Carson’s positions on poverty create tension with rags-to-riches life story. On his way up the ladder, Carson benefitted from several government assistance programs for the poor.

DETROIT — Ben Carson was born on the southwest side of this city to a mother who could not read. He spent much of his youth in what he has described as “dire poverty,” but his neighbors kept their lawns trimmed, and parents called other parents if they saw kids stirring up trouble.