PAT BUCHANAN

BORN: Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, 1961.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, 1961. Master's degree, Columbia University School of Journalism, 1962.

CAREER:Editorial Writer, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1962-64, then assistant editorial editor 1964-65; executive assistant to Richard Nixon at his law firm, then White House special assistant and speechwriter 1969-72, special consultant 1972, a post he held throughout the first few months of Gerald Ford's term. Columnist, radio and television commentator and panelist, beginning in 1975; director of communications, Reagan White House, 1985-87.

PERSONAL Married former Shelley Ann Scarney. No children.

.On his campaign: He has called his campaign "America First," and claims he is fighting on behalf of "the working people and middle class of both parties, and of no party,"

.On foreign trade: "I don't just want a level playing field, I want America to become first again.

.On the homeless: Buchanan has argued for restricting the homeless to certain public areas and prosecuting those who repeatedly beg for money.

.On President Bush and the economy: He has called White House Budget Director Richard Darman "the Dr. Kervorkian of the American economy" and Bush "the biggest spender in history."

.On Israel and the Middle East: "There are only two groups that are beating the drums for war in the Middle East--the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States."

.From his book on growing up in a Roman Catholic family in Washington: "Country, family, and faith these are the things worth dying for; these are the things worth fighting for; these are the things worth living for."

GEORGE BUSH

BORN: June 12, 1924, in Milton, Mass.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in economics from Yale, 1948.

CAREER: Oil businessman, 1953-66; U.S. House of Representatives, R-Texas, 1967-71; U.S. ambassador to United Nations, 1971-72; Republican National Coimmittee chairman, 1973-74; chief of U.S. Liaison Office, Beijing, China, 1974-75; CIA director, 1976-77; vice president, 1981-89; president, 1989-present

PERSONAL Married Barbara Pierce. Four sons, one daughter.

.On foreign policy: The Gulf War and Panama: Bush orchestrated the lightning victory that liberated Kuwait last winter. Earlier, after being accused of indecision, he dispatched an invasion force that over threw Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

.On the economy: The government has piled up its two largest deficits ever on bush's watch : $269 billion in fiscal 1991 and an estimated $399 billion for fiscal 1992. The national debt will stand at nearly $4.6 trillion at the end of Bush's firs term. Bush also allowed taxes to be raised, defying his own no-new-taxes campaign pledge.

.On trade: Bush took steps to open world markets, including a free trade pact with Canada and Mexico and the liberalization of global trading rules. Heading into the year, he took a tougher stance with Japan on its trade imbalance with the U.S. But his mission to Tokyo with U.S. chief executives was widely viewed as a bust.

.On education: Bush aspired to make American students the world's best in math and science by the year 2000, but the latest international tests show U.S. pupils lagging for back. Bush also made school choice a cornerstone of his education reform plan.

DAVID DUKE

BORN: July 1, 1950, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in history in 1974.

CAREER: Joined Ku Klux Klan in 1973 and in 1975 became leader or Grand Wizard. In 1980, left Klan amid charges he tried to sell secret membership rolls. Same year founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Louisiana state representative, 1989-91. Unsuccessfully sought Democratic nomination for President for U. S. Senate in 1990 and Louisiana governor in 1991.

PERSONAL Divorced. Two daughters.

.On his past as leader of the KU Klux Klan: "I've had intolerant moments. I regret any sort of intolerance that I've ever had."

.On Bush's performance: Duke says the president "sold out the Republican Party" in compromising with Democrats to produce a civil rights bill to combat discrimination against women and minorities in the workplace.

.On religion: "Over the last three years I've gotten closer to Christ than ever before in my life."

.On welfare reform: As a Louisiana legislator Duke introduced bills that, among other things, would have denied welfare to mothers convicted of drug offenses and provided financial incentives to welfare mothers to use long-term birth control devices.

.On his lack of a military record (Duke served as an English teacher in Laos with the State Department, but never in the Army): "I was refused [by the Army] because of what they called my racism."