Bob J. Perry#Further reading

In 1968, at 36, he started his homebuilding business, Perry Homes, in Houston. Perry Homes, is a construction company that has built developments comparable to those of the company Toll Brothers. In 2003, the privately held company ranked as the nation's 42nd largest home builder with $420 million in revenue.

In the 2004 election cycle, Perry gave $4.45 million to Swift Vets and POWs for Truth (formerly Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), a 527 group founded by 200 Vietnam veterans; he was the largest single donor.Paul Kiel, [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001518.php "Swift Boat Redux: Wealthy GOP Donor Drops $5 Mil for New Group"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016092051/http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001518.php |date=October 16, 2006 }}, TPMMuckracker.com, September 14, 2006 The group held press conferences, ran ads and endorsed a book questioning Kerry's service record and his military awards. The group included several members of Kerry's unit, such as Larry Thurlow, who commanded a swift boat alongside of Kerry's,{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5765243 |title='Hardball with Chris Matthews' for August 19 |website=NBC News |access-date=2013-04-22 }} and Stephen Gardner, who served on Kerry's boat.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,599034,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040312040259/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,599034,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 12, 2004 | magazine=Time | first=Douglas | last=Brinkley | title=The Tenth Brother | date=March 9, 2004}} Chris McGreal of the left-leaning newspaper The Guardian wrote that Perry was the "leading financier" of the group, and alleged the group "smeared the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Kerry with accusations he made false claims about his service in Vietnam."Chris McGreal, "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/01/mitt-romney-super-pac-18m Mitt Romney Super Pac brought in $18m in six months, FEC figures reveal] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307153248/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/01/mitt-romney-super-pac-18m |date=March 7, 2016 }}" (February 1, 2012). Guardian.

In that cycle, Perry also donated $3 million to Progress for America Voter Fund. In all, he donated almost $8.1 million to 527 groups in 2003-2004.

In mid-2006, Perry donated $5 million to found a new 527 group, the Economic Freedom Fund. The $5 million makes the group one of the top ten in the 2006 election cycle.[http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtes.asp 527 Committee Activity: Top 50 Federally Focused Organizations] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723104505/http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527cmtes.asp |date=July 23, 2008 }}, opensecrets.com, accessed September 15, 2006 He also appears to be the sole donor to Americans for Honesty on Issues. These groups have primarily paid for negative advertisements targeting Democratic Party candidates in the 2006 United States general election.

In 2010, Perry donated $7 million to the 527 group American Crossroads, making it the largest single donation that the organization has received to date. American Crossroads primarily works to elect Republican and conservative legislators.Bob Perry Gives $7 Million to American Crossroads, Oct 20 2010, {{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/20/bob-perry-gives-7-million-to-american-crossroads/ |title=Bob Perry Gives $7 Million to American Crossroads - Washington Wire - WSJ |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=20 October 2010 |accessdate=2010-10-20 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227184851/https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/20/bob-perry-gives-7-million-to-american-crossroads// |archivedate=2016-12-27 |last1=Yadron |first1=Danny }} The super PAC [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717041025/http://restoreourfuture.com/ Restore Our Future] (supporting Mitt Romney) received $3 million from Perry in February 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml |title=Search Campaign Finance Data by Individual Contributor |accessdate=2008-02-02 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202064750/http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml |archivedate=2016-12-02 }} Perry also donated to the Super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, making his total contributions to Super PACs nearly $8 million.{{cite web |url=http://buyingyourfuture.org |title=Super PACs and Their Donors: Buying Your Future - Home |accessdate=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014051539/http://www.buyingyourfuture.org/ |archivedate=2016-10-14 }}

In 2011, Perry donated $2,531,799 to Texas Governor and United States Presidential Candidate Rick Perry (R, TX) toward his Presidential campaign.[https://swampland.time.com/2011/09/15/rick-perrys-friends-with-benefits/ Friends With Benefits: Rick Perry’s Biggest Donors], swampland.time.com, accessed September 20, 2011

Between 2011 and 2012 Perry donated another $10 million to the Mitt Romney affiliated Restore our Future[http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=C00490045 PAC track] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921112456/http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=C00490045 |date=September 21, 2016 }} Top Contributors to Restore Our Future and another $6.5 million to American Crossroads.[http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=C00487363 PAC track] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921112456/http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=C00487363 |date=September 21, 2016 }} Top Contributors to American Crossroads Perry is the biggest contributor to SuperPACs in the 2012 election cycle with a total of $18.5 million as of September 2012.[http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=all PAC track] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921112456/http://projects.propublica.org/pactrack/#contributions=all |date=September 21, 2016 }}

Top Contributors to Super PACs (Through September 30, 2012) He was a 2012 donor to Christi Craddick, a Republican elected to the Texas Railroad Commission, and a daughter of former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom Craddick of Midland, Texas.{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-06-03/chisum-faces-uphill-battle-new-seat|title=Enrique Rangel, "Chisum faces uphill battle for new seat"|publisher=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, June 3, 2012|accessdate=June 3, 2012}}

Perry contributed $46,000 to George W. Bush’s 1994 and 1998 campaigns for Texas Governor. He was the largest individual contributor to the Texas Republican Party during the 2002 election cycle (calendar 2001 and 2002) giving $905,000.[http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=667&pubid=422 "Bob Perry - The Man Behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528034106/http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=667&pubid=422 |date=May 28, 2007 }}, Texans for Public Justice, accessed September 15, 2006

Perry gave $165,000 in the 2002 election cycle to Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee (TRMPAC) giving $165,000 in the 2002 election cycle. In October 2002 Perry and his wife contributed $95,000 to DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee (ARMPAC).campaignmoney.com They also contributed $10,000 to DeLay's legal defense fund.Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press, May 1, 2006

In 2006, Perry was the largest political donor in Texas. His donations included nearly $400,000 to the campaign of GOP Governor Rick Perry (no relation).

In March 2007, Perry was listed as a member of Mitt Romney's "Texas Leadership Team", indicating his commitment to contribute to and raise money for Romney's presidential campaign.Chris Cillizza and Matthew Mosk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120331124906/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031601987.html?nav=rss_politics "'Swift Boat' Figure Joins Romney"], Washington Post, March 16, 2007 In December 2007, he donated $200,000 to the Club for Growth for advertisements against Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary.{{cite news | title = Huckabee foes open their wallets for attack ads | work = Los Angeles Times | date = January 1, 2008 | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-money1jan01,1,10456.story?coll=la-politics-campaign | access-date = 2008-01-03 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20080113180048/http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-money1jan01,1,10456.story?coll=la-politics-campaign | archive-date = 2008-01-13 | url-status = dead }} In 2008, he donated another $400,000 to the Club for Growth, which used most of it for its campaign against Mark Udall, the Democratic nominee in the 2008 Colorado election for U.S. Senate.Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld, [http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/swift_boat_financier_funding_c.php "Swift Boat Vet Financier Dumping Huge Money Into Key Senate Race"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080812201645/http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/swift_boat_financier_funding_c.php |date=August 12, 2008 }},

talkingpointsmemo.com, August 12, 2008

During the 2012 Wisconsin Gubernatorial Recall Election, Perry donated $500,000 to the "Friends of Scott Walker"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | {{cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/137996288.html?appSession%3D109741143926847 |title=2012 gubernatorial recall election contributions |accessdate=2012-05-13 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052747/http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/137996288.html?appSession=109741143926847 |archivedate=2016-03-04 }} campaign - second only to Diane Hendricks with $510,000.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | {{cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/137996288.html?appSession%3D51241143957190 |title=2012 gubernatorial recall election contributions |accessdate=2012-05-13 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053054/http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/dataondemand/137996288.html?appSession=51241143957190 |archivedate=2016-03-04 }} Also in 2012, he donated $1 million to the Freedom Fund North America PAC, which spent nearly that amount on television ads against Democratic Senatorial candidates Jon Tester in Montana and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, both of whom won their races.{{cite web|url=http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/bob_perry_freedom_fund_north_america.php |title=Swift Boat Backer Bob Perry Funded Mysterious Super PAC | TPMMuckraker |accessdate=2012-11-29 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608034846/http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/bob_perry_freedom_fund_north_america.php |archivedate=2013-06-08 }}

Perry was born in a one-room house in rural Bosque County, northwest of Waco. He attended Baylor University in Waco, where his father, W.C. Perry, completed a public school teaching career as vice president of student affairs. Perry graduated from Baylor in 1954 with a major in history and followed in his father's footsteps by teaching high school.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5844156 "'Swift Boat' backer is major political financier: Texan has deep pockets for conservative causes"], Associated Press, August 27, 2004

He married his wife Doylene in 1961 and they had children.Laylan Copelin, [http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=677 "AAS: Texas donor supported swift boat ads: Unassuming home builder getting more notoriety for latest donation than for record amounts in 2002"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002144926/http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=677 |date=October 2, 2006 }}, Austin American-Statesman, August 28, 2004 She was a professor at San Jacinto College.{{cite web|title=Bob Perry, major Republican contributor, dies|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20130414-bob-perry-major-republican-contributor-dies.ece|publisher=Dallas Morning News|accessdate=15 April 2013}}

Perry was a resident of Nassau Bay, Texas in Greater Houston and lived there for over thirty years. He was a member of the Nassau Bay Baptist Church.Gwynne, S.C. "Bob Perry Needs a Hug." Texas Monthly. April 2007. p. [http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/bob-perry-needs-hug/page/0/2 2] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221082904/http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/bob-perry-needs-hug/page/0/2 |date=December 21, 2014 }}. Retrieved on June 20, 2014. "He lives in a stately, 13,874-square-foot, eight-bedroom, dun-colored stucco house with four big pillars in the town of Nassau Bay, southeast of Houston, on a narrow bayou called Clear Creek a few miles from NASA at Clear Lake. He has lived there for thirty years. Aside from a small crop of large homes, the neighborhood is pretty solidly middle class. Nothing fancy. The house is appraised by Harris County at $662,010, though most of the houses around it are in the $200,000 range. He is an ardent pro-lifer and a member of the Nassau Bay Baptist Church."

He died in his sleep the night of April 13, 2013. Bob Perry's daughter, Kathy Britton is now the CEO of Perry Homes.

Perry was reportedly a member of the Council for National Policy, joining the CNP Board of Governors in 1982, and serving as vice president of the organization's Executive Committee from 1984–85, as well as being a member of that committee in 1988. He also reportedly was a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston, Texas Chamber of Commerce; on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America; a former citizen member of the state banking board of Texas; and a member of the Heritage Club.[http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.pe-q.htm#perry "The Council for National Policy: Selected Member Biographies"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309184002/http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.pe-q.htm#perry |date=March 9, 2016 }}, seekgod.ca, "an independent Christian research and apologetics ministry", accessed September 15, 2006

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050204115122/http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/relatedarticles/36402.php "The Quiet Republican: Backer of Anti-Kerry Veterans Groups Eschews the Limelight," Kristen Hays, the Associated Press, August 29, 2004].
• [http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2173 "The Public's Right To 'No'," Andrew Wheat, The Texas Observer, April 7, 2006]. Article on check given by Perry to Bill Ceverha of Texans for a Republican Majority.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823131627/http://www.texasobserver.org/archives/zsb_060407/images/wheat_graph.gif Chart: "Ceverha Patrons Beecherl & Perry Gave $1.9 Million To the Politicians Who Appointed Texas' Ethics Czars," The Texas Observer, April 7, 2006]. Shows donations by Bob Perry and Louis A. Beecherl Jr.

• [http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/bob-perry/ Topic: Bob Perry] at The Texas Tribune
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102453061 Did Builder's Clout Trap Couple In Dream Home?], Wade Goodwyn, NPR, March 28, 2009
• [http://www.perryhomes.com/ Perry Homes] official company website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Bob J.}}

Category:1932 births

Category:Baylor University alumni

Category:2013 deaths

Category:Businesspeople from Houston

Category:Texas Republicans

Category:20th-century American businesspeople