Today, Bernie Sanders is one of the most important figures in American politics. As biographer Dan Chiasson puts it, Sanders is “arguably the most influential leftist politician in the modern history of the nation,” and he’s consistently ranked as one the most popular American leaders of anykind, alongside Barack Obama. He may not have prevailed in his 2016 or 2020 presidential candidacies (and it’s unlikely there will be another, given Sanders’ advanced age), but he left a permanent mark on the generation that campaigned for him. As Chiasson writes, “Bernie’s influence will be long and profound, as his enthusiastic voters age into power and influence.” Indeed, one of his democratic socialist devotees, Zohran Mamdani, has just been sworn in (by Sanders himself!) as mayor of New York City. But Sanders’ national prominence is a relatively recent development, and even committed leftists may not know the full story of what came before. Chiasson’s new book, Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People’s Politician, is about Sanders’ first act, when in 1981 he improbably became the country’s only socialist mayor, just as the “Reagan Revolution” was sweeping the country. Today, Mamdani, Seattle’s Mayor Katie Wilson, and others are aiming to replicate something like what Sanders tried in tiny Burlington, Vermont. This makes Sanders’ origin story worthy of study, especially for those of us who want to know how the left can succeed.
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