011. The state's public finance authority sold $2 billion in bonds for unemployment benefits, and it's authorized to sell $1.5 billion more if necessary. Texas federal borrowing topped $1.6 billion in October 2010, before the bond sales. Texans voted November 8, 2011, for a Water Works Bill with an additional $6 billion of debt and against new tax breaks for landowners. A Republican on the Natural Resources Committee laments "we couldn't get the votes", which would break Perry's pledge not to raise taxes.

In 2003, Perry signed legislation that created the Texas Enterprise Fund, which has since given $435 million in grants to businesses. The New York Times reported that many of the companies receiving grants, or their chief executives, have made contributions to Perry's campaigns or to the Republican Governors Association. Perry has been criticized for supporting corporate tax breaks and other incentives, while the state government was experiencing budget deficits.

As Governor of Texas, Perry received grades of B in 2004, B in 2006, B in 2008, B in 2010, C in 2012, and B in 2014 from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, in their biennial Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors.

Healthcare

As governor, Perry has been an outspoken opponent of federal health-care reform proposals and of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, describing the latter as "socialism on American soil". Perry's focus in Texas has been on tort reform, signing a bill in 2003 that restricted non-economic damages in medical malpractice judgments. Perry touted this approach in his Presidential campaign, although independent analysts have concluded that it has failed to increase the supply of physicians or limit health-care costs in Texas.

During Perry's governorship, Texas rose from second to first among states with the highest proportion of uninsured residents at 26%, and had the lowest level of access to prenatal care in the U.S. Perry and the state legislature have cut Medicaid spending. The Los Angeles Times wrote that under Perry, "working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered."

Perry's office said that Texas represents a model private-sector approach to health-care. His spokeswoman stated that "Texas does provide an adequate safety net to those truly in need... and many individuals simply choose not to purchase healthcare coverage."

Perry is pro-life and has signed bills with rules or restrictions for abortion procedures and funding for them. In December 2011, Perry said he had undergone a "transformation" and now opposed all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. The next day he clarified that he would allow an exception for abortions that would save a mother's life.

In February 2007, Perry issued an executive order mandating that Texas girls receive the HPV vaccine, which protects against some strains of the human papilloma virus, a contributing factor to some forms of cervical cancer. Following the move, news outlets reported various apparent financial connections between Perry and the vaccine's manufacturer, Merck. Merck's political action committee has contributed $28,500 since 2001 to Perry's campaigns. The order was criticized by some parents and social conservatives, and a lawsuit was filed later that month. In May 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a bill undoing the order; Perry did not veto the bill, saying the veto would have been overruled, but blamed lawmakers who supported the bill for the deaths of future cancer victims.

In 2011, Perry both had adult stem cell surgery in Houston and started "laying the groundwork" for the commercialization of the adult stem cell industry in Texas.

Religion

Perry grew up in the United Methodist Church. He and his family were members of Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin until 2010, when they began attending Lake Hills Church, a non-denominational evangelical megachurch in western Travis County. Perry told the Austin American-Statesman that he began attending Lake Hills because it was close to the rental home where he and his wife lived while the Governor's Mansion was being renovated.

In 2006, Perry stated that he believes in the inerrancy of the Bible and that those who do not accept Jesus as their Savior will go to hell. A couple of days later, he clarified, "I don't know that there's any human being that has the ability to interpret what God and his final decision-making is going to be."

In his 2008 book On My Honor, Perry expressed his views on the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. "Let's be clear: I don't believe government, which taxes people regardless of their faith, should espouse a specific faith. I also don't think we should allow a small minority of atheists to sanitize our civil dialogue on religious references."

In June 2011, Perry proclaimed August 6 as a Day of Prayer and Fasting, inviting other governors to join him in a prayer meeting hosted by the American Family Association in Houston. The event was criticized as going beyond prayer and fasting to include launching Perry's presidential campaign.

Perry has called himself "a firm believer in intelligent design as a matter of faith and intellect", and has expressed support for its teaching alongside evolution in Texas schools, but has also said that "educators and local school officials, not the governor, should determine science curriculum".

Education

Perry has repeatedly attacked the Robin Hood plan to provide court-mandated equitable school financing for all school districts in the state. In 2005, following rejection of Perry's proposal to replace the Robin Hood plan, Perry vetoed all funding for public schools for the 2007-2008 biennium, saying he would not "approve an education budget that shortchanges teacher salary increases, textbooks, education technology, and education reforms. And I cannot let $2 billion sit in some bank account when it can go directly to the classroom". Following a second rejection of Perry's bill, Perry asked John Sharp to head a task force charged with preparing a bipartisan education plan, which was subsequently adopted.

In 2001, Perry expressed his pride in the enactment of the statute extending in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who meet Texas' residency requirements. It also required the undocumented students to pledge to apply for permanent residency or citizenship if this became a possibility for them. In September 2014, Gov. Perry stated during a debate his continuous support for the program.

LGBT rights

In 2002, Perry described the Texas same-sex anti-sodomy law as "appropriate". The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the statute in Lawrence v. Texas, determining that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In his 2010 book, Perry referenced the Lawrence decision, writing "Texans have a different view of the world than do the nine oligarchs in robes." In 2011, Perry admitted that he did not know about the Lawrence decision; when told that the Supreme Court case had struck down the Texas's anti-sodomy law, Perry said: "I'm not taking the bar exam ... I don't know what a lot of legal cases involve" and stated, "My position on traditional marriage is clear and I don't know need a law. I don't need a federal law case to explain it to me."

Perry supported Texas Proposition 2 in 2005, a ballot proposition that amended the Texas constitution by defining marriage as "only a union between a man and a woman" and prohibiting the state from creating or recognizing "any legal status identical or similar to marriage" (such as civil unions). In 2011, after New York legalized same-sex marriage, Perry stated that it was their right to do so under the principle of states' rights in the Tenth Amendment. A spokesman later reiterated Perry's support for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, saying that position was not inconsistent, since an amendment would require ratification by three-fourths of the states.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by the Constitution, Perry condemned the decision, saying: "I'm a firm believer in traditional marriage, and I also believe the 10th Amendment leaves it to each state to decide this issue."

In his first book, On My Honor, published in 2008, Perry drew a parallel between homosexuality and alcoholism, writing that he is "no expert on the 'nature versus nurture' debate" but that gays should simply choose abstinence. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he criticized the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the U.S. military. Perry also said that using foreign aid as a policy tool against foreign countries that do not violate the human rights of homosexuals was "not in America's interests" and was part of a "war on traditional American values".

Perry, an Eagle Scout, has called on the Boy Scouts to continue their ban on homosexuality and blamed America for not living up to the ideals of the scouts.

Crime

Perry's campaigns for lieutenant governor and governor focused on a tough stance on crime. He has supported block grants for crime programs.

Jeff L. Blackburn, chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, said of Perry that "He has done more good than any other governor we've ever had ... unless, of course, it involves the death penalty. On the death penalty, Rick Perry has a profound mental block."

In 2007, Perry signed a law ending automatic arrest for cannabis possession.

Death penalty

For more details on this topic, see Capital punishment in Texas.

Perry supports the death penalty. In June 2001, he vetoed a ban on the execution of mentally retarded inmates. As of September 18, 2014, there have been 278 executions since Perry first took office in December 2000.

Cases in which Perry has been criticized for his lack of intervention include those of Cameron Todd Willingham, Frances Newton, and Mexican nationals José Medellín and Humberto Leal Garcia.

Perry commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Foster, who was convicted of murder despite evidence that he was only present at the scene of the crime. Foster was convicted under a Texas law that makes co-conspirators liable in certain cases of homicide. In this case, it tied Foster to the triggerman. Perry raised doubts about the law and urged the legislature to re-examine the issue. "I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement at the time.

Perry also refused to grant a stay of execution in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham even though an investigation by the Texas Forensic Science Commission determined parts of the original investigation may not have looked at all of the evidence correctly. Perry called Willingham a "monster" and later replaced the chairman of the Science Commission.

Infrastructure

In 2001, Perry proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor, a $145+ billion-dollar project that would build multi-lane highways, rail lines and data lines from Oklahoma to Mexico, and from east to west in southern Texas. Instead of paying for the project with taxes, Perry proposed that it be partially financed, partially built and wholly operated by private contractors, who would subsequently receive all toll proceeds. All of Perry's gubernatorial opponents opposed the corridor project, as did the 2006 state party platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties. After much contentious debate between supporters and opponents, an official decision of "no action" was issued by the Federal Highway Administration on July 20, 2010, formally ending the project.

Gun ownership

Perry has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He possesses a Concealed Carry License (CCL) and has signed a number of bills that increased CHL access.

2012 presidential campaign

Main article: Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012

Until 2011, Perry persistently denied aspirations to higher office; he was originally included on the 2012 presidential straw poll ballot at the Values Voter Summit in September 2009, but his name was removed at his request. In April 2008 while appearing as a guest on CNBC's Kudlow & Company, he specifically stated that he would not agree to serve as Vice President in a McCain administration, stating that he already had "the best job in the world" as governor of Texas. Further, during a Republican gubernatorial debate in January 2010, when asked if he would commit to serving out his term if re-elected, he replied that "the place hasn't been made yet" where he would rather serve than the governor of Texas. In December 2010, when asked if he was a "definite maybe" to run for president in 2012, he replied, "a definite no, brother".

On May 27, 2011, he said he was "going to think about" running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination after the close of the Texas legislative session. Perry said in a response to a question from a reporter, "but I think about a lot of things", adding a grin.

On August 11, a Perry spokesman said that he would be running for president in 2012, with plans to announce his formal entry into the race the next day. Perry himself confirmed it on a visit to KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin. As the Associated Press bulletin announcing his entry into the race came across the wire, Perry signed and dated a printed copy of the bulletin.

On August 13, Perry officially announced that he would be running for president.

After announcing his candidacy, Perry immediately became a serious contender in the race, with a poll released by Rasmussen Reports on August 16, 2011, showing him leading in the Republican field at 29 percent, with the eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney at a distant second at 18 percent and the then-front runner Michele Bachmann at 13 percent. Perry hoped that Texas' own record of job growth in contrast to the rest of the country could persuade voters that he could reverse the economic downturn. However, by September Perry's campaign began to suffer following a number of poor debate performances. Perry suffered further after a November 2011 debate: in the debate, he stated that, as president, he would eliminate three government agencies, but he was then only able to name two of the agencies—he was unable to name the third. He later identified the third agency as the Department of Energy.

In October 2011, The Washington Post reported that Perry's family leases a hunting camp once called "Niggerhead". According to some local residents interviewed by the Post, the Perrys used the camp for years before painting over a large rock with that name on it, which stands at an entrance to the area, and during this time Perry hosted friends and supporters at the camp. Perry's campaign disputed the claims, stating that the Perrys painted over the rock almost immediately after acquiring a lease on the property in 1983. The Washington Post news reporter filing the October 1, 2011, news report interviewed seven people "who spoke in detail of their memories of seeing the rock with the name at various points during the years that Perry was associated with the property through his father, partners or his signature on a lease".

On December 6, Perry's campaign released a YouTube advertisement (entitled "Strong") in which Perry discusses his religious beliefs and criticizes the Obama administration. Perry says in the video: "there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school." The fact-checking website PolitiFact noted that Perry's assertion that "kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school" is false, and the video was widely criticized online, receiving over 750,000 "dislikes" on YouTube.

Perry came in fifth place in the Iowa caucuses and skipped the New Hampshire primary. With polls showing Perry trailing in the upcoming South Carolina primary, Perry announced on January 19, 2012, that he would be dropping out of the 2012 presidential race. Perry initially endorsed Newt Gingrich, and then endorsed Mitt Romney in April after Gingrich announced that he was suspending his campaign.

Retirement as governor

See also: Political positions of Rick Perry and United States presidential election, 2016

Following the end of his third full term, he had served over 14 consecutive years in office. A University of Texas at Austin-Texas Tribune poll released in June 2013, showed Perry leading potential primary challenger Attorney General Greg Abbott by double digits, 45-19%. In February, the same poll had Perry leading by a 3-to-1 margin (49-17%) of 32 points over Abbott.

However, Perry decided not to run for re-election to a fourth full term, announcing, in front of family and supporters at the Holt Cat Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, on July 8, 2013, that he would retire instead. Perry retired with the 10th longest gubernatorial tenure in United States history at the end of his term on January 20, 2015 at 5,144 days as well as the record of the longest serving Texas Governor.

2016 presidential campaign

Main article: Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2016

Almost immediately following the 2012 election, Perry was mentioned as a potential candidate for the presidency in the 2016 presidential election, with a Time magazine article in July 2013 saying that "everything is aligned for Rick Perry to be the Republican nominee for president in 2016."

Perry officially launched his 2016 presidential candidacy on June 4, 2015, in Addison, Texas. A version of the Colt Ford song "Answer To No One" boomed from loudspeakers, as Perry took to the stage. He then announced his candidacy at the scheduled press conference.

Perry withdrew on September 11, 2015—becoming the first in the field of major candidates to drop out—following poor polling after the first debate. In the weeks before he dropped from the race, Perry's campaign was in dire financial straits, spending nearly four times as much as it raised.

On January 25, 2016 Perry endorsed United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) for president.

On May 5th, 2016, following the suspension of Ted Cruz's presidential campaign, Perry endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency.

Veto controversy and exoneration

Main article: Rick Perry veto controversy

On August 15, 2014, Perry was indicted by a Travis County grand jury. The first charge of the indictment was abuse of official capacity, which has since been ruled unconstitutional, for threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit, a state public corruption prosecutors department. The second charge, which has also since been ruled unconstitutional, was coercion of a public servant, for seeking the resignation of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, after she was convicted of drunk driving, and incarcerated.

Perry pleaded not guilty to both charges. Perry's supporters called the charges political and partisan, and several Democratic commentators, including David Axelrod, Jonathan Prince, Matthew Yglesias, and Jonathan Chait have stated that they believe the charges were either weak or unwarranted. As of February 2016, Perry was cleared of all charges. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that courts could not limit veto power and that prosecuting Perry over his action violates "the separation of powers provision of the Texas Constitution" and infringed on his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Books and speeches

Rick Perry has written two books:

• On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For was published in February 2008. It celebrates the positive impact of the organization on the youth of America and criticizes the ACLU for its legal actions against the Boy Scouts of America.
• Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington, was written with senior advisor Chip Roy and published in November 2010. It discusses his support for limited central government.

Perry has given a number of speeches, including one at the Heritage Foundation on his views of the proper role of the federal government and the military in disaster management.

Personal life

In 1982, Perry married Anita Thigpen, his childhood sweetheart whom he had known since elementary school. They have two adult children, Griffin and Sydney. Anita attended West Texas State University and earned a degree in nursing. She has spearheaded a number of health-related initiatives such as the Anita Thigpen Perry Endowment at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, which focuses on nutrition, cardiovascular disease, health education, and early childhood development. She has also helped develop and host the Texas Conference for Women.

Perry has played himself in minor roles for several feature films, including Man of the House, Deep in the Heart, and Hating Breitbart.

In 2001, the American Cowboy Culture Association, based in Lubbock, handed Perry its "The Top Cowboy of Texas" award. In accepting the honor, Perry cited the importance of his father, Ray Perry, and a former neighbor in Haskell County, the late Watt R. Matthews (born 1899), who Perry said taught him "not only about Texas and history.. but also about the importance of the values that we learned growing up in a rural environment".

Perry is also a member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and won their Gold Good Citizenship Medal.

Perry's son, Griffin, married Meredith Lewis on December 19, 2009. On June 20, 2013, Griffin and Meredith's first child was born, making Perry a grandfather.

Electoral history

Texas gubernatorial election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Perry (incumbent)	2,617,106	58
	Democratic	Tony Sanchez	1,809,915	40

Texas gubernatorial election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Perry (incumbent)	1,716,792	39
	Democratic	Chris Bell	1,310,337	30
	Independent	Carole Keeton Strayhorn	796,851	18
	Independent	Richard "Kinky" Friedman	547,674	12
	Libertarian	James Werner	26,749	<1

Texas gubernatorial election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Perry (incumbent)	2,733,784	55
	Democratic	Bill White	2,102,606	42
	Libertarian	Kathie Glass	109,057	2
	Green	Deb Shafto	19,475	0
	Independent	Andy Barron (write-in)	7,973	0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]