Dan Chiasson’s Bernie For Burlington: The Rise of the People’s Politician offers a meticulously researched account of Bernie Sanders’ formative years in Vermont. Chiasson, a Wellesley College English professor and poet, draws on his own childhood experiences growing up in Burlington during the 1980s when Sanders served as mayor for eight years.
The biography details Sanders’ Brooklyn upbringing with an unhappy family and his early admiration for Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro. After attending the University of Chicago, Sanders participated in civil rights protests and later spent time on an Israeli kibbutz following a short-lived marriage. By 1968, Sanders moved to Vermont, working as an itinerant carpenter and freelance writer while fathering a son named Levi. In 1971, he became a perennial candidate for the Liberty Union party in Burlington, achieving his highest vote share of six percent in a 1976 U.S. Senate race.
Reporting a net worth of $1,000 in 1976, Sanders described living on minimal income during much of the 1970s and occasionally relying on public assistance. He was known to fear homelessness and had been without proper clothing at times. In 1977, Sanders left the Liberty Union party, becoming a candidate without political affiliation.
Chiasson notes that Sanders’ message has remained consistent since the early 1970s, focusing on working-class struggles against corporate and financial institutions. Despite Burlington’s small size, Sanders identified with residents living in rental housing—a group representing two-thirds of the city—and was never part of the cultural left, though he resonated with residents below the poverty line.
A pivotal moment occurred in 1980 when Sanders ran for mayor after meeting Sadie White, an almost-80-year-old political activist who played a decisive role in his campaign. He won the 1981 mayoral election with only ten votes over incumbent Gordon Paquette, aided by support from local law enforcement.
During his tenure as mayor, Sanders governed in what Chiasson described as “an innovative capitalist” manner, implementing policies that transformed Burlington and earned him re-election for four terms. His distinctive style—marked by specific clothing and speech patterns—became a key part of his appeal, though he was noted for being socially reserved. In 1986, Sanders ran for governor as an independent but won only fourteen percent of the vote. By 1988, he secured thirty-nine percent of votes in a congressional race and declined to seek a fifth mayoral term despite polling showing sixty percent of city voters wanted him to run.
After leaving office, Sanders was elected to Congress in 1990, running with support from the National Rifle Association in a state with high gun ownership rates. Chiasson’s book concludes by highlighting how Sanders’ libertarian rhetoric superseded his socialist roots, shaping his enduring popularity as one of America’s most influential left-leaning politicians. The account ends with an anecdote: In 2024, Chiasson met Sanders at a picnic in Burlington, where Sanders responded only to the author’s introduction with “Oh boy.”