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Theres a reason Rand Paul has been called the most interesting man in politics. The son of former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul, Rand quickly made a name for himself after being elected to the Senate in 2010 by adopting his fathers platform with a millennial-friendly twist, denouncing the military-industrial complex, filibustering U.S. drone policy, and calling to reform both the Federal Reserve and the criminal justice system. Riding a boomlet of popularity among younger conservatives, the libertarian(-ish) lawmaker announced a White House bid in 2015 that saw him soar into the national spotlight.

The Kentucky lawmakers rising star was quickly eclipsed by Donald Trump, who absorbed much of Pauls isolationist, anti-establishment appeal into his own outsider candidacy. But Paul remains a singularly interesting personality in Congress, where he represents one vision for the Republican Party. As a founding member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus, alongside senators Mike Lee and Jim DeMint, Paul has tirelessly brought attention to issues like reducing the federal debt, curtailing U.S. interventionism, and protecting individual privacy and civil liberties. While he still holds traditional Republican social views on gay marriage, putting him at odds with the growing majority of young, L.G.B.T.-friendly conservatives, Paul has differentiated himself by standing up to the N.S.A. and Pentagon, offering a critical counterweight to his more trigger-happy colleagues. His entreaties to minority voters during his campaign, in which he criticized legislation that traps nonviolent offendersdisproportionately African-American menin a cycle of poverty, unemployment, and incarceration, hold out hope for a more inclusive, and bi-partisan, future.

Like his father, who ran for president three times, Paul began his career as a doctor, earning an M.D. in 1988 before completing his residency in ophthalmology. But he, too, was drawn to politics, honing his populist message on the trail of Ron Pauls 2008 presidential campaign. Though ultimately unsuccessful, the effort solidified a passionate grassroots base of Tea Party conservatives and libertarians who would eventually support the younger Paul in his resounding upset victory in the 2010 Republican primary race against Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Though Grayson had the endorsements of G.O.P. power players, such as Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell and former vice president Dick Cheney, Pauls fiscal conservative platform attracted support from influential figures such as Steve Forbes and Sarah Palin. His victory was one of the first major wins for the then-burgeoning Tea Party movement.

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