THE CANDIDATE
Biography | Resume

A staunch conservative, Patrick J. Buchanan knows all about life inside Washington's Beltway. He is a longtime resident of the city and has served in two Republican administrations.

Born
Patrick Joseph Buchanan on Nov. 2, 1938, in the District of Columbia.

Childhood nickname
"Paddy Joe."

Youthful Indiscretions
To say Buchanan was a feisty lad growing up would be a serious understatement. He tormented neighborhood dogs while delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service during his Christmas break from school. He showed up with some friends outside the Soviet Embassy holding a noose and vowing to hang the Soviet ambassador. And he rarely backed away from a good fist fight.

Education
Buchanan graduated cum laude in 1961 from Georgetown University in Washington with a bachelor's degree in English. He picked up a master's degree in journalism in 1962 from Columbia University in New York.

Family
He married Shelley Ann Scarney in 1971. They have no children.

Values
The third of nine children, Buchanan was raised in a conservative Washington home. The code of honor in the Buchanan household was simple: meet a punch with a punch; if called a name, respond in kind; and above all, remain loyal to your friends. Politics was a regular topic of dinnertime discussions. His father, an accountant, admired the likes of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Mightier Than the Sword
Buchanan turned from using his fists to fighting with words while working as a columnist in the mid-1960s. He would later hone his skills while working as a speech writer in the Nixon White House. Buchanan created a major stir in September 1999 when he suggested in his new book, "A Republic, Not an Empire," that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was not a threat to the United States. in 1940. He also wrote that various ethnic groups exerted a strong influence over U.S. foreign policy after World War II.