The Rise of Marco Rubio

Now in paperback with a new afterword: “The definitive account” (The New Republic) of the biggest rising star in the Republican party and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been called “the Michael Jordan of Republican politics.” No one—not even his rivals in the Democratic Party—disagrees with the fact that Marco Rubio is going far in American politics.

Washington Post reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia tells the story of how Rubio rose so fast, and about the forces that have shaped him. It’s a classic American odyssey: his parents left Cuba for a better economic life in Miami a few years before Castro came to power; the father worked as a bartender, the mother as a maid and then a stock clerk at Kmart. The small but tough Rubio made the football team, became an expert on the Miami Dolphins, and raced to begin a political career minutes after graduating from law school. By 2010, he had become the youngest-ever and the first Hispanic Speaker of the Florida Statehouse.

Rubio is now a possible front-runner in the 2016 presidential election. As Mike Huckabee likes to say, “Rubio is our Barack Obama with substance.” Rubio has the endurance, smarts, and charisma to be a presence on the American political scene for years to come. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and documents, Roig-Franzia shows how Rubio cultivated a knack for apprenticing himself to the right mentor, learning the issues, and volunteering for tough political jobs that made him shine. The Rise of Marco Rubio is, “a rewarding read, giving valuable insight into this young man in a hurry” (The Daily Beast).