From the Archive: Power Profiles

Ghislaine Maxwell • Elizabeth Holmes • Beto O’Rourke [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( From the Archive: Power Profiles When Beto O’Rourke jumped into the Texas governor’s race last week, several news outlets recalled Joe Hagan’s masterful [cover story]( that kick-started his (ultimately unsuccessful) 2020 run. For budding political stars, and the many strivers and schemers who have graced the pages of Vanity Fair, there’s often a second act in American life—if not a third, fourth, or fifth. This holiday weekend, we’re excavating the archive for deeper dives on today’s news makers, revisiting David Kamp’s 2017 [sit-down]( with Joe Biden, then out of office and overcome by grief, and tagging along with Abigail Tracy as she [trailed]( House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who last week [delivered]( a historic legislative victory. And as Elizabeth Holmes’s trial continues, and Ghislaine Maxwell’s is set [to begin](, we turn to Nick Bilton and Mark Seal, respectively, for the backstories on such [dramatic]( [falls]( playing out in court. Thanks for reading! [Beto’s Choice]( By [Joe Hagan]( [Beto O’Rourke seemed to come from nowhere to the brink of a presidential candidacy. But he’s been on a journey for his whole life, from El Paso and rebellion against a domineering political father, through Columbia, Williamsburg, punk rock, and the World Wide Web. Joe Hagan traces his winding path and asks if O’Rourke could become America’s first punk president.]( [Read more button]( [The Super Speaker]( By [Abigail Tracy]( [Two days in the life of Nancy Pelosi, impeachment champion, political grandmaster.]( [Read more button]( [Joe, Mourning]( By [David Kamp]( [In a cruel twist, Joe Biden’s planned 2016 presidential campaign was upended by the death of its foremost booster, his 46-year-old son, Beau, from brain cancer. With the publication of his book Promise Me, Dad, recalling that tragic period, Biden opened up to David Kamp about the emotional—and political—challenges he faced.]( [Read more button]( [Image may contain: Tie, Accessories, Accessory, Suit, Coat, Clothing, Overcoat, Apparel, Electrical Device, and Microphone]( [The Talented Ms. Holmes]( By [Nick Bilton]( [From the moment Elizabeth Holmes arrived on the tech scene, around 2003, as a 19-year-old Stanford dropout with a world-changing idea, an epic ambition, and a Steve Jobs–ian aura, her rise was meteoric. By October 2015, her revolutionary blood-testing start-up, Theranos, was valued at some $9 billion, and she had been anointed the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. Then a Wall Street Journal reporter began looking at the science. In the wake of Theranos’s stunning collapse, amid civil and criminal investigations and class action lawsuits, Nick Bilton explains why Silicon Valley saw only what Holmes wanted it to see.]( [Read more button]( [In Plain Sight]( By [Mark Seal]( [“Where in the world is Ghislaine Maxwell?” It’s the question that vexed the authorities, the press, and the women who have accused Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime friend, lover, and alleged accomplice of luring them into a web of sexual abuse. The answer: closer to home than many imagined.]( [Read more button]( Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now]( [Condé Nast Spotlight | The breaking news and top stories everyone is talking about. All in one place. The most popular stories from Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest and more. STAY INFORMED]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2021 Condé Nast