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.

Political positions Abortion policy Ramaswamy opposed abortion, saying "I think abortion is murder." He opposed a federal ban on abortion but supports state-level six week abortion bans. He supported "exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother."

Affirmative action Ramaswamy opposed affirmative action, calling it the "single biggest form of institutionalized racism in America today." He has spoken in support of rescinding Lyndon B. Johnson's Executive Order 11246.

Anti-woke A profile in The New York Times described Ramaswamy as an anti-woke candidate. Ramaswamy's August 2021 book, the New York Times bestseller, Woke Inc described his view of the so-called "modern woke-industrial complex." He argued that critical race theory indoctrinates public school children. He also called "COVID-ism", "climate-ism", and "gender ideology", "new secular religions."

Antisemitism Ramaswamy was among the first speakers at the 2023 Republican Jewish Coalition Conference in Las Vegas, where he noted his strong views against antisemitism and his long-standing relationship with some Jewish organizations, since his college days. Ramaswamy openly come in support of Israel and the Jewish people, even though he favored a reduction in US aid to Israel by 2028. After the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, Ramaswamy showed support for Israel saying that Israel has "a right to defend itself" and defeat Hamas.

Responding to the 2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism, in which several University presidents evaded answering whether "calling for the genocide of Jewish People" was against their University rules, Ramaswamy criticized the university leaders for their poor response to antisemitism on campuses. Further, Ramaswamy called on universities to rewrite their speech codes to include antisemitism and said university presidents should be fired not just for their testimony, but for failing to "embrace the true purpose of seeking knowledge as opposed to indoctrination."

Drug policy Ramaswamy described himself as "not a war on drugs person." He was in favor of federally legalizing marijuana, calling it "a joke" that the drug is federally criminalized. He was also in favor of decriminalizing ayahuasca and ketamine usage for military veterans suffering from PTSD, arguing that it would help combat the U.S. fentanyl epidemic and prevent veteran suicides.

Economic policy Ramaswamy endorsed ending the Federal Reserve's dual mandate to control inflation and minimize unemployment, saying the institution's mission should be limited to control inflation.

Federal funding Ramaswamy vowed to shut down the Department of Education, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He said he would have laid off over seventy five percent of federal employees by the end of his first term. In a campaign white paper the candidate asserts the president has the authority to effect these changes unilaterally. Legal scholars say this is not true.

Ramaswamy argued for eight-year term limits for all unelected federal bureaucrats, similar to term limits imposed on US presidents.

Tax Ramaswamy did not take a public position on the Trump 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

In his book Nation of Victims, Ramaswamy expressed support for an inheritance tax rate as high as 59%, writing that inter-generational wealth transfers create a "hereditary aristocracy."

Energy policy Ramaswamy advocated for nuclear energy expansion, calling it "the best form of carbon-free energy production known to mankind."

Foreign policy Ramaswamy argued that foreign policy is "all about prioritization" and that good use of the US military is "protecting American soil and American interests, not a pointless war somewhere else."

NATO Ramaswamy indicated that he would have withdrawn the US from NATO if he had become president.

Mexico Ramaswamy argued that the United States should use the military to directly take on Mexican drug cartels and "end the fentanyl epidemic in this country." He stated, "we can do it to Bin Laden, we can do it to Soleimani, we can do it to the Mexican drug cartels south of the border."

Israel Ramaswamy is pro-Israel and calls Israel "a Divine nation, charged with a Divine purpose". Ramaswamy has said Israel should feel free to oppose the two-state solution.

He favors a reduction in US aid over the years, arguing that he would negotiate more Israeli-Arab bilateral agreements, rendering U.S. aid unnecessary by 2028. After the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, Ramaswamy came out in support of Israel, noting that Israel has "a right to defend itself" and to make the decisions of how it defends itself, while the US should provide a "diplomatic Iron Dome" for Israel to be able to carry that out." However, he also noted that US aid to Israel should be contingent upon Israel's plans for defeating Hamas, expressing concerns over Israeli plans for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Taiwan Ramaswamy said "we will defend Taiwan until we achieve semi conductor independence...I expect that to happen by the end of my first term, by 2028." He called for putting guns in "every Taiwanese household" in order to deter China from invading.

China Ramaswamy said America needs a total "decoupling" from China. He describes the Chinese government as a "great existential threat" and argued China now represents a more significant threat to the sovereignty of United States than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War since this "economic codependent relationship" is developing a hostile government. He says the United States is "addicted" to this economic reliance on Chinese cheap goods and that economic separation from China would be, not easy but 'some sacrifice of short-term conveniences', necessary for long-term economic independence. He warned against a Russian-Chinese alliance.

Ukraine Ramaswamy proposed to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine by conceding Russia's current occupied territories. To renew economic relations with these countries, Russia would be required to return to START and end its alliance with China, which he labeled as the greater threat. Ramaswamy said he would cut have support for Ukraine, and would have blocked attempts at Ukraine NATO membership. He called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "bully" and Russian President Vladimir Putin a "craven dictator."

Australia Ramaswamy spoke extensively on foreign relations with Australia, a major ally of the United States. Ramaswamy encouraged Australia to play a stronger role in competing with China and defending Taiwan, as well as pledging to overcome obstacles to deliver US nuclear submarines to Australia as part of the AUKUS agreement (which was announced in 2021 by then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden).

India Ramaswamy called for stronger relations between the United States and India, noting the positive role that India can play in the Indo-Pacific. He also stated he had been impressed with the rapid economic growth of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Free speech Government whistleblowers Ramaswamy said he would have free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former NSA employee Edward Snowden of all charges if elected. He said, "Once we have learned the level of corruption that our government actually has engaged in, and repeatedly lying to the public, in a certain form, it's a form of selective prosecution to not actually prosecute the government actors who broke the law, but simply to prosecute the one government actor who did expose it by technically violating a law of a different kind," referring to Snowden's actions as "a certain heroism."

Government censorship Ramaswamy opposed government pressures on social media companies to censor disfavored political speech. He said "As Elon Musk did at Twitter, I will release the "state action files" from the federal government—publicly exposing every known instance in which bureaucrats have wrongfully pressured companies to take constitutionally prohibited actions." He wrote, "if you can't fire someone for being black, gay or Muslim, you shouldn't be able to fire someone for his political speech."

Immigration policy Ramaswamy stated America must "unapologetically" secure the southern border against illegal immigration. He said he would have significantly lowered the number of permitted refugees allowed to immigrate to the U.S., while adding exceptions under "special circumstances", such as for Afghans who assisted the U.S. during its war in Afghanistan.

LGBT issues Ramswamy said "I don't have a negative view of same-sex couples but I do have a negative view of a tyranny of the minority...we live in a country where free adults should be free to dress how they want, behave how they want and that's fine, but you don't oppress... and that especially includes kids because kids aren't the same as adults." In an interview, he described the LGBTQIA+ movement as "cult like" and having "no obligation to logic."

Ramaswamy said he would not have reinstated a transgender military ban.

Voting policy Ramaswamy supported raising the voting age to 25, and only allowing those under 25 to vote if they either pass a civics test or work as first responders or military personnel. He supported requiring voter ID to cast a ballot and supported making election day a federal holiday.

Events

Donations The day after the first debate, Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed it raised an additional $450,000 from donors since the previous night, with an average donation of $38.