About 1,000 help Dallas billionaire, ex-presidential candidate Perot celebrate 80th birthday

About 1,000 help celebrate Perot’s 80th birthday

DALLAS — About 1,000 business leaders, celebrities and other friends helped Dallas billionaire Ross Perot, who failed in two independent bids for president, celebrate his 80th birthday.

The surprise party was held Tuesday at Dell Services headquarters in Plano. Perot’s birthday is June 27.

Perot Systems Corp. was sold to Dell Inc. in 2009.

Dell founder Michael Dell offered best wishes via video.

A newsreel featured Perot as president of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy, shaking hands with President Dwight Eisenhower.

A video clip of actor Dana Carvey, who has performed impersonations of Perot, showed the comedian praising the Texan as “an American original.”

Perot’s Reform Party campaign in 1992 was followed by a 1996 bid for the White House.

Information from: The Dallas Morning News, www.dallasnews.com