An Asian-American corporate lawyer. Economics major. Founder of a failed startup. 

Not many people would predict that this person would eventually evolve into a relatively popular candidate for the 2020 presidential election. With a turn of events, Andrew Yang morphed from an unknown lawyer to one of the most influential––and controversial––candidates.

 Born in Schenectady, New York, Yang graduated from Brown University, majoring in Economics, and then Columbia Law School. He then went on to found a failed startup (stargiving.com), causing him to work at a healthcare software company and Manhattan Prep, which was later acquired by Kaplan. He later founded Venture for America, a program that helps college graduates become entrepreneurs and startup leaders.

Yang’s entry into politics began when he published The War on Normal People, which discussed job displacement and automation as well as why UBI (Universal Basic Income) is essential to combat those encroaching issues. Despite a slow start and being considered a “longshot candidate,” Yang gained significant traction after appearing on The Joe Rogan Podcast and Ben Shapiro’s Daily Show, among other shows and podcasts.

Yang built his campaign on the concept of how encroaching automation would cause people to lose their jobs, showing the need for his Freedom Dividend Plan; this would entail a monthly $1,000 check from the government for all American adults. The dividend would be mainly funded by taxing large corporations, such as Amazon. Andrew Yang was special and radical in many ways. 

First off, if elected, he would be the first Asian American president in American history––a big leap forward for Asian Americans in politics. His platform was also very radical; the concept of giving every American adult $1,000 a month has never been implemented in the lower 48, and most people haven’t even considered it to be something that could actually happen.

Against the odds, he was able to gain popularity, causing a largely online devoted fanbase dubbed the “Yang Gang” to emerge. He was also able to amass $41.6 million over the course of his 2020 presidential campaign––not too bad considering he wasn’t even known a year or two back. Yang also qualified and participated in all six democratic primary debates. 

Unfortunately, his campaign’s popularity wasn’t reflected in the polls. Continuously ranking sixth or below, Yang suspended his campaign on February 11th, 2020, marking the end of his candidacy. Later, Yang began endorsing Joe Biden as president. Perhaps the country isn’t ready for an Asian American president with such radical views yet, but there’s always 2024.