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martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

Note to editors: this news *just* came out, feel free to put it in the "Breaking News" nexus if you'd like. --martyb

Ross Perot, Billionaire Former Presidential Candidate, has Died at age 89 [cbsnews.com]:

Billionaire, philanthropist and former presidential candidate Ross Perot has died, CBS News has confirmed. He was 89.

Perot died in Texas, the state where he was born, surrounded by family.

[...]In 1992, Perot made a name for himself when he became the most successful non-major party presidential candidate in 80 years, amassing 19 percent of the popular vote, running against President George H.W. Bush and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

As a boy in Texarkana, Texas, Perot delivered newspapers from the back of a pony. He earned his billions in a more modern way, however — by building Electronic Data Systems Corp., which helped other companies manage their computer networks.

Yet the most famous event in his career didn't involve sales and earnings; he financed a private commando raid in 1979 to free two EDS employees who were being held in a prison in Iran. The tale was turned into a book and a movie.

Perot first became known to Americans outside of business circles by claiming that the U.S. government left behind hundreds of American soldiers who were missing or imprisoned at the end of the Vietnam War [cbsnews.com]. Perot fanned the issue at home and discussed it privately with Vietnamese officials in the 1980s, angering the Reagan administration, which was formally negotiating with Vietnam's government.

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