Rick Perry through the years

A look at the Texas governor now seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

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Dec, 3, 2011

Gov. Rick Perry stands for a portrait at the Helmsley Hotel in New York.

Melina Mara / THE WASHINGTON POST

Six-year-old Rick Perry poses with horses in Haskell, Tex.

Perry family / AP

1971

Texas A&M University yell leaders Rick Perry, left, and Tommy Orr with dog Reveille III, the school’s mascot, in College Station, Tex.

/ AP

1989

Rick Perry, son Griffin and daughter Sydney pose for a family photo by Perry’s wife, Anita, in Austin.

Anita Perry / AP

Oct. 19, 1990

Then-Republican candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner, Rick Perry talks with reporters while stopping in Waco, Tex., as he traveled across the state in a vintage World War II B-25 bomber plane.

Rod Aydelotte / AP

1990

Rick Perry looks over a horse at the Lambshead Ranch in West Texas.

Dec. 21, 2000

Newly sworn-in Texas Gov. Rick Perry acknowledges applause in the Senate Chamber of the Texas Capitol where he took the oath of office in the company of President-elect George W. Bush, who resigned as governor earlier in the day. Behind them is a portrait of Texas pioneer Stephen F. Austin.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

May 25, 2005

Rick Perry jokingly sniffs the artificial flower of his wife's corsage during a ceremony at the Texas Senate in Austin. As children, Perry and his wife, Anita, sat next to each other at a piano recital. As teenagers, they went on their first date to a football game. Many years later, in 1982, they married. "His smile," says Anita Thigpen Perry, "won my heart."

Harry Cabluck / AP

Jan. 21, 2003

Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, walk under the Ross Volunteers’ Saber Arch during Perry's inauguration in Austin.

Eric Gay / AP

Dec. 29, 2005

Rick Perry consoles Paula Winfrey after walking through the remains of her mother's house, which was destroyed in a grass fire in Cross Plains, Tex.

Matt Slocum / AP

Nov. 6, 2006

President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush pose with Perry and his wife, Anita, during a campaign rally at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images

Feb. 10, 2010

Fighting to keep his seat as Texas governor, Perry speaks to city leaders and media at an announcement concerning U.S. and Mexican border restrictions in Corpus Christi, Tex.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Nov. 2, 2010

Perry embraces his wife, Anita, at the Victory Texas and Republican Party of Texas election night watch party at the Texas Disposal Systems Exotic Game Ranch in Buda, Tex.

Ben Sklar / Getty Images

April 12, 2011

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, looks at his laptop before taking off in a jet in Addison, Tex.

LM Otero / AP

Aug. 6, 2011

Texas Gov. Rick Perry bows his head in prayer at "The Response," a call to prayer for a nation in crisis, in Houston. Perry attended the day-long prayer rally despite criticism that the event inappropriately mixes religion and politics.

David J. Phillip / AP

Aug. 13, 2011

Perry speaks during the RedState Gathering, a meeting of conservative activists, where he announced his run for presidency in Charleston, S.C.

Gerry Broome / AP

Nov. 9, 2011

Republican presidential candidates Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) speak during a Republican presidential debate at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Paul Sancya / AP

Nov. 11, 2011

Rick Perry waves during a Veterans Day parade in Columbia, S.C.

Tim Dominick / AP

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