Born on this day in Texarkana, Texas, Henry Ross Perot (1930–2019) was a self-made billionaire philanthropist by the age of 38 with his computer service company Electronic Data Systems Corp (EDS). He sold the company to General Motors in 1984 for $2.5 billion.

Praising his "personal crusade" on behalf of American soldiers, Perot received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1972 after working to free POWs in Southeast Asia. In 1979, he also funded a successful rescue operation of two of his employees from an Iranian prison.

"Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success," he said. "They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown."

Going for the touchdown, he ran for President as an independent candidate in 1992. A cowboy with a can-do spirit and a tenacious knack for sound-bites, Perot self-financed his campaign and gathered wide grassroots support despite little political experience. He won 19.7 million votes—about 19% of the total—and helped Bill Clinton defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush.

"Talk is cheap," Perot once said. "Words are plentiful. Deeds are precious."

Among those deeds: he helped establish the Reform Party and ran again in 1996, earning 8% of the vote. Ranked #50 on the Forbes 400 in 2007, his fortune was estimated at $4.2 billion.

"If someone is blessed as I am and is not willing to clean out the barn," he asked, "who will?"