When President George W. Bush nominated Linda Chavez to be Secretary of labour in 2001, few people realized that this hard-nosed conservative began her career among socialists and labour union officials, teaching in college affirmative action programs and writing political propaganda for the Democratic National Committee. An Unlikely Conservative chronicles Chavez's journey from a poverty-stricken childhood to prominence as one of the most influential public policy advocates in the nation, and the sometimes shocking experiences that shaped her views along the way.