This article is the third in a series of three by Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner, the authors of the new book, " The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence." The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) This is the third in a series of three op-eds tracing the long path of Vice President Mike Pence's ambition, from college, where he found a form of evangelicalism that weds theology to Republican politics, to the national stage -- and a job that puts him a short step away from the presidency. Part one: Mike Pence's plan to outlast Trump Part two: Mike Pence went to college and found God

Mike Pence won his first political campaign in 2000 using what became his basic strategy of guns, God, and money. He raised lots of cash by appealing to big-time conservative donors -- among them, Betsy DeVos, Charles and David Koch, and Erik Prince -- with hawkish positions on taxes and regulation. He found his voters at churches and gun clubs. He spiced his recipe with attacks on science that placed him to the right of many of his fellow Republicans.

Like a handful of Republicans, Pence made an issue of the pending agreement to settle government lawsuits against tobacco companies for lying for decades about the dangers of their addictive products. Pence didn't just oppose the deal. He insisted it was based on a lie and the result of a pernicious government plot.

"Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media," Pence wrote in 2000 , "smoking doesn't kill. In fact, 2 out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer."

Pence's first bit of data was simply wrong. Two-thirds of smokers actually do die of smoking-related illnesses. His second was misleading. Lung cancer is a relatively rare illness, but it is still vastly more common among smokers. In fact, it is one of the few cancers for which science has established a very well-known cause, and Pence's column was published after industry leaders had acknowledged the health risks of their product.

Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence announces that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services had approved the State's waiver request for the plan his administration called HIP 2.0 during a speech in Indianapolis on January 27, 2015. Hide Caption 1 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence, then the Republican candidate for Indiana's 2nd Congressional District, is surrounded by his wife, Karen, right, and family as he addresses supporters on November 7, 2000, in Columbus, Indiana. Pence defeated Democrat Robert Rock in the race to fill the seat vacated by David McIntosh, who held the position from 1995-2001. Hide Caption 2 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence and Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake talk on July 10, 2002, during the markup of the bill which would establish the Department of Homeland Security. Hide Caption 3 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence, Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-New York, and Christopher Shays, R-Connecticut, walk with a bipartisan group of members during a news conference on July 22, 2004, about the release of the 9/11 Commission report. Hide Caption 4 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career From left, Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, Mike Pence, R-Indiana, Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, attend a news conference to call for budget offsets to pay for the Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction effort. Hide Caption 5 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence speaks at a news conference on September 5, 2008, in Washington. Pence and other House Republicans called on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to schedule a vote on energy legislation to help lower gasoline prices. Hide Caption 6 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Former Speaker of the House John Boehner hands a copy of the stimulus bill to Pence after the House of Representatives voted to pass it on February 13, 2009. The bill passed the House along a strict party vote of 246-183. Hide Caption 7 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence is joined by his wife, Karen, as he carries his ballot petition signatures to run for governor of Indiana into the Secretary of State's Election Division in Indianapolis on February 6, 2012. Hide Caption 8 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career The three candidates for Indiana governor, Democrat John Gregg, left, Pence and Libertarian Rupert Boneham, gather after a debate in South Bend, Indiana, on October 17, 2012. Hide Caption 9 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence is sworn in as Indiana's 50th governor by Chief Justin Brent E. Dickson as Pence's wife, Karen, and his family look on during a ceremony at the statehouse on January 14, 2013. Hide Caption 10 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence checks off a milestone on May 29, 2013, for a new Ohio River bridge that will connect Indiana to Kentucky, just east of Louisville. Hide Caption 11 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence speaks during a memorial service for former Indiana Rep. Andrew Jacobs Jr. at the statehouse on January 3, 2014. Jacobs died on December 28, 2013, at age 81. Hide Caption 12 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence speaks during the leadership forum at the National Rifle Association's annual convention on April 25, 2014, in Indianapolis. Hide Caption 13 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence formally announces his re-election campaign in Indianapolis on June 18, 2015. The Indiana native, whose status as a national star among conservatives was battered by an outcry over the state's new religious objections law at the time, launched a re-election campaign focused on the state's economy and improving schools. Hide Caption 14 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature at the statehouse on January 12, 2016. Hide Caption 15 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence joins 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Westfield, Indiana, on July 12, 2016. Hide Caption 16 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence shakes hands with Republican presidential candidate Trump after being newly selected as his vice presidential running mate on July 16, 2016, in New York City. Hide Caption 17 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence points to the crowd as he walks on stage to deliver a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Hide Caption 18 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence introduces his running mate, Trump, at a campaign event at Youngstown State University on August 15, 2016, in Youngstown, Ohio. Hide Caption 19 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence looks on before the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on September 26, 2016. Hide Caption 20 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine, left, and Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence speak during their debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, on October 4, 2016. Hide Caption 21 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence runs onto the stage at a rally on October 25, 2016, in Marietta, Ohio. Hide Caption 22 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career New vice president-elect Mike Pence and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during an election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of November 9, 2016, in New York City. Hide Caption 23 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence listens as the President-elect speaks during a meeting of technology executives at Trump Tower on December 14, 2016, in New York City. Hide Caption 24 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Trump stands with Pence at a news conference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017, in New York City. Hide Caption 25 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career The vice president-elect arrives for the presidential inauguration of Trump at the Capitol in Washington on January 20, 2017. Hide Caption 26 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, Karen, and their daughter Charlotte arrive for a rally on the National Mall before the start of the 44th annual March for Life on January 27, 2017, in Washington, DC. Hide Caption 27 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence delivers a speech on the second day of the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich on February 18, 2017. Hide Caption 28 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence, his wife, Karen, and his daughter Charlotte lay a wreath at the International Memorial of the former Nazi concentration camp of Dachau in southwestern Germany on February 19, 2017. Hide Caption 29 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 23, 2017, in National Harbor, Maryland. Hide Caption 30 of 31 Photos: Mike Pence's political life and career Pence speaks to reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill following a policy lunch on March 7, 2017. Hide Caption 31 of 31

Why would a candidate for Congress speak so falsely and recklessly? Pence's motivation may have been connected to his family's ownership stake in a chain of convenience stores called Tobacco Road, which sold cigarettes alongside soft drinks and chips. But he was also eager to establish some libertarian street cred. "A government big enough to go after smokers is big enough to go after you," he wrote.

Anti-intellectualism has a long tradition in American politics. Pence was part of its resurgence at the start of the new millennium. He was an outspoken skeptic when it came to climate science, even though reputable experts had been warning about carbon emissions and rising temperatures since the mid-1960s. Pence declared "global warming is a myth" and alleged, against the evidence, that Earth "is actually cooler today than it was about 50 years ago."

The abuse of the word "theory" is a favorite technique for anti-science activists, and Pence gave this classic move a workout after he got to Congress. In one of his early speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives, Pence announced, "It has ever been an avocation of mine to contemplate and to study the origins of man and of life here on Earth."

If Pence's vocabulary was a bit 19th-century, so was his thinking. After calling Charles Darwin "a sincere biologist," Pence attacked the science of evolution, which, in his telling, was conjecture and thus no worthier of respect than other notions about the origins of life. Darwin "hoped that some day it would be proven by the fossil record but did not live to see that," declared Pence, "nor have we."

Of course, there is nothing uncertain in the prevailing science on the origins of life on Earth. As the National Academy of Science explains, a scientific theory is not merely conjecture. It is "a comprehensive explanation of some aspect of nature that is supported by a vast body of evidence." This is why physicists still talk about a "theory" of gravity that explains why objects fall down and not up and biologists speak of "cell theory," even though the fact that living things are composed of cells is established truth.

A willful denial of the facts was required for Pence to press his case against Darwin, but he was clearly devoted to this cause. Having cast doubt on the science of evolution, he said that he was only asking for everyone to be open-minded. "I would simply and humbly ask ... can we also consider teaching other theories of the origin of species?"

Then, he declared that his own mind was shut.

"The Bible tells us that God created man in his own imagine, male and female," said Pence. "He created them. And I believe that."

Pence's speech on evolution, preserved on C-SPAN, was delivered in the cadence of a radio preacher. Pence had developed this way of speaking during his years as a broadcaster, when he pitched himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf." But as friendly as he sounded, Pence was determined to impose his religious views through public policy and to do it through the manipulation of language.

Another example was his proposal to use federal funds to turn gay people straight. So-called "conversion therapy," promoted by quacks and religious bigots, assumes that homosexuality is a medically treatable pathology, which it is not. Pence's proposal never gained traction in Congress, but it was a loud dog whistle to those on the homophobic Christian right.

Pence as governor

With his sights set on the White House, Pence sought executive experience back home in Indiana, where a GOP advantage in registration helped him win a narrow victory in the 2012 governor's race. He installed his wife, Karen, in an office at the state house, a first for first ladies of the state, and had a pair of red phones wired to connect his desk directly with hers.

Pence was unremarkable as governor, save for his commitment to the causes of Christian conservatives in pushing a state law that permitted discrimination against gay customers by businesses. When Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2015 was approved, Pence signed it into law in a rare, private ceremony where he was flanked by clergy from a variety of religions.

Reaction to RFRA and the photo was intense. Pence backed down, seeking amendments that watered down the law. But while the episode seemed to threaten his future, he was rescued by Donald Trump's offer to join his ticket as the GOP's 2016 candidate for vice president.

JUST WATCHED VP Pence full National Prayer Breakfast speech Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH VP Pence full National Prayer Breakfast speech 28:23

In the weeks after the presidential election, Pence took over the Trump transition team as then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was pushed aside. Trump's lack of political experience opened the door for Pence to suggest many of his friends and allies for top federal jobs. A number of cabinet secretaries, including Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, have closer ties with Pence than Trump. It is Pence who sponsors a regular White House prayer breakfast attended by top officials, and he has been most influential in the selection of Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court.

Six months into the new administration, Republicans were already talking about how Pence seemed to be running a shadow campaign to become the GOP nominee for president in the event that Trump was felled by either the Russia scandal or some other force. Pence's chief of staff is a sharp-elbowed political player named Nick Ayers, and his connections to big donors are strong. Organized and methodical where the President is chaotic and impulsive, Pence is ready to achieve the dream he believes God wants him to fulfill.

Should Pence achieve his goal, he would likely remake the GOP, now almost a cult devoted to Donald Trump, as a Christian right political party where people of other faiths would struggle to find a home. Instead of policy driven by personality, a Pence administration would likely pursue policy guided by a particular reading of the Bible. And the divisions that now seem to be separating Americans would become broader, deeper, and even more difficult to bridge.