Melissa M. Smith is a professor of communication and holds the Gibbons Chair of Journalism at Mississippi University for Women.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction1Outsiders and Their Origins2The Roots of Populism in American PoliticsOutsider Presidential Candidates3Shirley Chisolm: Blazing a Trail for Female and Minority Candidates4Jesse Jackson: Empathetic Outsider Struggling to Break the Color Barrier5Ron Paul: Outsider with Libertarian Sensibilities Defending the Constitution6Donald J. Trump: The First Political Outsider PresidentThird Party Candidates 7Ross Perot: ‘Crazy’ Outsider Takes Message Directly to Americans 8Ralph Nader: Crusader and Possible Democratic Spoiler9Jill Stein: Green Party Candidate, Democratic ScapegoatRenegade Candidates10George C. Wallace: Disruptive, Disorderly, and Discordant Renegade Candidate11Patrick Buchanan: Far-Right Outsider with D.C. Credentials12Newt Gingrich: Political Language, Hardball Tactics Transform Republican PoliticsImplications For Outsiders13Trump and the 2020 Presidential Election: Populism, Pandemic, and Post-Election Violence

Melissa Smith has done a remarkable job of reviewing and summarizing the role of outsiders in modern American presidential elections. Her rhetorical history technique looks at how these candidates, who were often on the fringes of establishment politics, gradually pushed for changes that altered how the public viewed political candidates and their issues. She gradually builds this rhetorical history into a comprehensive explanation for the success of Donald Trump and his outsider campaign. At first glance, some readers may be surprised at how such disparate candidates as Shirley Chisolm and Ross Perot contribute to this legacy, but Smith makes the connection well. It’s an impressive book that is well written and supported by in-depth research. The result is a remarkable study that every presidential scholar should examine.