--- description: His rise from unknown to contender has been a quick one title: Rand Paul Declares 2016 Candidacy: How He Learned From His Mistakes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60f37ddef14ebb8a/69878584e53aba4ea54d84ae/rand-paul.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What Happened When Rand Paul First Got Into Politics  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2015 11:00 AM CUT  Rand Paul while campaignig for the Republican U.S. Senate seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, in May of 2010 Rand Paul while campaignig for the Republican U.S. Senate seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, in May of 2010The Washington Post / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2015 11:00 AM CUT With Rand Paul [set](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/03/17/rand-paul-presidential-race-announcement/24928177/ "undefined") to officially announce his campaign for President on Tuesday, the day will mark just how fast his political rise has been. A mere five years ago, he was an outside candidate, an underdog eye doctor running for office for the very first time. But, while campaigning for a Kentucky Senate seat, he showed that he was serious — and also that he had a lot to learn about appealing to voters outside his core supporter group. As TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/2010-06-07/spread/34/ "undefined") in 2010: --- > “” --- But he quickly learned from the mistake, [walking back](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-i-ve-never-been-against-the-civil-rights-act-ever?ref=fpblg "undefined") (sort of) his statement about integration and demonstrating that, as TIME put it in that initial story, “he understands that politics sometimes trumps principle.” As a 2013 TIME profile of the no-longer-new politician, at that point already discussed as a presidential contender, made clear, he was cultivating a broader appeal — something he’ll need in the run up to 2016\. And that’s not the only thing about him that has evolved: at that point, when questioned about the possibility he might run, he scoffed, “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.” **_Read the full 2013 profile, here in the TIME archives:_** [The Rebel](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2140220,00.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3760885/rand-paul-first-gaffe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3760885/rand-paul-first-gaffe/"},"headline":"What Happened When Rand Paul First Got Into Politics","datePublished":"2015-04-07T11:00:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:29:22.967Z","description":"His rise from unknown to contender has been a quick one","url":"https://time.com/3760885/rand-paul-first-gaffe/","keywords":["politics","Rand Paul","2016","Tea Party"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60f37ddef14ebb8a/69878584e53aba4ea54d84ae/rand-paul.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60f37ddef14ebb8a/69878584e53aba4ea54d84ae/rand-paul.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dr. Rand Paul","caption":"Dr. Rand Paul","creditText":"The Washington Post / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3760885/rand-paul-first-gaffe/","name":"What Happened When Rand Paul First Got Into Politics"}}]}] ```