The Fighting Soul

Bernie Sanders inspires fervent love and, even among his enemies, a measure of grudging respect-yet, curiously, we know little about who the man really is, with Sanders deliberately keeping the focus on his policies.

Now, with The Fighting Soul, Ari Rabin-Havt takes us where no profiles or televised interviews have been able to go. As a close advisor and deputy campaign manager on Sanders's most recent-and likely last-presidential campaign, the tireless Rabin-Havt spent more hours between 2017 and 2020 with the Vermont senator than anyone else. Traveling the country for rallies and to support striking workers, the two visited thirty-six states, drove tens of thousands of miles, and ate in countless chain restaurants. One result was a meteoric and galvanizing presidential campaign. Another is The Fighting Soul, an unforgettable chronicle of life on the road with Sanders and the first in-depth portrait of this fiercely independent, and famously private, left-wing firebrand.

Sanders's second bid for the presidency began in Rabin-Havt's apartment in Washington DC in January 2018. From there, Rabin-Havt offers a behind-the-scenes account of Sanders's run, including his heart attack in Las Vegas, his notorious debate encounter with fellow-progressive Elizabeth Warren, and a momentous conversation between Sanders and Barack Obama that has never been reported before. At every step, Rabin-Havt shows us Bernie Sanders when the cameras turn off: his dry sense of humor; his views of his young supporters; the pivotal role his wife, Jane, plays in every decision he makes; and more. Delving into Sanders's life and career, with moving glimpses of his childhood in Brooklyn and first forays into politics in Burlington, Rabin-Havt discloses that Sanders is shocked by his ascent: "Ari, my parents would tell me I was crazy if I told them I would become a senator, much less could become president of the United States."

Though his campaign ended in abrupt and unexpected defeat, Sanders has pushed the Democratic Party to the left and helped remake American politics-as Rabin-Havt suggests, he has done more to shape our history than anyone else who has not reached the White House. Revelatory and heartfelt, The Fighting Soul depicts the rare politician motivated by principle, not power.

“The maverick socialist senator from Vermont flouts the norms of presidential politics in this rollicking campaign memoir . . . Rabin-Havt's account of the Democratic primary race is breezy, colorful, and often insightful . . . the portrait of Sanders as a crusty but caring man, passionately committed to principles and the interests of working-class people, vividly shows why he is one of America's most influential politicians.--Publishers Weekly”

The Fighting Soul by Ari Rabin-Havt is great -- tons of detail about how the Bernie 2020 campaign worked, about what the media misses about campaigns, and about Sanders himself. Really smooth read, too.--David Weigel, national political correspondent
In The Fighting Soul: On the Road With Bernie Sanders, the former adviser offers an intimate portrait of his cranky boss, writing about everything from Sanders's famous mittens, to his love of picket lines and Motown songs, to his distaste for 'the inane droning of cable news commentators, ' to his prescient fear that Donald Trump was 'nuts' and would upend democracy.--Maureen Dowd "New York Times"

Ari Rabin-Havt served as deputy campaign manager on Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign and was a Sanders aide from 2017 to 2021. His writing has appeared in the New Republic and the Washington Post, among other publications, and he lives in Washington, DC.

"The historic Bernie Sanders movement was unprecedented in American history. Now we have a rich and riveting portrait from the inside from my brother Ari Rabin-Havt! Don't miss this fascinating, fun, and serious narrative of the best of who we are as an American people!" --Cornel West "A rip-roaring ride through one of the most consequential presidential elections in modern history. An honest and, at times, hilarious account of what it was like to be side-by-side with Bernie Sanders. No one but Ari Rabin-Havt could have brought us this first-hand account of life behind the scenes with the man who inspired millions." --Stephanie Kelton, New York Times bestselling author of The Deficit Myth "Senator Bernie Sanders's conviction, courage, and candidacy for president of the United States forever changed the political landscape. Ari Rabin-Havt's searing storytelling not only captures these pivotal moments but brings them to life on the page for generations to experience. As one of the witnesses to this extraordinary journey, reading this book catapulted me back to the moments that built this enduring movement." --Nina Turner, National Co-Chair Bernie 2020 and former Ohio State Senator "Ari Rabin-Havt represents something exceedingly rare: a Washington DC insider who retains a populist fire about the way politics serve powerful interests over working people. It was those convictions that drove him and many others to the Bernie Sanders campaign. The Fighting Soul tells a stirring story about their attempt to change American politics and reveals much about what drives Senator Sanders himself." --Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto

Bernie Sanders is one of the most influential figures of our time, a politician who inspires fervent love and, even among his enemies, a measure of grudging respect--yet we know comparatively little about this famously private left-wing firebrand. Ari Rabin-Havt, a trusted Sanders aide, is able take us where no press features or televised interviews have been able to go. The Fighting Soul is a behind-the-scenes chronicle of Sanders's meteoric 2020 campaign for president--including his heart attack and his notorious debate encounter with Elizabeth Warren--that deepens into an unforgettable portrait of Sanders: of the family history that drives his deep ideological commitments, of his views about his young supporters, of the central role his wife, Jane, has played in his success. In the tradition of What It Takes and other exuberant works of American political writing, The Fighting Soul shows the making of the rare politician motivated by principle, not power.

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