carolyn barta, from 1996 after he lost the second time how involved was ross perot? did he exit from the national stage or did he stay involved? >> pretty much exited, i think. he was not -- not particularly involved in issues or in the reform party after that. i think -- 1992 was really the unique time. because of the -- the sense of alienation that people had with government. the dissatisfaction with government. the economic problems. and then 1996, as you said earlier, when things started to come back, the political climate didn't exist anymore. and he did not -- he wanted the people to stay active. and involved. but the climate didn't exist for the kind of perot phenomenon to happen again as it did in 1992. and i think that was sort of his swan song. he got out after that. >> sacramento, hello, to jason as we talk about ross perot. you're on. >> yeah. i just want to ask, how do you feel perot would do in the 2013 election currently if he was on the same wavelength that he was on in 1992? and another question, if you don't mind, was i believe it was -- we said 19%

the author, carolyn barta, is joining us from her home in texas. you knew ross perot as a texas journalist long before many americans met him. can you tell us about his roots in texarkana and his upbringing and what shaped the man we knew on the national stage? carolyn: perot was from texarkana and he had a very average texas childhood. he lived in a strong stable middle-class family. as a boy he broke horses and traded horses. he was an eagle scout. even in later life i think he kept all the traits of the eagle scout. he would set goals for himself and try to pursue those goals. he was very much in the texas tradition of his day. he grew into the naval academy and then started his own businesses. he represented the can-do spirit of texas. his vision was big in the state was big. there was boundless opportunity. he really played into the texas mythology with texas politicians who are larger-than-life. very successful businessmen who made a fortune here. you they were risktakers and they were not afraid to fail. that was the sort of spirit that he h