Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman in the political satire sitcom Parks and Recreation.

Despite the creators' intentions, NBC was initially reluctant to cast Offerman in the role, until the network finally agreed five months later.

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.

While researching for the show in Burbank, Schur met a Libertarian elected official who favored as little government interference as possible, becoming an inspiration for some of Swanson's traits.

[3][4] Swanson is also partially inspired by political appointees of former president George W. Bush who were perceived to be opposed to the branch of government they were overseeing.

[7] Ron became more heavily involved in Parks and Recreation's storylines during the second season, and Offerman largely credited Schur with the development of the character.

[4][6][8] Ron's hatred towards Tammy was established early in the creation of the character, and it was Schur who conceived the idea of casting Mullally, to which Offerman responded positively.

In the last two episodes of the seventh season, which partly takes place in the future, Swanson had resigned from the company, and Knope in turn made him the superintendent of Pawnee National Park.

[17][19] Swanson lacks awareness about popular culture; in "Andy and April's Fancy Party", he only recognizes Julia Roberts as the "toothy gal from Mystic Pizza.

[8][46][47] In "How a Bill Becomes a Law", Swanson meets Diane Lewis (Lucy Lawless), the vice principal of a middle school.

"[12] Sal Basile of UGO Networks wrote, "How anyone can make Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation likable is beyond us, but Offerman does it effortlessly.

[63][64][65] Jonah Weiner of Slate said Swanson "has regularly stolen his scenes" and that Offerman has "a gift for understated physical comedy",[45] and Steve Heisler of The A.V.

[75][76] An image of a fake Ron Swanson-themed Ben & Jerry's ice cream was circulated online, to which the company responded positively.

[77][78] For his performance as Swanson, Nick Offerman received two nominations for a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy in 2010 and 2011, winning the latter with Ty Burrell of Modern Family.

Several reviewers expressed particular surprise that he did not receive a nomination for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2011, which many considered the biggest snub of the season.