Ron Swanson

Ron Swanson
Parks and Recreation character
Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson
First appearance	"Pilot" Parks and Recreation April 9, 2009
Last appearance	"A Parks and Recreation Special" April 30, 2020
Created by	Greg Daniels Michael Schur
Portrayed by	Nick Offerman
In-universe information
Alias	Duke Silver The Steak Man Man
Occupation	Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation (seasons 1–6) Owner and chairman of Very Good Building and Development Company (season 7) Owns part of the Lagavulin Distillery (One Last Ride) Superintendent of Pawnee National Park (One Last Ride)
Affiliation	Libertarian[1]
Spouse	Tammy "Tammy One" Swanson (divorced) Tammy "Tammy Two" Swanson (divorced twice)[2] Diane Elizabeth Lewis
Children	Jon Swanson (son) Zoey Lewis (step-daughter) Ivy Lewis (step-daughter)
Nationality	American

This article is part of a series on
Libertarianism in the United States
Schools Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Austro Autarchism Bleeding-heart Christian Consequentialist Feminist Fusionism Geo Green Market anarchism Minarchism Natural-rights Neo Paleo Panarchism Paternalist Propertarianism Techno Transhumanist Voluntaryism
Principles Anti-imperialism Civil libertarianism Constitutionalism Counter-economics Decentralization Departurism Economic freedom Evictionism Free banking Free market Free-market environmentalism Free migration Free trade Free will Freedom of association Freedom of contract Freedom of speech Homestead principle Individuality Individualism Liberty Limited government Localism Marriage privatization Natural rights and legal rights Non-aggression principle Non-interventionism Non-politics Non-voting Open border Polycentric law Private defense agency Private property Public choice theory Restorative justice Right to bear arms Rugged Individualism Self-ownership Single tax Small government Spontaneous order Stateless society Tax resistance Title-transfer theory of contract Voluntary association Voluntary society
History Age of Enlightenment Abolitionism in the United States Classical liberalism Anti-Federalism Transcendentalism Individualist anarchism in the United States Old Right New Left Freedom School
Economics Austrian School Economic liberalism Fiscal conservatism Georgism Laissez-faire Neoliberalism Supply-side economics
People Amash Andrews Barnett Block Brennan Burt Chamberlain Caplan Carson Chartier Chodorov Cleveland Coolidge Epstein D. Friedman M. Friedman P. Friedman R. Friedman Galambos Garrett George Gillespie Goldwater Greene Gutfeld Harper Hazlitt Heinlein Hess Heywood Hoppe Hospers Huemer Jacobs Jillette Johnson Jorgensen Kinsella C. Koch D. Koch Konkin C. Lane R. Lane LeFevre Machan McElroy Mencken Mises Napolitano Nock Nolan Nozick Paterson Paul Postrel Pugsley Rand Read Rockwell Rothbard Sarwark Schulman Sciabarra Scott Smith Sowell Skousen Spooner Stossel Swartz Szasz Taleb Teller Thiel Thoreau Tucker Ventura Warren Wilder Williams Wilson Woods
Issues Abortion Capital punishment Criticism Foreign affairs Immigration Intellectual property Internal debates LGBT rights Objectivism Political parties Politics State Theories of law
Culture Come and take it Gadsden flag Libertarian science fiction Ron Swanson
Organizations Cato Institute Federalist Society Free State Project Foundation for Economic Education International Alliance of Libertarian Parties Libertarian Party Liberty International Mises Institute Reason Foundation Students for a Democratic Society Students for Liberty
Works The Anarchist Cookbook Anarchy, State, and Utopia The Betrayal of the American Right Civil Disobedience Conceived in Liberty Defending the Undefendable The Discovery of Freedom End the Fed The Ethics of Liberty For a New Liberty Free to Choose The God of the Machine Liberty The Machinery of Freedom Man, Economy and State The Moon is a Harsh Mistress The Mainspring of Human Progress The Market for Liberty No, They Can't No Treason New Libertarian Manifesto Our Enemy, the State The Problem of Political Authority Progress and Poverty Protection or Free Trade Radicals for Capitalism Seeing Like a State To Serve and Protect The Unconstitutionality of Slavery
Related topics American militia movement Boogaloo movement Conservatism in the United States Dark Enlightenment Left-libertarianism Liberalism in the United States Libertarian conservatism Libertarian Democrat Libertarian Republican Libertarian socialism Libertarianism in Hong Kong Libertarianism in South Africa Libertarianism in the United Kingdom New Right Objectivism On Democracy in America Outline of libertarianism Right-libertarianism Sovereign citizen movement
Liberalism portal  Conservatism portal  Libertarianism portal  United States portal
v t e

Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman in the political satire sitcom Parks and Recreation. The character was created by Michael Schur and Greg Daniels with inspiration from a real-life Libertarian elected official. Offerman provided creative input, and aspects of his own personality were folded into the character. Despite the creators' intentions, NBC was initially reluctant to cast Offerman in the role, until the network finally agreed five months later.

Ron Swanson is known as the director of the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, and the immediate superior of the deputy director Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). He has a deadpan personality and actively works to make the government less effective. He despises interacting with the public and claims to not be interested in the lives of those around him, but he is shown to care for his colleagues and has particularly strong respect for Knope. He secretly performs as a saxophonist named Duke Silver and fronts a band called the Duke Silver Trio.

Offerman's portrayal of Ron Swanson has received widespread critical acclaim. The character developed a cult following and is widely considered the breakout character of the series. He was described by some critics as one of the best characters in a comedy television series in decades, and his platonic relationship with Knope has been compared to that of Mary Richards and Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For his performance as Ron Swanson, Offerman won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy.