Two years and one day ago, the New York Times branded a virtually unknown businessman a “longer-than-long-shot” hopeful for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Today, Andrew Yang confirmed the New York Times‘s fatalism, with some half a million donors and a million more inspired by the #YangGang.

Yang was a unique candidate from the start, an entrepreneur who jumped into the race after witnessing the disparity of economic opportunity across the country and running for the Oval Office on the distinct proposal of issuing a monthly $1,000 universal basic income to every adult in the country. But while Yang’s signature issue and meticulously detailed plans helped him stand out from a pack of candidates blindly racing each other to the left, it was his heart, not his policies, that defined his campaign as evidence of what makes America great.