Posted on 08/12/2012 2:59:38 PM PDT by NYer
An interesting glimpse at Paul Ryan’s wife, from the Washington Post:
Janna Ryan, wife of Republican vice presidential pick Rep. Paul Ryan, is the poster girl for Generation X women who wanted to have it all.
Ryan, 43, like many of her 40-something peers, is a stay-at-home mother with an impressive resume. She prefers her husband’s hometown, Janesville, Wis., to Washington and remains out of the political limelight.
But Janna Christine Little Ryan hails from Oklahoma, a state known for its Will Rogers’s common-sense ideals mixed with a smidgen of Wild West attitude.
She grew up Madill, Okla., in the southern part of the state on the Texas state line. Founded in 1901, the small town, population 3,781 in 2009, was a spot on the train route from Dallas to Tulsa. Madill is also known for its trailer manufacturing firms.
Politics, it appears, was in Janna’s blood from the beginning.
The Oklahoman’s political blog reported Saturday that her grandfather, Reuel W. Little, was a lawyer and rancher in the state who helped form a third political party in Oklahoma in the 1960s. His 1993 obituary stated that he was the American Party’s gubernatorial candidate in 1970. Three years earlier, Little started the push for a third party in order to get former Alabama governor George Wallace on the ballot as a presidential candidate.
Janna’s first cousin is Oklahoma Democratic Rep. Dan Boren. He issued a statement on Saturday about the Ryans:
“Andrea and I are excited for Paul and Janna. Janna and I grew up together and I couldn’t be more proud of my cousin. Like my late mother after whom she is named, Janna is a wonderful parent to their children and will be Paul’s strongest supporter on the campaign trail.”
Janna left Oklahoma to attend Wellesley College, the alma mater of many remarkable women including Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Diane Sawyer. After graduation, she attended George Washington University Law School and became a tax attorney and lobbyist for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Arlington, Va.
Janna met Paul through a mutual friend. Rumor has it that the pair often hunted together (Paul Ryan prefers bows and arrows for hunting) during their brief courtship in 1999. They even shared a deer stand. Not surprising, since every Oklahoma woman I know loves to hunt.
Paul asked Janna to marry him on a lake where he often fished. They married in Oklahoma City in 2000 and then settled in Ryan’s Wisconsin’s home town, population 63,479, where they live in a historic house with six bedrooms and eight baths.
The couple has three children: Elizabeth Anne, Charles Wilson, and Samuel Lowery. According to news reports, Janna is a devout Catholic and attends St. John Vianney Catholic Church with her husband when he is in town.
An owner of an Italian restaurant in Janesville told Politico, “She’s a very soft spoken, elegant, and lady-like. Very family-oriented. Always with her kids, always here picking up food for her family. Just warm, easygoing, not upfront in the public arena. You can see her on the TV, she really stays back and doesn’t attract much attention to herself. Just an amazing lady-like figure.”
That’s not what I said.
I said If I were Ann Romney I would be standing still in my spot enjoying the scene of Paul Ryan hugging his kids. — at least that’s what I meant.
As a divorced father of two grown sons, that picture really, really brings tears to my eyes. . . .
It brought tears to my eyes, too.
Mitt is Ann’s family!
I'll bet they're already putting a copy of that picture on dart boards at all the Old Folks Homes that Democrats descend on with their Absentee Ballots on Election Day.
The hell with Bingo night, break out the Darts.
He’s a hunter.......
I’m SO sorry!
I must have mis-understood. I couldn’t believe all the sniping at both Janna and Ann — 2 perfectly nice ladies.
I was talking to a cousin in California tonight who commented that she thought that Ann Romney didn’t look good (we have a mutual cousin who died from MS). My cousin is a big Romney supporter, which is a rare person in CA, but she depressed me by saying that these guys “...aren’t going to win. Nobody will listen to them.”
I just said that they wouldn’t win California, but that the rest of the nation will elect them.
Thank you, but it’s OK. Wanted to be a family forever, and I love my sons. Divorced 11 years now. Some things in life you just don’t get over. My sons live about 150 miles away and they ALWAYS give me a hug when I see them.
I was just at the Italian House, mentioned in this article, for the first time the other day. Talk about portions! It was good, with good prices and quantities, a regular family type place, and not snobby at all, like too many places these days seem to be.
Saw a very cute photo of Ryan with his son at a frog jumping contest last week. Wish I could find it online.
You gotta like a guy that proposes at a fishing lake!
? That’s not like you.
I was feeling a little grouchy. It’s not that I dislike them for having 8 bathrooms, or anything ... I just wish I could toilet-train Frank, and we’re not allowed to have outdoor facilities in our subdivision!
One of the most staunch conservative women I know went to Wellesley. Others who are staunch conservatives are lawyers. We need lawyers on our team, too.
Why are so many on this thread so critical? This isn’t typical female cattiness, is it? Like liberals envying Sarah Palin? I hope not. I hope we’re better than that.
Ann’s children are grown now, she doesn’t need to be attentive to their needs as Janna needs to be with the little ones.
Beautiful family.
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