Elizabeth Warren had her road-to-Damascus moment back in 1995, the year she joined the faculty of Harvard Law. She was forty-six.

She was asked to take part in a congressional commission on reforming bankruptcy laws. She went in with the best of intentions, ready to draw up a list of policies to help struggling families. But as she attended each hearing, she was shocked to find lobbyists swooping in like vultures to pick it all apart. “The whole process made me gag,” she later wrote. Shortly after, in 1996, she changed her party registration from Republican to Democrat.

She fought a noble fight for ten years. In 1998, she met with first lady Hillary Clinton and told her over a hamburger and french fries that the bill taking shape tilted the playing field heavily in favor of the banks and against ordinary Americans. “I pounded Mrs. Clinton with graphs, charts, and projections.” The first lady was convinced. Despite having signaled earlier support, the Clinton White House vetoed the bill in its final days.