WASHINGTON, D.C. RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING A HOT SUMMER DAY
JOHN FETTERMAN, THE JUNIOR SENATOR from Pennsylvania, is lumbering through the corridor that senators use to get from their offices to the Senate chamber, usually when it’s time to vote on a piece of legislation. You can get there by foot or ride a little trolley car, which he calls the subway. He is joined by four staff members, one of whom walks backward in front of him holding an iPad equipped with software that translates what people say to him—and what he himself says. After his stroke in May 2022, it became difficult for him to process language and to speak clearly. Even 14 months later, it’s hard to talk with him in the corridor above the noise of the trolleys and the background chatter.
“So you prefer to walk rather than take the subway?” I ask.
He looks at the iPad. The screen reads, “walk brother subway.” He looks at me curiously.
“Brother…?”
His path to this moment has been both well-documented and little understood. He grew up in York, Pennsylvania, south of Harrisburg. He played football at a local college, then got his master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. He returned to Pennsylvania, to a small, decrepit city called Braddock, and worked helping residents earn their GEDs. In 2005 he ran for mayor of Braddock and won. He has lived there for 22 years now. He and his wife, Gisele, made a home out of a converted car dealership with their three children. In 2019 he became the lieutenant governor, and in 2022 he ran for the United States Senate. His opponent was Mehmet Oz, the television doctor and longtime New Jersey resident. During the campaign, Fetterman suffered a stroke, stayed in the race, faced Oz in a disastrous debate, and won anyway.
This has all been well-documented and little understood.
When we arrive at the Senate chamber, Fetterman, 54, stands in the doorway and gives an “aye” vote. He is not allowed to actually step onto the floor, because he chooses not to wear a business suit, as required by the Senate dress code at the time. So he gives a thumbs-up. It’s just easier this way, and much more comfortable.
Back in his office, he sits behind his desk for our interview. He is wearing a black short-sleeved button-down, baggy black shorts, and black Hoka sneakers with black ankle socks. The lights are off, and sunlight fills the room.
A successful recovery from a stroke can take months or even years. During this healing process, the brain seeks pathways around damaged tissue to function properly. I will speak to Senator Fetterman several times over a period of months. At the beginning of our first interview, when I
