Ted Cruz ~ First To Launch Presidential Bid

Ted Cruz met his wife, Heidi, in Austin when they worked on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. She went on to work at the National Security Council under Condoleezza Rice and at the U.S. Treasury Department. Heidi Nelson Cruz is now a managing director for Goldman Sachs in Houston. The couple have two young girls, Caroline and Catherine. Cruz's father, Rafael, is a pastor in suburban Dallas and has his own following among conservatives.

He Was Born in CanadaMany people are wondering, "If Ted Cruz was born in Canada, how can he run for President of the United States?"  Cruz was born Dec. 22, 1970, in Calgary to an American-born mother, Eleanor, and a Cuban-born father, Rafael. His parents were working in the oil industry at the time. Cruz automatically became a citizen of the United States and Canada when he was born. He officially renounced his Canadian citizenship last year. Two former top Justice Department lawyers wrote in the Harvard Law Review that "there is no question" Cruz meets the Constitution's requirement of being a "natural born citizen" and is thus eligible to run for president.

Best Known For:The junior senator from Texas took over the Senate floor for 21 hours in 2013 in an attempt to defund President Obama's health care law. Cruz's filibuster-like protest helped set the stage for a 16-day government shutdown. Cruz and other Republicans refused to pass a spending bill that would keep the government running unless the measure eliminated funding for the Affordable Care Act. Democrats widely blamed Cruz for the shutdown, but the senator is adamant that Obama and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid were at fault because they did not negotiate with the GOP on budget issues.