Chapter 2: The Fateful Call

[Click here for Chapter 1.]

It was August 22, 2023. I’m at Hillsdale College’s Dow Hotel and Conference Center, where I was about to deliver another lecture series on the Great Reset. The best gig I’ve ever had. I’ll make $24,000 in two days for delivering five lectures. I’ve presented these lectures, in slightly different form, many times already, twice at this very college. My book on the Great Reset came out in January. And I have everything outlined. I’ll just read the outlined points and ad lib a bit. I’ve just suited up for the first lecture, to begin in 25 minutes, when the phone rings.

It’s Michael Heise.

What could he want? I wonder. The juxtaposition is somewhat inapt. Hillsdale is a conservative Christian “pro-liberty” college. But my role here is not political per se. Heise calls me on occasion to ask me to speak at Mises Caucus (MC) events. I’ve spoken three or four times for the Heise-run MC. So, I figure he’s calling about another speaking gig. I’m in a good mood, so I answer the call. This is how I remember the conversation:

Hello?

Hey, it’s Heise.

Hey Mike, how are you?

Good man.

What’s up?

I have question for you.

OK?

What do you think about running for president?

What?

How would you like to run for president as the Mises Caucus-endorsed candidate?

President of what?

The United States.

What are you talking about?

He explains. The caucus wants to know if I’m interested in running for POTUS as a Libertarian and the MC candidate. Heise immediately tells me what I’d get, as if I’m already thinking of such matters.

This isn’t registering for me. It’s so far from my mind that it almost makes no sense at all. I’m a writer who also delivers talks from written text. I’m not a politician. In fact, on the drive from Pittsburgh to Hillsdale, I began ruminating about my next book and wrote a preliminary sketch that I posted to Facebook:

This was my long-term plan: I make good money from Hillsdale as a distinguished fellow for life. My books continue to sell well. My next book will sell even better. I give other talks upon invitation. Altogether, I make at least $150,000 a year. There you go.

Heise talks about what running for the LP nomination for president would do for me. My profile would get a major boost. I’d get a big email list. I’d get a ton of media. I’d have Dave Smith’s endorsement. And so forth.

I already get a ton of media.

Yeah, I know. But you’d get a lot more.

Heise is essentially suggesting that I grow my brand.

He then asks me if I have any skeletons in my closet.

Like what?

Like arrests or scandals.

I have never been arrested. So, no.

I don’t think having been assailed by the SJWs at NYU was a scandal, but I remind Mike about that. He sees it as a recommendation. I don’t think having been a Marxist in the past was a scandal, so I don’t mention it. Mike knows all about that anyway. Nothing else comes to mind.

Nothing else.

By the time the call ends, I’m already showing interest. I don’t give him an answer, but something about this intrigues me. I’m flattered. It sounds exciting. Heise gives me the impression that I will win the nomination. I’d be on the ballot for President of the United States in at least 48 states. Nothing is said yet about what it would take.

I deliver the first two lectures, which go very well. Then I meet Matt Bell, my Hillsdale host, in the lobby of the Dow Hotel. We’re scheduled to go to dinner with Doug Jeffrey, the Vice President for External Affairs and Matt’s boss. I work under the aegis of External Affairs. Larry Arnn, the President of Hillsdale, hired me personally. Doug’s wife and a professor or two are also joining us. As usual, Hillsdale treats me like I’m royalty.

Matt drives me in his big SUV to the restaurant. The countryside is lush with grass fields, woods, and nearly harvestable crops. Matt and I talk about Alex Epstein’s new book, politics, the dire state of the country, and more. It’s all conservative, all the time. We agree on everything—except what should be done about our national crisis. I’m an anarcho-capitalist, not a “limited government” proponent. But I know not to let that out of the bag at Hillsdale.

Waiting for the hostess to seat us, I tell Matt what I’ve just been offered.

The Libertarian Party? he scoffs.

Matt’s reaction is telling. Apparently, he assumes that I find the offer ludicrous as well. But I don’t pay Matt’s reaction much mind. I later realize that maybe I should have.

The lecture series ends, and all has gone very well. After I return home, I tell Heise I need to talk with my family but that I’m leaning in. I’m almost convinced. I like a challenge. I like the idea of enlarging my audience. There’s never any pretension about winning the presidency. Heise makes it clear that the campaign will be a kind of prop, a stage for promoting Project Decentralized Revolution. I won’t be running for president per se but rather to become the spokesman for the Libertarian Party and the MC’s Project Decentralized Revolution. It won’t be a LARPing operation like all the other campaigns. I’m not delusional, nor prone to pretending, so I understand and agree with the premise.

I hold a Zoom meeting with my kids and ex-wife. My daughter, Molly, a psychotherapist, is mostly worried about what it will mean for me. Would I be able to handle all the stress? she asks. Dylan, my youngest son, also says he’s worried about how I will handle it, all the criticism, and the haters. They know that I’m sensitive. I say that I’m used to dealing with haters. After all, I’ve already faced down the whirling dervishes of the authoritarian left. How could this be any worse? Everyone asks that I keep their names out of the campaign. I promise not to mention them at all.

Looking ahead at my Hillsdale schedule, I have nothing until June, that is, not until after the nomination, when I’ll make another $24,000 for two days of work, delivering another lecture series on the Great Reset. If I win, will I be able to do this lecture series? I wonder. I ask Heise and he says it won’t be a problem. I would simply take a hiatus in campaigning for a few days. No big deal.

So, within a couple more days, I’ve agreed to do it. Heise tells me more about what I’ll get. No, he doesn’t say I’ll be a shoo-in for the nomination, or that it will be easy. But he does suggest that I’ll win.  

I soon insist that Heise become my campaign manager. I can’t imagine doing this otherwise. After all, he’s the main architect and strategist of the Reno Reset. He conceived of the MC and engineered its “takeover” of the Libertarian Party. He’s a political mastermind, so I want him leading my team. I also insist that my long-term assistant and “partner in crime” Lori Price be a part of the campaign team.

Within a few days, Heise decides to relinquish his position as chair of the MC to become my campaign manager.