Vivek Ramaswamy 2024 presidential campaign

Vivek Ramaswamy began his 2024 presidential campaign on February 21, 2023, as a candidate in the 2024 Republican primary. He formally launched his candidacy at an interview on the Tucker Carlson Tonight show. In his campaign announcement, Ramaswamy pitched himself as a conservative with a vision for American national identity. On January 15, 2024, Ramaswamy suspended his campaign, subsequent to the Iowa caucuses.

According to Politico, Ramaswamy was inspired by Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, and wanted to run "with an entrepreneurial spirit, unorthodox ideas, and few expectations." Ramaswamy considered a candidacy in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio, but decided not to run. Since that time, he had been mooted as a potential future presidential candidate. If elected, he would have been the first Indian-American president and youngest person to ever assume the presidency.

His central campaign promise was an extensive and severe downsizing of federal agencies. His other key campaign issue was environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives, which Ramaswamy alleged are detrimental agendas that mix business with politics. Ramaswamy marketed himself as an "American nationalist" and "anti-woke" candidate. He wrote that the corruption of American society by what he calls "victimhood narratives" makes it impossible to achieve merit-based hierarchies.

Ramaswamy campaigned extensively for the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, the first contest of the candidate selection process. His campaign targeted young people, voters who were disaffected, and Donald Trump supporters who could be persuaded that Ramaswamy would "take the America First movement to the next level." At an October Iowa campaign event Ramaswamy said "The only chance we have is Iowa. ... If I win Iowa, I'm your next president." By January 2, the campaign announced that Ramaswamy had attended two or more campaign events in each of Iowa's 99 counties, 252 public events with another 25 scheduled by caucus day. Ramaswamy placed fourth in the caucuses on January 15, garnering 7.7% of the votes.