Risk-Taker

Behind Vivek Ramaswamy’s ’24 prez run

MOST people are riskaverse and don’t understand the few who are willing to gamble complacency to chase greatness. They’ll try to guilt you into accepting the status quo because they’re concerned about you stepping over that ledge into the unknown and afraid to see you fall. But falling doesn’t frighten risk-takers nearly as much as missing out on a greater purpose by letting fear conquer their ambitions.

Vivek Ramaswamy fits this mold: He spent his adult life creating opportunities for himself by taking risks, earning notoriety as a prodigy in the biotech industry and reaping the financial rewards as he was on track to become a billionaire before age 30.

Ramaswamy could have remained comfortably complacent as a CEO; instead he stepped down to do what many are afraid to do these days: speak his mind.

He witnessed “the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the diversity, equity, inclusion agenda, stakeholder capitalism, ESG,” he told me, and staying quiet about it no longer felt like a comfortable option.

We crossed paths the first time months after his 2021 resignation. I saw his passion and wholehearted belief in the American Dream: That was his story as the child of Indian immigrants who instilled in him the importance of education, humility and patriotism.

Whereas some in politics are motivated by attention and money, Ramaswamy, 37, appears to be driven by not being able to explain to his children why he did nothing to fight for his country’s betterment in the face of growing cultural chaos and political demoralization.

As the Republican base has begun molding the primaries as a two-man race between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, people are curious about the timing and reasoning of Ramaswamy’s decision to attempt the arduous marathon to the presidency.

I was invited to Ramaswamy’s campaign headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, this week for an in-depth conversation about his policy prescriptions for America and what differentiates him from his opponents.

One of my great concerns is the prevalence of lobbyist influence and regulators cozying up with the very industry they’re supposed to be policing; it’s Ramaswamy’s as well: “We only solve the actual problem by putting fewer people in the position to be corrupt, and that corruption starts mostly in the administrative state itself. Gutting the managerial bureaucracy, gutting the administrative state, that’s the core element of my mission to eradicate corruption in government.”

“Any way in which someone’s leveraging their position of public service for material private gain, I think we need to end,” he declared. ”

Ramaswamy believes only a political outsider can make drastic changes like shrinking the federal government and attacking DC’s corruption. A “product of the political system” won’t “get that done. In part, because they’re “beholden to the donor class. They’re beholden to the people that butter their bread. Which leaves basically two candidates in this race: Donald Trump and me.”

Ramaswamy believes he can go far by modeling himself as a moral influence as a man of faith, a devoted husband and an inspirational father — while unifying the country in the process.

“I believe in the America First agenda with conviction. I will take it even further than Donald Trump ever did or could because I would be doing it from a foundation of moral authority,” he said.

“Part of what allowed Reagan to really go the distance was that he had a moral grounding, he was grounded in his moral vision for the country.”

“Reviving family, reviving faith in America: These are foundations and cornerstones of American values and the American way of life. But you probably want somebody in the White House whom you say, ‘I want my son to grow up to be like him.’”

Ramaswamy respects Trump’s accomplishment as an outsider who was able to break into government but recognizes Trump’s deficiencies.

“From tackling affirmative action, which Trump could have touched but didn’t, the climate cult, using the military to solve the fentanyl crisis south of the border, shutting down administrative agencies, I will be able to go further because I’m operating on a strong moral foundation.”

While most people would ask why he would put himself through the scrutiny of Republican purity tests and being hyperanalyzed by opponents and media alike while staring down the strong odds against him, competent risk-takers like Ramaswamy ask “Why not?” instead of waiting idly by.

If you love something, you risk your comfort and sacrifice for it: You don’t wait.