Rand Paul Fast Facts

Personal: Birth date: January 7, 1963

Birth place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Birth name: Randal Howard Paul

Father: Ron Paul, former presidential candidate and retired US representative from Texas

Mother: Carol (Wells) Paul

Marriage: Kelley (Ashby) Paul

Children: Robert, Duncan, William

Education: Attended Baylor University, 1981-1984; Duke University School of Medicine, M.D., 1988

Religion: Christian

Other Facts: Performs pro bono eye operations multiple times a year. He practiced as an ophthalmologist for 17 years prior to entering Congress.

He is not named after author Ayn Rand; his nickname was shortened from "Randy."

Former president and longtime member of the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club.

Was active in the congressional and presidential campaigns of his father, Ron Paul.

Timeline: 1993 - Completes his ophthalmology residency at Duke University Medical Center.

1994 - Founds grassroots organization Kentucky Taxpayers United, which monitors state taxation and spending. It is legally dissolved in 2000.

1995 - Founds the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, a non-profit providing eye exams and surgeries to those in need.

August 5, 2009 - Announces on Fox News that he is running as a Republican for the US Senate to represent Kentucky.

May 18, 2010 - Defeats Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Kentucky GOP Senate primary.

May 19, 2010 - In interviews with NPR and MSNBC, while answering questions about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Paul expresses strong abhorrence for racism, but says that it is the job of communities, not the government, to fix discrimination in private places by boycotting such businesses. Paul later releases a statement saying that he supports the Civil Rights Act and would not support its repeal.

November 2, 2010 - Tea Party favorite Paul is elected to the US Senate for Kentucky, defeating Jack Conway.

January 5, 2011 - Sworn in as a US senator from Kentucky for the 112th Congress. It is the first time in congressional history a child serves in the Senate while the parent concurrently serves in the House. Paul's father, Ron Paul, retired from the House in 2013.

January 27, 2011 - Alongside Senators Mike Lee and Jim DeMint, holds the inaugural meeting of the Senate Tea Party Caucus.

February 22, 2011 - Paul's book, "The Tea Party Goes to Washington," is released.

September 12, 2012 - Paul's new book, "Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds," is released. He is later accused of plagiarism in some of his speeches and writings, including in "Government Bullies." Paul ultimately takes responsibility, saying his office had been "sloppy" and pledges to add footnotes to all of his future material.

February 12, 2013 - Delivers the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

March 6-7, 2013 - After almost 13 hours after he began speaking, Paul ends his filibuster to stall a confirmation vote on CIA Director nominee John Brennan.

February 12, 2014 - Along with the conservative group FreedomWorks, files a class-action lawsuit against President Obama and top national security officials over the government's sweeping electronic surveillance program made public by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

December 2, 2014 - Paul announces his bid for a second term in the Senate, launching what will likely be a complicated election season as he attempts to keep his seat and run for an expected presidential campaign.

April 7, 2015 - Paul announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event in Louisville, Kentucky.

May 20, 2015 - After 10 hours and 30 minutes, Paul ends his "filibuster" over National Security Agency surveillance programs authorized under the Patriot Act. Paul's speech wasn't technically a filibuster because of intricate Senate rules, but his office insists it was a filibuster.

August 5, 2015 - The Justice Department indicts two officials from a Rand Paul Super PAC for conspiracy and falsifying campaign records. During the 2012 primary season, Jesse Benton and John Tate allegedly bribed an Iowa state senator to get him to endorse Paul's father, Ron Paul. Benton and Tate help run one of the Super PAC's supporting Rand Paul, America's Liberty PAC.

February 3, 2016 - Paul announces that he is suspending his campaign for the presidency.

November 8, 2016 - Wins a second term in the US Senate, defeating Democrat Jim Gray.

November 3, 2017 - A neighbor allegedly assaults Paul at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which results in six broken ribs and a pleural effusion -- a build-up of fluid around the lungs. The attorney representing Paul's neighbor, Rene Boucher, later says that the occurrence had "absolutely nothing" to do with politics and was "a very regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial."