Bush's arrest record

Perot said he made his decision after studying the candidates.

"We have two horses in the race, one of them is going to win," he said, pointedly ignoring the candidate running under the banner of the political party Perot founded.

Perot endorsed Bush during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Thursday ( 189 K/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

He also dismissed the new revelation that Bush was arrested for driving under the influence in 1976 in Maine.

"I checked this man out very carefully," said Perot, adding that he looked especially hard at the chances of Bush having an affair in the White House.

"This man is a dedicated husband, he is dedicated to his wife, he is dedicated to his daughters," said Perot. "I think he can be the father that can be a good role model for the people in this country."

But Perot did criticize the political process, saying, "War has rules, mud wrestling has rules -- politics has no rules."

He also said "there is something rotten with our press corps" for exposing Bush's past arrest, but not spending enough time on Vice President Al Gore's fundraising at Buddhist temples.

Perot also said he admired Bush for no longer drinking.

"I've had a number of friends in my life who've had drinking problems. Frankly, the ones that put the cork in the bottle and quit and have the guts to do it, I respect," Perot said.

He also said he wanted the media to pressure Gore about his vote as a senator to send U.S. forces into combat during the Persian Gulf War.

"That war damaged over 100,000 people -- they're damaged from chemical weapons," Perot said. "This administration for the last eight years has let those men rot."

Why speak out now?

Perot said it was his love for America and its founding principles that made him go on CNN and announce his endorsement.

He spent several minutes building up suspense over his choice by talking about the importance and honor of the job of president, of someone who would tell the truth while in the White House and someone the people could trust to decide when U.S. troops should go into combat.

The one-time presidential candidate also urged parents and grandparents to decide which candidate would leave a better world for their children.

Until Thursday night, Perot had remained mum on politics since his last interview on the topic during a July 1999 party convention in Dearborn, Michigan.

Perot's advice has been sought by many former supporters who "feel a deep obligation to go and vote but have no sense of direction of who to vote for," said Russ Verney, the former Reform Party chairman who remains close to Perot.

"Ross has been receiving unbelievable amounts of communication about, 'What do we do, Ross?' And I think maybe that is what's causing him to finally decide to say something," Verney said. "They (the voters) are seeing the spin and they're uninspired."

Perot ran against governor's father

Perot previously used "Larry King Live" as the vehicle to launch his first presidential candidacy as an independent in February 1992.

Perot ran as a Reform Party candidate against the governor's father that year. Perot received 19 percent of the vote, prompting many Republicans to blame him for President Bush's loss to Bill Clinton.

Perot made a second presidential run in 1996 but failed to match his previous benchmark. He received only 8.5 percent of the vote, but the showing was strong enough to earn his newly formed Reform Party about $12.6 million in federal campaign funds for this year's election.

Conservative Pat Buchanan claimed the rights to that money after a legal battle over who the party's rightful presidential candidate was -- him or Iowa physicist John Hagelin. The Federal Election Commission made that decision in September, awarding Buchanan the money.