Andrew Dunn had never met Pat McCrory when he decided to spend a year examining the former North Carolina governor’s political career.
But after nearly two decades of writing about North Carolina politics, Dunn believed an important part of McCrory’s story had been lost amid the political battles at the end of his governorship.
“I always had the nagging feeling that the real story hadn’t been told,” Dunn told Carolina Journal. “The way his career ended, with so much bitterness and acrimony, North Carolina had really forgotten the previous 15 years of his career.”
Dunn seeks to tell that broader story in his first book, “The Change Agent: Pat McCrory’s Rise, Reckoning and Legacy,” an independent biography tracing McCrory’s path from Charlotte City Council to the governor’s mansion and the political defeat that followed.
The book is available for purchase in print and digital formats through Amazon.
Dunn said he set out to produce what he considers a definitive account of one of the most consequential public-service careers in modern North Carolina. The book follows McCrory’s rise through Charlotte politics, his 14 years as the city’s mayor, his 2012 election as governor, and the controversies that culminated in his narrow 2016 loss to Democrat Roy Cooper.
Dunn began writing the book with one central question: How did a politician who had spent more than a decade as a popular mayor and carried both Wake and Mecklenburg counties in the 2012 governor’s race become a political outcast just four years later?
He initially expected the answer to produce a relatively straightforward rise-and-fall narrative. His reporting, however, led him to focus more heavily on the changes McCrory pursued and the parts of his record that survived after he left office.
“What I learned is that the real story is not really a rise-and-fall story,” Dunn said. “What I learned is just how much change was made behind the scenes, especially in the McCrory administration, for the betterment of the state of North Carolina — a lot of which continues to this day.”
Dunn said some of the problems McCrory attempted to address have since returned, further shaping his assessment of the former governor’s legacy.
The book also places McCrory’s career within the broader development of Charlotte and the political transformation of North Carolina. Dunn argues that understanding McCrory’s career is important to understanding how Charlotte emerged on the national stage and how state government arrived at its present political moment.
“This book is about more than just one person,” Dunn said. “I really believe to understand where Charlotte is today and where the state of North Carolina is today, you have to understand the story of Gov. Pat McCrory.”
McCrory was initially interested but skeptical when Dunn approached him about the project. Dunn said the former governor had endured a decade of political attacks and was not immediately convinced that the author would provide an impartial account.
The two took time to develop a working relationship, but Dunn emphasized that the book is neither a memoir nor an authorized biography written to advance McCrory’s preferred version of events.
“It’s an independent biography trying to tell the truth,” Dunn said.
The project took approximately a year to research and write. In addition to extensive conversations with McCrory, Dunn said he conducted over 100 interviews with people representing different stages and perspectives from the former governor’s career.
Dunn presents McCrory as an outsider and change agent whose willingness to challenge established practices produced both lasting accomplishments and intense political opposition. The book considers what McCrory built and changed, as well as what he misjudged during his transition from Charlotte mayor to governor.
The book also asks whether McCrory’s style of political leadership remains viable in an era increasingly shaped by social media, ideological conflict, and candidates who build support through confrontation.
Dunn said he is not convinced that North Carolina voters have abandoned their preference for leaders focused on competence and the practical work of government.
“It’s easy to get distracted by social media and what’s getting the loudest attention online,” Dunn said. “But I do think that the voters of North Carolina, the people of North Carolina, still are looking for competence and leadership.”
Dunn believes the state’s next Republican governor could ultimately resemble McCrory more than current political trends might suggest: an outsider running as a change agent and promising to address the mechanics of government, even at the risk of stepping on toes.
“North Carolina really rewards that sort of visionary leadership,” Dunn said.
Dunn added he hopes McCrory’s story encourages future North Carolina leaders to make difficult decisions despite the political risks.
“What I really hope this book does is inspire the next generation of political leaders in North Carolina to have the courage to make hard choices that are in the best interest of the state and to deal with the political fallout that ultimately comes with it,” Dunn said.
He argues that consequential leadership inevitably creates conflict, particularly when elected officials challenge established practices or political interests.
“There’s no change that can be made without friction,” Dunn said. “That’s really what this book is about — meaningful, lasting, positive change for North Carolina and the friction and controversy that will inevitably produce.”
Whether readers view McCrory as a visionary change agent, a politician undone by his own miscalculations, or some combination of the two, Dunn’s biography ultimately argues that his impact on Charlotte and North Carolina cannot be measured solely by his current status as a political outsider.
