Little-known outside his home state until Donald Trump made him his running mate, Mike Pence - who proclaims himself a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third - has long worn a carefully-constructed mask of Midwestern nice.

Behind his self-proclaimed humility and self-abasing deference, however, hides a man whose own presidential ambitions have blazed since high school. Pence's drive for power explains why he shocked his allies by lending Christian credibility to a scandal-plagued candidate like Trump.

In this landmark biography, D'Antonio and Eisner follow the path Pence followed from Catholic Democrat to conservative evangelical Republican. They reveal how he used his time as rightwing radio star to build connections with powerful donors; how he was a lackluster lawmaker in Congress but a prodigious fundraiser from the GOP's billionaire benefactors; and how, once he locked in his views on the issues-anti-gay, pro-gun, anti-abortion, pro big-business-he became laser-focused on his own pursuit of power.

As The Shadow President reveals, Mike Pence is the most important and powerful Christian Right politician America has ever seen. Driven as much by theology as personal ambition, Pence is now positioned to seize the big prize-the presidency-and use it to fashion a nation more pleasing to his god and corporate sponsors.