Following this initial retirement from politics, he served as President of Des Moines University, a private medical osteopathic school, from 2003 to 2009.

[6] In December 2016, Branstad accepted President Donald Trump's nomination to serve as the United States Ambassador to China.

In 2020, Branstad resigned as Ambassador to China in order to work on President Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.

[22] He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service; he once recalled that he arrested actress Jane Fonda for coming onto the post at Arlington National Cemetery, where she was planning to attend an antiwar protest.

After completing his work with the commission in 2003, Branstad was asked to serve as a member of the National Advisory Council for Positive Action for Teen Health, or PATH.

[42] On August 2, 2009, The Des Moines Register reported that Branstad was actively considering seeking the Republican nomination for governor.

[46] The Des Moines Tea Party gave Branstad a "no" on their report card regarding "criteria for acceptance" and said Branstad had "a history of raising taxes, [was] not a true conservative, increased the size of government every year he held office, [and] built a state-owned phone company.

[50] In the general election, Branstad faced Democratic nominee State Senator Jack Hatch and won with 59% of the vote.

[51][52] Branstad rescinded an executive order signed by governor Tom Vilsack that restored voting rights to approximately 115,000 felons who had completed their sentences.

[58] The ranking was based on a comparison of the annual private sector growth rate in all 50 states using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[63] On July 15, 2019, a jury in Polk County, Iowa awarded a gay former state official $1.5 million in damages, finding that Branstad had discriminated against him based on sexual orientation in 2012.

[64] In December 2016 President-elect Donald Trump chose Branstad to serve as US Ambassador to China, succeeding Max Baucus.

In October 2018, the Financial Times reported that Branstad opposed a proposal by White House Senior Advisor Stephen Miller about stopping providing student visas to Chinese nationals, making it impossible for Chinese citizens to study in the United States.

Branstad argued that such a ban would harm US trade to China and hurt small American universities more than the elite ones.

[71] In May 2019, Branstad traveled to Tibet Autonomous Region amid heightening trade tensions between the United States and China.

This diplomatic journey was designed to give the United States a better perception of Tibet and its people, cultural practices, and life.

[79][80] Marcus was appointed by his father to the Iowa Natural Resources Commission in 2013 and works as a lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council.

The book details Branstad's youth on the family farm, his high school days in Forest City, and his rise in politics.