Rick Perry

James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019.

A fifth-generation Texan, Perry was born on March 4, 1950, in Haskell, Texas, and raised in Paint Creek, Texas, the son of dryland cotton farmers Joseph Ray Perry (1925–2017) and Amelia June Holt Perry (born 1929).

He has one older sister.

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.

Perry was in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

The BSA has honored Perry with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Perry attended Texas A&M University where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets and the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.

He was elected senior class social secretary, a member and redpot in Aggie Bonfire, and one of A&M's five "yell leaders".

In the early 1970s, Perry interned during several summers with Southwestern Advantage, as a door-to-door book salesman.

Born into a family of cotton farmers in Haskell, Texas, Perry graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 and entered into the United States Air Force, serving a five-year stint and achieving the rank of captain.

He graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science.

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.

His missions included a 1974 U.S. State Department drought relief effort in Mali, Mauritania and Chad, and, in 1976, earthquake relief in Guatemala.

After leaving the Air Force in 1977, Perry returned to Texas and entered politics, serving as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991.

He left the Air Force in 1977 at the rank of captain, returned to Texas, and went into farming cotton with his father.

In 1984, Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from district 64, which included his home county of Haskell.

In 1989, Perry switched parties and became a Republican, and was elected Agriculture Commissioner of Texas the following year.

In 1989, he said, "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."

In 1998, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas, becoming the state's first Republican Lieutenant Governor since Reconstruction.

He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.

Perry assumed the governorship of Texas in December 2000, after Governor George W. Bush resigned following his election as President.

Perry was re-elected Governor three times, becoming the longest-serving governor in Texas history.

As Governor, Perry identified as a staunch conservative, enacting conservative fiscal policies, restrictions on abortion and expanded gun rights.

"I count my time working for Dortch Oldham [then president of the Southwestern family of companies] 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."

Long considered a potential presidential candidate, Perry officially announced his candidacy for the 2012 Republican nomination for President in August 2011.

Perry initially performed well in polling and showed strong fundraising prowess, leading to him being considered a serious contender for the nomination.

However, his support declined following debates and early primaries, and he withdrew from the race in January 2012.

He was then assigned as a Lockheed C-130 Hercules pilot with the 772nd Tactical Airlift Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, located in Abilene, Texas.

Perry's duties included two-month overseas rotations at RAF Mildenhall, located in Mildenhall, England, and Rhein-Main Air Base, located at Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Perry declined to seek re-election to a fourth term as Governor and left office in 2015, launching a second presidential campaign shortly thereafter.

Perry's second presidential campaign failed to garner substantial polling support, fundraising or media attention, leading him to withdraw from the race after only three months.

Perry was initially a vocal opponent of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for President, however, he later endorsed Trump after he secured the Republican nomination.

After winning the presidency, Trump appointed Perry as Secretary of Energy, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 62–37 vote on March 2, 2017.

On October 17, 2019, Perry reported to Trump that he intended to resign as Secretary of Energy at the end of the year.

He left office on December 1, 2019.