Rick Sloan is the author of The Road Not Taken (2026), Exceptions to Their Rule: Basques and Wabanaki in an Era of Autocrats (2022), A Novel Approach to the American Dream (2019), Revenge of America's Unemployed (2017), and The Gift of Strategy (1995).
His books recount his efforts to combat the conventional wisdom in Washington, shift the strategies and tactics of Democrats presidential campaigns, and refocus his party on its working class roots.
With The Road Not Taken, Sloan continues his political iconoclasm, provocative strategies and advocacy for everyday Americans. His rare genius for drawing large insights from the smallest details of America’s electoral past — and its rhetorical and historical past — is on full display.
Sloan’s career spans five decades and a dozen presidential campaigns, stints on Capitol Hill as Chief of Staff to Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum and Michigan Congressman John Dingell, his own campaign against then Congressman John Kasich (OH-12), and more than 30 years working for (and with) progressive labor unions.
Rick Sloan was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. and J.D degrees from the Ohio State University. He now splits his time between Washington, D.C. and Brooklin, Maine.
