Early Life
Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas, to Lula May Perot (née Ray) and Gabriel Ross Perot. His father was a cotton broker. He attended a private school called Patty Hill. He graduated from Texas High School in Texarkana in 1947. One of Perot's boyhood friends was Hayes McClerkin, later Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives and a prominent Texarkana, Arkansas, lawyer.
Perot joined the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout in 1942, after thirteen months in the program. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
From 1947–1949, he attended Texarkana Junior College, then entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949 and helped establish its honor system. Perot said his appoinment notice to the academy—sent by telegram—was sent by W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, Texas' 34th governor and former senator. By the time Perot graduated in 1953 he was president of his class and battalion commander. By late 1954, Perot was made a lieutenant, junior grade. In 1955, however, Perot expressed some discontent with his life in the U.S. Navy in a letter to his father. He quietly served the remainder of his four-year commitment and resigned his commission. Perot married Margot Birmingham of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1956.
Read more about this topic: Ross Perot
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“As I went forth early on a still and frosty morning, the trees looked like airy creatures of darkness caught napping; on this side huddled together, with their gray hairs streaming, in a secluded valley which the sun had not penetrated; on that, hurrying off in Indian file along some watercourse, while the shrubs and grasses, like elves and fairies of the night, sought to hide their diminished heads in the snow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“In the life of the human spirit, words are action, much more so than many of us may realize who live in countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. The proof is that words are precisely the action for which dissidents in those countries are being persecuted.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)