Ben Carson to announce May 4
DETROIT (Christian Examiner) – Acclaimed neurosurgeon Ben Carson says he will announce in his home town May 4 whether he will be a candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2016.
Finances will be a major aspect of his decision, Carson said on the Steve Malzberg program on Newsmax TV, adding that it was "looking quite positive" on the financial front.
"You know America remains a place of dreams," Carson said April 15 at the National Action Network's convention in New York City. "You have a lot of people with dreams who are trying to get into the country and not too many trying to get out of here, so that means it's still a pretty good place."
Carson, 63, born into a hard-scrabble life in Detroit, was led by his mom to believe he could do anything he set his mind to do..
A world-famous pediatric surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Carson has several "firsts" to his credit. He holds 60 honorary doctorates in addition to the one he earned at the University of Michigan Medical School, and served on the boards of several corporations, including Costco, Kellogg and Yale University's governing board.
In 2001, the Library of Congress named Carson one of 89 "living legends." In 2004, President George W. Bush asked him to serve on the President's Council of Bioethics. In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
He and his wife Cindy founded the Carson Scholars Fund in 1994, which to date has awarded more than $6.2 million to more than 6,200 young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. The Carson Scholars Fund also has established at least 100 reading rooms across the nation "to encourage young students and their families to discover the pleasure of reading, and to recognize the true power of learning," according to www.bencarson.com.
Carson has authored eight books, including his autobiography, "Gifted Hands," which was made into a movie made for television, as well as "America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made this Nation Great," and "One Nation: What We All Can Do to Save America's Future."
"Gifted Hands" reveals the importance of his Christian faith to Carson. He turned to Jesus to conquer anger issues, to comfort and strengthen him when his near-term wife lost the infant she was carrying, and to guide him to make the right decisions as he went into surgery, according to the book.
"For over 200 years, all that has been asked of each generation of Americans is to leave this country better off than the one we inherited," Carson says on his website. "This is our solemn duty. ... If I believe that I have your support and your commitment to help, I will run for President to lead this great country to a brighter future."