CLUTE, Texas – The Ron Paul Revolution is alive and well, according to its supporters at the former congressman’s 90th birthday celebration outside Lake Jackson. He officially turns 90 on Aug. 20.
Paul, who served 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, marked the milestone Saturday with a sold-out crowd of about 1,000 people at the Dow Academic Center on the Brazosport College campus in Clute, Texas, near his home in Lake Jackson.
About 30 people gave short speeches in support of Paul, many crediting him with curing their political apathy. The event began at 1 p.m. and ended around 9 p.m.
Paul, considered a staunch libertarian, ran for president in 1988 on the Libertarian Party ticket, and twice as a Republican in 2008 and 2012. He is also a medical doctor who served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and later worked for years as an OB/GYN at his own clinic in Lake Jackson. To his fans, he is affectionately known as “Dr. Paul.”
The event was organized by Jeff Frazee, founder and CEO of the student libertarian group Young Americans for Liberty, who also worked on Paul’s 2008 campaign. The group describes itself as “the largest grassroots liberty organization on America’s college campuses.”
Proceeds from ticket sales were donated to the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, led by Executive Director Daniel McAdams.
In his speech, Paul revisited themes that have defined his political career, including criticism of the Federal Reserve system, which he said is “serving the interests of people who believe in big government.” The crowd repeatedly chanted, “End the Fed!” Paul has long argued that shutting down the U.S. central bank and allowing the market to set interest rates would boost economic prosperity.
Attendees received bags with various libertarian-themed items, including the phrase “End the Fed” printed on one side. Paul also criticized the U.S. system of democracy as “the dictatorship of the majority,” drawing applause.
Other speakers
Other speakers included:
- Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason magazine.
- Lyn Ulbricht, mother of Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road and pardoned by President Trump, and founder of Mothers Against Cruel Sentencing.
- Kennedy, Fox News host.
- Roger Ver, early Bitcoin investor charged by the U.S. Justice Department in 2024.
- Bobby Gray, founder of TEXITcoin.
- Ron Henriksen, founder of Houston Executive Airport.
- Justin Amash, former congressman from Michigan.
- Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
- Spike Cohen, founder of Muddied Waters Media.
- Jeffrey Harmon of Angel Studios, which adapted “The Tuttle Twins” into a video series with about 400 million views. Javier Milei, the libertarian president of Argentina, reportedly plans to put the series on Argentinean public television.
- Clint Russell, host of the “Liberty Lockdown” podcast.
- Scott Horton, director of the Libertarian Institute and Antiwar.com.
- “Josie the Red-Headed Libertarian,” social media influencer.
- Gary Franchi, chief White House correspondent at the Next News Network.
- Jack Hunter, former communications director for Paul.
- Jeff Deist, attorney and former president of the Mises Institute.
- Ronnie Paul, son of Ron Paul.
- Mark Skousen, economist and descendant of Benjamin Franklin.
- Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.
Among the guest speakers was Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence in the Trump administration. Security increased during her appearance, with what appeared to be a Secret Service agent scanning the crowd as she spoke. Gabbard, a former Democrat, said Paul was a “joyful warrior, whether he’s talking about the Fed or he’s talking about ending the disastrous regime change wars, and standing up for peace and prosperity and freedom for all people.”
McAdams, who also worked for Paul in Congress, described young people as “the core of Ron Paul’s support – young people educating their parents about freedom and liberty.” He announced that the institute will hold its 19th conference in Washington on Aug. 16.
Other speakers included Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, who appeared via prerecorded video. Rand Paul, also a medical doctor, is considered an heir to his father’s libertarian legacy.
Tom Woods, who holds a doctorate in history from Columbia University, hosts “The Tom Woods Show” podcast and founded the online educational site Liberty Classroom, said Paul “told the truth when it would have been a lot easier to just repeat the lies everyone else was telling.”
Outside the ballroom, event sponsors hosted booths. Among them were staff from “The Tuttle Twins,” a libertarian children’s book series by Connor Boyack. Items promoting TEXIT, a group advocating for Texas to secede peaceably from the United States, were also available.
Lawrence Reed, president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education, described Paul’s career as “speaking truth to power … (which) is one of the core principles of his life.”
A panel of four – Mike Maresco; Steve Oskoui; Glenn Jacobs, mayor of Knox County, Tennessee; and Boyack – shared campaign trail stories. Maresco recalled bicycling across the country to promote Paul’s campaign despite never having been a cyclist. When he broke down in Louisiana, he posted to a Ron Paul forum and within an hour, someone arrived to take him to a bike shop.
Known for his optimism despite his criticisms of government policy, Paul said, “There’s a lot more good people than bad people – and I used to say the bad people are in the government, that’s just what we have to deal with.”
After speaking for about 30 minutes to close his birthday celebration, Paul received a standing ovation. “The message,” he said, “which time has come, cannot be stopped by bullets. And I believe the time has come to spread the message of liberty.”
