Paul Ryan

== Early career ==
Betty Ryan reportedly urged her son to accept a congressional position as a legislative aide in Senator Kasten's office, which he did after graduating in 1992.<ref name="Christian Schneider" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Ryan Fast Facts|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/01/us/paul-ryan-fast-facts/|work=CNN|access-date=March 30, 2015|date=January 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Auto2A-24"/> In his early years working on [[Capitol Hill]], Ryan supplemented his income by working as a waiter, as a fitness trainer, and at other jobs.<ref name="Journal Sentinel 2009"/><ref name="lineage"/>

A few months after Kasten lost to Democrat [[Russ Feingold]] in the [[United States Senate election in Wisconsin, 1992|1992 election]], Ryan became a [[speechwriter]] for Empower America (now [[FreedomWorks]]), a conservative advocacy group founded by [[Jack Kemp]], [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], and [[William Bennett]].<ref name="Journal Sentinel 2009"/><ref name="Steinhauer"/><ref name="Auto2A-25"/>

Ryan later worked as a speechwriter for Kemp,<ref name="Auto2A-26"/> the Republican vice presidential candidate in the [[1996 United States presidential election]]. Kemp became Ryan's mentor, and Ryan has said he had a "huge influence".<ref name="Auto2A-27"/>

In 1995, Ryan became the legislative director for then-U.S. Congressman [[Sam Brownback]] of [[Kansas]]. In 1997 he returned to Wisconsin and worked for a year as a [[Marketing|marketing consultant]] for the [[construction]] company Ryan Incorporated Central, owned by his relatives.<ref name=Fussbudget/><ref name="Steinhauer" /><ref name="Auto2A-28"/>