the vote in a presidential election. for awhile he was first, ranked first in polls in california and in his home state of texas. ross perot was popular in texas because frankly he was a great character. even though he was quite pint sized and had a funny voice, he carried himself as a tall, tough texan. another big part of his popularity was his business savvy that made him a billionaire for founding and selling computer services that employed thousands of people, but ross perot was popular in part because he had a habit of making grand gestures of topics close to people's heart. for example, in 1989, a man tried to murder a tree, the last of austin, texas' oak tree with a massive dose of herbicide, ross perot responded by handing over a blank check to pay for the cost of nursing the tree