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Former Texas Governor Perry announces new White House run

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Four years after a failed campaign for the U.S. Presidency, former Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on Thursday his bid for Republican nomination to the top job in the land.

In a heated speech of more than 20 minutes in an aircraft hanger in Addison, Texas, just outside the northern city of Dallas, Perry concentrated on foreign policy and underscored his record of leadership as a multiple-term governor who headed the "Lone Star State" for 14 years. A C-130 cargo plane, the type of aircraft he flew when he was in the U.S. Airforce, made a fitting backdrop for Perry, flanked by fellow Air Force veterans, including the Navy Seal who was the subject of the hit film, "Lone Survivor."

"The question of every candidate will be this: When have you led?" Perry said. "Leadership is not a speech on the Senate floor. It is not what you say. It is what you have done."

Perry's announcement came just hours after that of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who joined the field of what are now 11 major candidates for the Republican nomination so far. Perry also cited his strong economic record in Texas and highlighted the role of governor as a platform for achievement in office.

Taking a shot at his political opponents in Congress, he maintained that leadership is not simply about gathering votes and grand rhetoric. He has indicated that pain from back surgery was responsible during his first run for president four years ago for mistakes made on the campaign trail, including forgetting a third government department he would eliminate in addition to education and commerce.

Like his last run, however, his Thursday speech indicated that he plans to emphasize foreign policy, much as he did in his 2010 book, "Fed Up!," when he mentioned his support for trade relations with China.

"I see a nation that is not cowering to the prospect of a united Europe or an ever-growing China and India, but rather welcomes those markets and many others as opportunities for the entrepreneurial and industrious spirit of the American people," Perry wrote.

"I see a world where free trade opens up more doors and where people embrace trade's benefit to both America and the rest of the world."

Perry, who was born on March 4, 1950 in West Texas, is an American Republican politician who served as the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Endite