Ron Swanson is the parks and recreation director, although he allows Leslie to do almost all the real work in the department. Despite working in a government job, Ron is a steadfast libertarian who believes in as little government as possible and feels the parks department should not even run or maintain parks. He advocates for program cuts wherever possible, actively works to make city hall less effective, and especially detests interacting with Pawnee taxpayers. Nevertheless, Ron has a deep respect for Leslie and genuinely cares about his fellow employees, despite his efforts to hide it. Ron has a deadpan, inexpressive personality, and loves meat, hunting and breakfast foods. He has two ex-wives, both named Tammy, both of whom he hates. Ron Swanson has been praised as the show's breakout character, and some of his traits were based on elements of Offerman's real-life personality, like their shared affinity for woodworking and saxophone-playing.