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That the GOP has embraced his budget, however, represents the triumph of the supply-siders within the party. Kemp once joked that you could fit all the supply-siders in Washington into a phone booth. But today his disciples dominate the party. Ryan, meanwhile, has added a new twist to Kemp's ideas. While early supply-siders emphasized tax rates far more than spending levels, Ryan's House budget plan would slash federal outlays to 1950s levels in most categories except defense. His open determination to tackle entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, a tack long considered politically suicidal, fuses his Randian views with his supply-side ones. "Paul is different from Jack Kemp because he does worry about the size of government," says Feulner of the Heritage Foundation. "Jack was more or less convinced that we could always grow our way out of it. I don't think even Jack could say we could grow our way out of this."
THE PRESIDENT: RONALD REAGAN
But Ryan is nothing if not an optimist. He is also a believer that a relatively pure brand of conservatism is the path to both political and economic success. In that sense he is an heir to the tradition of Ronald Reagan, the most successful product of the modern conservative movement. (Reagan, in turn, was an heir to the crusading conservatism of Barry Goldwater, whose 1964 presidential campaign was a rebuke to moderate GOP establishment leaders, including Mitt Romney's father George.)
Like Reagan, Ryan is unapologetic about his ideology: he has survived in a left-leaning Wisconsin congressional district in part, local observers say, because of his willingness to own his conservative views with pride. Reagan was also a believer in supply-side economics, surrounding himself with its proponents and passing big tax cuts based on their ideas. And like Reagan, Ryan has put a chipper, smiling face on his agenda, helping disarm critics who consider his budget math to be coldhearted toward the poor and elderly.
"Government isn't the solution," Reagan argued. "Government is the problem." If Ryan can convince voters that that's true, he'll soon be in a very powerful position to do something about it.
FOR PAUL RYAN'S LIFE IN PHOTOS, GO TO time.com/ryan