Ryan’s Widowed Mother Started Small Business UPDATE BELOW

Bonus Paul Ryan fact:  Did you know that Paul Ryan’s mother, after the death of her husband, went back to school and started a small business, all while caring for Ryan’s aging grandmother?

Click for video.  Transcript:

When my dad died, my mom went back to school.  She went back to college, got a new skill or new trade, and then she started a small business.  My mom had three or four employees at that small business that she started.  We were taking care of my grandma at the time, she was going to school, and then she started this small business.

And Mom, I am proud of you—for going out, getting another degree; I’m proud of you for the small business that you created—and Mom?  You did build that!

That’s what America is all about!

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• “‘You Didn’t Build That’”

• “Any Criticism of Obama Assumed to Be Racist?; Other Videos”

• “Still Didn’t Build That; Chick-fil-A”

Update (August 31st, 2012):  Many readers were curious to know what kind of business Mrs. Ryan (now Betty Ryan Douglas) started.  I spent some time trying to research it; you won’t find more information about the business anywhere in the top Internet search results.

The business Ryan’s mother started was in interior decorating.  She did have a few other employees working for her.

According to the L. A. Times covering a Ryan speech in Florida two weeks ago,

After her husband’s death, Ryan’s mother, who later remarried, went back to college and started an interior decorating business with a few employees. “We were taking care of my grandma at the time. She was going to school, and then she started this small business,” he said.

According to the New York Post covering the same speech,

He also slipped in a dig at Obama’s economic policies while praising Douglas, who started an interior-decorating firm.