# Brian Doherty on Ron Paul and Libertarians in Politics **URL:** **By** Brian Doherty **Published:** May 24, 2012 --- Brian Doherty is a senior editor at Reason magazine and Reason.com, and is a preeminent historian of the American libertarian movement. His books include _Ron Paul's rEVOLution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired_ (2012), _Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement_ (2007), and _Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle Over the Second Amendment_ (2008). Doherty places Congressman Ron Paul's various presidential bids over the years into the bigger map of the libertarian movement as a whole, and explains why he thinks Paul has been so successful at promoting libertarian ideas. Produced by Evan Banks.