The Truth About Elizabeth Warren's Husband Bruce Mann

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) forged a political career focused on her reputation as a fighter, but as the former Democratic frontrunner sets her presidential aspirations aside after a lackluster Super Tuesday, her biggest fan — her husband of nearly 40 years, Bruce Mann — remains by her side every step of the way.

Warren couldn't win over the majority of the American people, but for Mann, it was love at first sight. When he saw her across the lawn during the opening reception for an economics and law conference the two professors attended, he just knew he had to meet her. "Even from that distance, I was just drawn to her," he told CNN. "She was so just lively, so animated, so engaged. And I just fell for her from 25 yards out before even meeting her."

Warren, however, didn't fall right away. "That was a Sunday, late afternoon. I wasn't completely in love with him until sometime mid-morning on Monday," she joked. "It was on Monday when I actually saw him in shorts. And good-looking legs. That's when I was all in." Once she realized Mann was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she didn't hesitate to make the first move.

When Elizabeth Warren and Bruce Mann met, she was teaching in Houston and he was teaching in Connecticut, but the two professors decided to give their relationship a chance. Months after they'd started dating, Warren visited Mann's classroom and it was in that moment that she knew what she had to do. 

"It was the first time I'd seen him teach, and I was already in love with him, but watching him teach let me see one more thing about him — and that was it," she wrote on Facebook. "When class was over and the students had cleared out, he came up to me and asked, somewhat hesitantly, 'Uh, what did you think?' 'What can I say? Will you marry me?"

Warren admitted that she's always "the one with the wild schemes, and he's usually the voice of reason," but in that instant, even Mann knew it would be worth uprooting his life and making room for Warren's goals. "When we got married, he gave up his teaching job in Connecticut to build a family with my kids and me in Houston," she revealed on Instagram. "When I became a law professor at Harvard, he spent years traveling back and forth on weekends so we could make it work." 

Even then, Mann had faith that Warren was destined to serve a greater purpose.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren spent much of the primary season as one of the Democratic frontrunners. Demands on her schedule, however, made it practically impossible for her to be everywhere for everyone. That's why her husband, Bruce Mann, headed to New Hampshire to campaign on his wife's behalf ahead of the state's primary.

"This is not a career move for her. This goes down a lifetime of research, studying, thinking about the problems facing working families ...  that sets her apart from everyone else," Mann told supporters, per The Harvard Crimson. "The same Elizabeth you see in town halls — her passion and enthusiasm — and the Elizabeth you see hugging people in selfie lines is the same Elizabeth who goes shopping for sparkly shoes with our granddaughters and the same Elizabeth who absolutely terrifies bankers," he added.

Some might say he's biased, but Mann told Mass Live that voters "seem pleased to see someone who's known Elizabeth a very long time, who knows her very well and can talk about her and give them a bit of a sense of what kind of person she is."

History supports the notion that, when it comes to the President of the United States of America, the wife takes the metaphorical backseat as first lady while the husband drives the bus. In Elizabeth Warren's case, however, Bruce Mann was more than ready to do his duty as the nation's first first husband. While he's not one to embrace the limelight, Mann believes in his wife's convictions and has done everything he can to turn her dreams into reality. 

"The issues are important, what's at stake is important and Elizabeth has a real contribution to make," he told Mass Live. "These are the issues she has worked on, thought about deeply for decades."

When Warren was considering her run for the White House, she initially asked her second husband to share his opinion. He told CNN that his wife "asked me for three reasons, pro and con. And I said, no, I'm not going to do it. I said, you're gonna run anyways. So [it] just doesn't matter. Because if you don't run and Democrats lose, you'll feel guilty because then that means there'd be no one to fight for the people and the issues that you care about."

From raising Warren's two children to aiding her presidential campaign to building wealth, Mann isn't just Warren's husband. He's her partner in every sense of the word.