Ross Perot 1992

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Texan industrialist and billionaire Ross Perot unsuccessfully ran as a third-party candidate in the 1992 presidential election. Perot ran on an Independent ticket and placed third to the runner-up, George Bush, and winner, Bill Clinton. He was successful in getting his name on all 50 ballots and even got on the debate stage with the other two candidates. While he gathered no electoral votes, Perot still managed to gather almost twenty million popular votes.

It can be argued that his campaign played spoiler to Bush’s election and cost the incumbent president key votes that may have won him the election. Perot’s campaign showed that while third-party candidates may not win, they could play spoiler and affect the race. His campaign also started a trend of financial moguls entering the national political scene.