Americans have lost faith in politicians, and for good reasons. Taxes, spending, and the national debt continue to rise, special interest bribes riddle the Congress, courts, and executive branch, and our schools are in shambles. Yet our government continues to wage a ceaseless assault on the American people’s rights to make their own choices. It has done so through the USA Patriot Act, the REAL ID Act, the War on Drugs, McCain-Feingold, and countless other initiatives. The endless and inept foreign policy of interventionism of the establishment politicians has put our country in grave danger not only of a destructive war with Iran but a new financial crisis.

The 2008 election thus comes at a critical time in the history of the United States and the world.

We endorse Ron Paul for president because we believe he is the candidate best able to solve these profound problems. We come from a broad and diverse range of academic fields and specialties. We unite under the banner of liberty and are proud to announce our support for Ron Paul.

Dr. Ron Paul will be a unifying president. He was a star athlete who worked from his teenage years onward to earn his way through college. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies. Together Dr. and Mrs. Paul have five children, eighteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Ron Paul has served in Congress, on and off, since the mid-1970s for a total of ten terms. He has been called “the one exception to the Gang of 535” on Capitol Hill and “the Taxpayers Best Friend.” He is highly regarded for his honesty, integrity, and commitment to principle. Paul does not flip-flop on the issues, nor does he apologize for his consistent voting record. His vast experience, calm and reasoned temperament, expertise on policy issues, commitment to family, and overwhelming regard for American principles make him uniquely qualified to serve in the oval office.

A Paul administration would dramatically reduce the size and scope of the federal government over our lives and liberties. President Paul will work to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, emphasize free trade and diplomacy over confrontation, cease the war on drugs, which has destroyed the lives and liberties of the poor in inner cities, and end our error-ridden system of federal capital punishment. To accomplish these goals, and ensure that those in greatest need do not suffer during the transition, Paul will bring home the troops and abandon our ruinously expensive and futile effort to police the world.

Paul is the only presidential candidate with a proven record of defending academic freedom across-the-board. He has stood against efforts by both the political right and left to restrict the free discourse of ideas in higher education. He strongly opposes the use of speech codes to restrict academic freedom. For the same reason, he has spoken out against the so-called Academic Bill of Rights and other proposals that would empower politicians to impose “ideological balance” in the classroom. As Paul points out, these “speech codes of the right” would, if implemented, create a chilling effect on free and creative academic inquiry and teaching.

We, members of academic institutions across the world, endorse Dr. Ron Paul for President to restore the American principles of peace, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government. We urge you to vote for Dr. Paul in your state’s Republican primary.

We invite other academics to add their names to this statement. Those who wish to do so can contact David T. Beito at davidbeito@hotmail.com.