Mary J. Ruwart (born October 16, 1949) is an American retired biomedical researcher and a

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's enc ...

speaker, writer, and activist. She was a leading candidate for the 2008

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties * Outline of libertariani ...

presidential nomination In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention (a ...

and is the author of the book ''Healing Our World''.

Early life, education, and medical career

Ruwart was born in Detroit, Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...

(1970), and a doctorate in

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

(1974) from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. After a 2½ year term on the faculty of the Department of Surgery at

Saint Louis University School of Medicine Saint Louis University School of Medicine is a private, Jesuit medical school. Part of Saint Louis University, the institution was established in 1836. The school has an enrollment of around 700, with about 550 faculty members and 550 residents in ...

, Ruwart spent 19 years as a pharmaceutical research scientist for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals, and has written extensively on the subjects of government regulation of the drug industry and on

communication.

Libertarian activism and candidacies

A member of the Libertarian Party, Ruwart campaigned unsuccessfully for the party's presidential nomination in 1984 and for the vice-presidential nomination in 1992. Ruwart was the Libertarian Party of Texas's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2000, where she faced incumbent Republican

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republ ...

; Ruwart polled 1.16% of the popular vote (72,798 votes), finishing fourth of four candidates behind

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

candidate Douglas Sandage. Ruwart has served on the

Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...

, and was a

keynote speaker A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

at the 2004

Libertarian National Convention The Libertarian National Convention is held every two years by the Libertarian Party (United States) to choose members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), and to conduct other party business. In presidential election years, the convention ...

. In 2002, libertarians launched an unsuccessful lobbying campaign to get Dr. Ruwart appointed

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

(FDA) Commissioner. Additionally, Ruwart has served on the boards of the International Society for Individual Liberty, the

Fully Informed Jury Association The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) is a United States national jury education organization, incorporated in the state of Montana as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. It works to educate citizens on their authority when they serve as ...

, and the Michigan chapter of the Heartland Institute. Ruwart is a longtime supporter of the

Free State Project The Free State Project (FSP) is an American political migration movement founded in 2001 to recruit at least 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state (New Hampshire was selected in 2003) in order to make the state a stronghol ...

and officially endorsed it on May 17, 2008 while on-air on Free Talk Live. Ruwart unsuccessfully ran for Texas Comptroller in 2010 against incumbent Republican Susan Combs. She received 417,523 votes (10.5%) in a race that had no Democrat.

2008 presidential campaign

In March 2008, in response to an informal draft effort by a group of Libertarian Party activists, Ruwart announced her candidacy for the Libertarian presidential nomination in the 2008 election. She ran on a platform of ending

military intervention Interventionism refers to a political practice of intervention, particularly to the practice of governments to interfere in political affairs of other countries, staging military or trade interventions. Economic interventionism refers to a diffe ...

overseas and nation-building, ending

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts car ...

, ending foreign aid, promoting free trade, eliminating welfare entitlements and creating jobs by slashing government spending. She lost the nomination to

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attai ...

on the sixth ballot at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention on May 25, 2008. Despite tying with Barr on the third and fourth ballots and taking the lead on the fifth, she ultimately lost after third-placed candidate

Wayne Allyn Root Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist. He is the host of two new television shows, daily at 7 PM ET on Lindell TV ...

threw his support behind Barr. Root later received the vice-presidential nomination.

Bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

Ruwart's home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruwart, Mary 1949 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American women politicians Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election 1992 United States vice-presidential candidates Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Activists from Texas American anarcho-capitalists American women biochemists American biophysicists American political activists American political writers American women non-fiction writers American drug policy reform activists Female candidates for President of the United States Female candidates for Vice President of the United States Michigan State University alumni Non-interventionism Texas Libertarians Writers from Detroit