Vivek Ramaswamy Announces US Presidential Bid

A multi-millionaire Indian-American bio-tech entrepreneur who has flirted with politics for only a few years formally threw his hat into the 2024 US Presidential election on Tuesday, boldly announcing that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
Vivek Ramaswamy is only 37, but he sent political pundits scrambling to view his resume after declaring his long-rumored candidacy on Fox News’ highest-rated news show hosted by Tucker Carlson. In a separate oped in Wall Street Journal, whose offering of a platform showed how seriously he is being taken, Ramaswamy declared that he is “launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream—one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence.”
“To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That’s why I am running for president,” Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial. “I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream—one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence.”

Ramaswamy is a biotech and health care entrepreneur who has written two books, “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence” and “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.”

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramaswamy is a first-generation Indian-American whose parents immigrated from Palakkad, Kerala, and embraced the American dream. His father, Ganapathy Ramaswamy, an engineer, worked for General Electric, and his mother, Geetha, was a geriatric psychiatrist in Cincinnati. His brother, Shankar Ramaswamy, is also a bio-technologist and Co-Founder and CEO of Kriya Therapeutics, a bio-tech firm and his wife, Apoorva Tewari, is an Assistant Professor and surgeon at the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

Vivek Ramaswamy himself has had a spectacular academic career, graduating in biology from Harvard College and earning a law degree from Yale in 2013, during which time he was also a partner at a financial firm managing its bio-tech portfolio. His personal fortune, said to be in the region of $ 500 million, is said to be built largely around Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that he founded in 2014. In 2021, he stepped down as CEO of Roivant to begin a political journ ..

“We embrace secular religions like climatism, Covidism and gender ideology to satisfy our need for meaning, yet we can’t answer what it means to be an American,” Ramaswamy wrote in the Journal.

“The Republican Party’s top priority should be to fill this void with an inspiring national identity that dilutes the woke agenda to irrelevance,” he continued.

The editorial also called for securing the border, eliminating affirmative action and repealing civil service protection for federal employees.

He filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission earlier Tuesday and is scheduled to speak at a Polk County GOP event in Iowa on Thursday.

Dr. Gopinath Upamaka Dies

Dr. Gopinath Upamaka suddenly passed away at home on February 3, 2023. Dr. Upamaka, lovingly known as Gopi or Doc, was a devoted father, husband and cardiologist. Beloved by all those around him, Gopi changed so many lives.

Born in Hyderabad, India, in 1959, he completed his medical school at Osmania Medical School in 1983 and married the love of his life, Anu also in 1983. He moved to the United States in 1984 and completed his residency at Mt. Sinai and fellowship at Metro General in Cleveland, Ohio. He made the journey to Toledo with his wife and joined private practice as a cardiologist. Anu and Gopi had two beautiful children, Navin and Neelima as they built a wonderful life in Toledo.

Gopi was best known lovingly as one of Toledo’s premier cardiologists, serving his community for over 30 years. He was an integral partner with the original Northwest Ohio Cardiology Consultants and had the honor of being President and Medical Chief of Staff at Toledo Hospital from 2005-2007. His patients, staff and colleagues all loved him.

He is survived by his wife, Anuradha; children, Navin and Neelima; sister, Satya Rao (Siva Yechoor); and brother, Raghu Rao (Kanchana Rao) He was preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Brahmaji Rao and Girija Rao.

Friends may visit the family on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at the Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave. (west of Corey) from 8:30 am until 10 am where a Celebration of Life will take place beginning at 10 am followed by a Hindu Ceremony at 12 Noon. Further cremation services will take place at Toledo Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the American Heart Association. Condolences may be shared with the family at:
www.walkerfuneralhomes.comc

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