Paul Ryan bounded off a decommissioned battleship and onto the stage in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday to the stirring theme from "Air Force One."
The patriotic music from the 1997 action thriller that the Romney campaign chose to introduce the Wisconsin congressman as its vice-presidential choice was written by Jerry Goldsmith, the Oscar-winning composer behind "Patton" and "Rudy," two other soaring anthems often used to get audiences' blood pumping.
Goldsmith scored the Harrison Ford action thriller in 12 days, after he was called in by director Wolfgang Petersen as a last minute replacement for Randy Newman.
The "Air Force One" music played both as Ryan raced up to the podium and after his remarks as he posed for photos and waved to the crowd with running mate Mitt Romney.
Goldsmith died in 2004 and very little appears to have been written about his political views. However, a Jerrald Goldsmith of Beverly Hills, who is listed as a composer and conductor, donated $1,000 in 2004 to the presidential campaign of Democratic nominee John Kerry, according to Opensecrets.org.
