That Mr. Pence “was the chief cheerleader for the privatization of Social Security.”

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As a member of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Pence supported President George W. Bush’s plan to revamp Social Security, with an option for individual private accounts. And Mr. Pence would have gone even further in some respects.

“Social Security reform means keeping its promise for seniors and all who choose to remain in the system,’’ Mr. Pence said in 2005. “But Social Security reform also means offering a better deal to younger Americans in the form of voluntary personal accounts.’’

Mr. Bush wanted to allow workers to set aside up to 4 percent of their earnings for individual accounts, instead of having that money go into the Social Security system.

As chairman of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, Mr. Pence wanted to let workers set aside up to 6 percent of wages for individual accounts. To help offset the cost of the proposal, he and other conservatives opposed tax increases and called instead for shrinking the size of the government.

— Robert Pear