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The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class
Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the history of the battle against oligarchy in America—and how we can win the latest round.
Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny.
The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class.
Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point.
Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.
Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny.
The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class.
Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point.
Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 1, 2021
327 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
Thom Hartmann
90 books376 followersThomas Carl Hartmann is an American radio personality, author, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, since 2003 and hosted a nightly television show, The Big Picture, between 2010 and 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
December 24, 2020
So what we have here is the truth, free of the rhetoric of the Far Right and the Trumpkins. The biggest thing that the Right has created under Trump is the idea that the "Liberals" are BAD people and want to take away everyone's rights. So while Trump rails against the Dems wanting to take away their guns, Trump and his friends are taking away their civil rights. Why do they let this happen because they are busy watching the stage and NOT the man behind the curtain.
Whoever you are afraid of, the Oligarchs will ramp up your fear. What happened to the murders and rapists that Trump referred to when it came time to court the Hispanics of South Florida. It was easy, Trump just kept saying Cuba, Cuba, Cuba, while he was separating children from their parents at the American border. What about the children who the racist Border Patrol misplaced? They were never mentioned, he only talked about his Wall, little of which was built was new, and all of it paid for by the Citizens of the US. Forget the double speak about how Mexico ended up paying for it.
With control of the Justice Department under Trump and McConnell, hundreds of judges were placed on all levels of the Judicial System, who didn't care what the Constitution said, it only mattered what 'they' said it said. Trump, who probable never read the Constitution (he would probably think it was written by Socialists), thinks that being President is equivalent to being CEO of his Trump Empire. Whatever he says goes. How could he lose the election after all that he and his henchmen spent millions on to prevent the 'wrong' people from voting. Off with their Heads!
This is what has happened for the last ten years, as the Congress became and adjunct to McConnell and his rich friends. When Reagan became President, 40% of the federal budget was paid by the taxes of the rich, after the last tax cut it's down to 7%. We need to fight back before it's to late.
Whoever you are afraid of, the Oligarchs will ramp up your fear. What happened to the murders and rapists that Trump referred to when it came time to court the Hispanics of South Florida. It was easy, Trump just kept saying Cuba, Cuba, Cuba, while he was separating children from their parents at the American border. What about the children who the racist Border Patrol misplaced? They were never mentioned, he only talked about his Wall, little of which was built was new, and all of it paid for by the Citizens of the US. Forget the double speak about how Mexico ended up paying for it.
With control of the Justice Department under Trump and McConnell, hundreds of judges were placed on all levels of the Judicial System, who didn't care what the Constitution said, it only mattered what 'they' said it said. Trump, who probable never read the Constitution (he would probably think it was written by Socialists), thinks that being President is equivalent to being CEO of his Trump Empire. Whatever he says goes. How could he lose the election after all that he and his henchmen spent millions on to prevent the 'wrong' people from voting. Off with their Heads!
This is what has happened for the last ten years, as the Congress became and adjunct to McConnell and his rich friends. When Reagan became President, 40% of the federal budget was paid by the taxes of the rich, after the last tax cut it's down to 7%. We need to fight back before it's to late.
February 16, 2021
Although it’s brief at times, Hartmann outlays the history of the American oligarchy and then lays out a plan to defeat it. Thom is still one of the more rational thinkers when it comes to politics, I wish others would take notes.
October 13, 2025
The transition from democracy to oligarchy usually starts with the very wealthy acquiring political power by buying influence with elected officials. They typically justify this with a belief that oligarchy is more stable and less messy than democracy, and that their success demonstrates that a sort of Darwinian process has chosen them to lead.
If the cotton-gin had not been invented, slaveholding would not have been profitable. If slaveholding had not been profitable, slaveholders would not have been rich.
If slaveholders had not been rich, they would not have been arrogant. If they had not been arrogant, four hundred thousand slaveholders would not have presumed to challenge dominion over twenty million freemen.
If the cotton-gin had not been invented, slaveholding would not have been profitable. If slaveholding had not been profitable, slaveholders would not have been rich.
If slaveholders had not been rich, they would not have been arrogant. If they had not been arrogant, four hundred thousand slaveholders would not have presumed to challenge dominion over twenty million freemen.
August 28, 2021
MUST READ.
June 23, 2025
This book deals with the various types of oligarchy in American history, and the struggles we have had with oligarchy. The Confederacy in the South was one of these oligarchies. There have been other oligarchies since the American Civil War. The defeat of oligarchies has been necessary to preserve democracy. Oligarchy continues to be a threat.
September 30, 2024
Everyone who can read should read this. We're at a tipping point in the US when, if we're not vigilant, we will succumb to tyranny, the kind that now exists in Russia, Hungary, and Venezuela, and once existed in Nazi Germany. Do almost half of this country's citizens want that? If not, they need to stop believing in the oligarch rhetoric and stop it (by voting blue) before it's too late.
I am sickened by the greed and abuses of power that are making life more difficult for most people.
I am sickened by the greed and abuses of power that are making life more difficult for most people.
July 18, 2022
This book examines American history from the perspective that it has been shaped by a constant struggle against an oligarchic ruling class, which is always trying to increase its money and power at the expense of the working class, but which also recurrently experiences defeats, especially at key turning points of history, such as the Civil War, and with the founding of the social safety net by FDR in the aftermath of the Great Depression. This is an interesting, if rather simplified, way of viewing American history and its predictable tendentiousness was a bit annoying, because everything discussed had to fit into this schema, the American history as the ¨history of American oligarchy¨ perspective, without taking into account the many other historical trends that were occurring simultaneously, especially regional developments. For example, what about the influence of religion - the varieties of religion - on American history? Religion was a huge influence on the country up until relatively recently. Also, mass public/mandatory education was implemented - didnt that have some effect on events? Why not discuss the effect of education on the country - its development and history? Rather, American history in this book is reduced to a formula in which Southern planter oligarchs gain tremendous financial and political power when the cotton gin is invented (which is quite true) cotton becomes America´s biggest export and the Southern planters´ power shapes American history because the increased money they were making in the cotton growing business by using the cotton gin made them loath to give up the system of slavery, so that their economic needs (that is greed) pushed the Southern states to secede (so as to preserve the oligarchs´ money).
That Southern planter oligarchy was defeated in the Civil War but as we know, unfortunately the ideology of racism was more or less restored after Reconstruction in the form of Jim Crow. The South sank into backwardness and poverty for around 100 years, and the after-effects of the ugliness that permeated the country, especially the South, since then, are still with us, despite the efforts to unify the country and all its varied peoples. The resentment and rancor lingers because the pattern of injustice that was unfortunately set long ago, that created a false ¨hierarchy¨ of ¨races¨ seems impossible to change, albeit it is more subtle today than the obvious criminal exploitation of the past. Tragically, humanity has a more recent example of an entire population, that of Germany, which similarly began believing in a ¨racial hierarchy¨ or categories, which resulted in demonization of any non-Germans, and seemed to then ¨exonerate¨ the crimes against so many groups, especially Jews, that were committed in WWII. It seems that despite the influence of religion and ethics, if humans are pushed into a corner economically, or greed comes into play and perhaps is even encouraged as being ¨good,¨ a sickening disregard for humanity may come to the fore, ¨rationalizing¨ crimes such as slavery or mass murder - ideological ¨justification¨ for these mass crimes may come from a demagogue like Hitler or even from a distorted version of religion and ethics as with the mis-interpretation of the Bible in the South.
The next oligarchy Mr. Hartmann discusses is the one that arose with the take-off of the Industrial Revolution; there was a crash in the late 19th C., but the era of the Robber Barons was about to begin once the economy recovered. Income inequality became extreme, until the Great Depression burst the speculative bubble and led to widespread bank failures, unemployment, migration, hunger, hopelessness and fear. FDR´s bank and social welfare policies ameliorated the economic crisis and obviously the collective effort to fight WWII definitively ended the Depression and turned the country around, especially the economic boom following the war up until the 1970s or so. Mr. Hartmann says we are now once again in another era of oligarchic domination, because of laws that gave undue government influence to corporations and rulings that have relaxed aspects of voting rights bills, with the result that income inequality and economic precariousness has become extreme (and this is even before inflation set in, which adversely affects the financial well-being of the populace even more). Mr. Hartmann believes taxing the rich and implementing even more social safety net programs is the answer but given the globalized nature of the world economy, I wonder if even that would work in the long run. Rather, the key to taking back our country is to take back our legislature - money must be taken out of politics and any politicians who have grown rich in the course of being Senators or Representatives must retire. No politician should be allowed to take money, favors, or bribes in any form such as outsize campaign donations. Only when legislators are free from the influence of big business will government return to truly representing the voters, rather than tools of big donors as is (mostly) the case today. In a republic, government is supposed to represent the wishes of the (majority) voters, rich and poor, on an equal basis. In an oligarchy, the rich (minority) are in control. The rich are a minority part of the population and their concerns must be addressed accordingly; their interests should be taken into account but they cannot prioritized over the interests of the majority. However, I am not sure increasing the taxation of the rich is going to be a positive since they could easily move to some tax haven country and thus not pay any US tax, if they so wanted. They have armies of tax lawyers and accountants anyway to help them avoid paying maximum tax. Instead, an ethical framework must be imposed on our system such that the interests of the majority of voters, basically, the working class, are placed before those of the rich. Every issue and every law must be examined from this perspective. Nevertheless, under our system, it is the wealthy or corporations who actually start businesses and thus create jobs and so if they are taxed at too steep a rate, then they will flee the country etc., a move that may seem even more sensible given the cheap labor available elsewhere.
Despite its drawbacks, however, this book is worth reading, if only to glean some interesting facts about American history and to read about American history as seen through the ¨looking-glass¨ of it being captured by a succession of oligarchies. As I suggested above, the critique lacks nuance and is one-dimensional, even if it is more or less correct, because there are many additional factors that are either omitted or de-emphasized (religion, education, wars, agricultural trends, industrial/technological advances etc). Mr. Hartmann makes it seem that the working class has never shaped events, almost as if they are mere puppets from the beginning of American history, and that it is always the oligarchs that are running things either overtly or behind the scenes. This is a one-dimensional approach to American history, although despite that drawback, the book is still interesting.
Here are the quotes:
¨...Jefferson...in a letter [written in 1824 said] ...that...once [he and his revolutionary peers] ...fully understood and believed in the principles of natural law and democracy as laid out by the Enlightenment thinkers--no longer felt bound by the old rules of royalty and theocracy.¨
¨...Reagan-era deregulation of the financial industry [among other things] spawned the modern predatory payday loan industry, which was virtually unknown before the Reagan Revolution.¨
¨...William H. Skaggs...in his 1924 book ¨The Southern Oligarchy..[wrote about the landed aristocracy that arose after the invention of the cotton gin that the aristocracy] ¨...was not only imperious in fixing the social status in the South, but its power was absolute in a country where the whole civic and economic system was built on the institution of slavery. This imperialism was not only undemocratic in theory and practice, but it was not even republican in form.¨
¨...[in] 1789, ...the Constitution was ratified and we officially became a republic...¨
¨In 1992, Bill Clinton assured Americans that deregulating banks would make peoples´s savings safer, that gutting the social safety net and ¨ending welfare as we know it¨ would benefit poor people in depressed parts of the country, and that NAFTA would open the door to millions of new tech jobs to replace all those dirty factory jobs that would go to Mexico and, later, to China. By 2008, voters were starting to get wise to the game...¨
¨Both parties, by 2015, had once again become exactly what [Italian sociologist] Robert Michels had predicted in his 1911 book [¨Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy¨]: rigidified institutions that pretended to serve the people but, in fact, served the oligarchs that provided the money to keep them well funded and in power.¨
That Southern planter oligarchy was defeated in the Civil War but as we know, unfortunately the ideology of racism was more or less restored after Reconstruction in the form of Jim Crow. The South sank into backwardness and poverty for around 100 years, and the after-effects of the ugliness that permeated the country, especially the South, since then, are still with us, despite the efforts to unify the country and all its varied peoples. The resentment and rancor lingers because the pattern of injustice that was unfortunately set long ago, that created a false ¨hierarchy¨ of ¨races¨ seems impossible to change, albeit it is more subtle today than the obvious criminal exploitation of the past. Tragically, humanity has a more recent example of an entire population, that of Germany, which similarly began believing in a ¨racial hierarchy¨ or categories, which resulted in demonization of any non-Germans, and seemed to then ¨exonerate¨ the crimes against so many groups, especially Jews, that were committed in WWII. It seems that despite the influence of religion and ethics, if humans are pushed into a corner economically, or greed comes into play and perhaps is even encouraged as being ¨good,¨ a sickening disregard for humanity may come to the fore, ¨rationalizing¨ crimes such as slavery or mass murder - ideological ¨justification¨ for these mass crimes may come from a demagogue like Hitler or even from a distorted version of religion and ethics as with the mis-interpretation of the Bible in the South.
The next oligarchy Mr. Hartmann discusses is the one that arose with the take-off of the Industrial Revolution; there was a crash in the late 19th C., but the era of the Robber Barons was about to begin once the economy recovered. Income inequality became extreme, until the Great Depression burst the speculative bubble and led to widespread bank failures, unemployment, migration, hunger, hopelessness and fear. FDR´s bank and social welfare policies ameliorated the economic crisis and obviously the collective effort to fight WWII definitively ended the Depression and turned the country around, especially the economic boom following the war up until the 1970s or so. Mr. Hartmann says we are now once again in another era of oligarchic domination, because of laws that gave undue government influence to corporations and rulings that have relaxed aspects of voting rights bills, with the result that income inequality and economic precariousness has become extreme (and this is even before inflation set in, which adversely affects the financial well-being of the populace even more). Mr. Hartmann believes taxing the rich and implementing even more social safety net programs is the answer but given the globalized nature of the world economy, I wonder if even that would work in the long run. Rather, the key to taking back our country is to take back our legislature - money must be taken out of politics and any politicians who have grown rich in the course of being Senators or Representatives must retire. No politician should be allowed to take money, favors, or bribes in any form such as outsize campaign donations. Only when legislators are free from the influence of big business will government return to truly representing the voters, rather than tools of big donors as is (mostly) the case today. In a republic, government is supposed to represent the wishes of the (majority) voters, rich and poor, on an equal basis. In an oligarchy, the rich (minority) are in control. The rich are a minority part of the population and their concerns must be addressed accordingly; their interests should be taken into account but they cannot prioritized over the interests of the majority. However, I am not sure increasing the taxation of the rich is going to be a positive since they could easily move to some tax haven country and thus not pay any US tax, if they so wanted. They have armies of tax lawyers and accountants anyway to help them avoid paying maximum tax. Instead, an ethical framework must be imposed on our system such that the interests of the majority of voters, basically, the working class, are placed before those of the rich. Every issue and every law must be examined from this perspective. Nevertheless, under our system, it is the wealthy or corporations who actually start businesses and thus create jobs and so if they are taxed at too steep a rate, then they will flee the country etc., a move that may seem even more sensible given the cheap labor available elsewhere.
Despite its drawbacks, however, this book is worth reading, if only to glean some interesting facts about American history and to read about American history as seen through the ¨looking-glass¨ of it being captured by a succession of oligarchies. As I suggested above, the critique lacks nuance and is one-dimensional, even if it is more or less correct, because there are many additional factors that are either omitted or de-emphasized (religion, education, wars, agricultural trends, industrial/technological advances etc). Mr. Hartmann makes it seem that the working class has never shaped events, almost as if they are mere puppets from the beginning of American history, and that it is always the oligarchs that are running things either overtly or behind the scenes. This is a one-dimensional approach to American history, although despite that drawback, the book is still interesting.
Here are the quotes:
¨...Jefferson...in a letter [written in 1824 said] ...that...once [he and his revolutionary peers] ...fully understood and believed in the principles of natural law and democracy as laid out by the Enlightenment thinkers--no longer felt bound by the old rules of royalty and theocracy.¨
¨...Reagan-era deregulation of the financial industry [among other things] spawned the modern predatory payday loan industry, which was virtually unknown before the Reagan Revolution.¨
¨...William H. Skaggs...in his 1924 book ¨The Southern Oligarchy..[wrote about the landed aristocracy that arose after the invention of the cotton gin that the aristocracy] ¨...was not only imperious in fixing the social status in the South, but its power was absolute in a country where the whole civic and economic system was built on the institution of slavery. This imperialism was not only undemocratic in theory and practice, but it was not even republican in form.¨
¨...[in] 1789, ...the Constitution was ratified and we officially became a republic...¨
¨In 1992, Bill Clinton assured Americans that deregulating banks would make peoples´s savings safer, that gutting the social safety net and ¨ending welfare as we know it¨ would benefit poor people in depressed parts of the country, and that NAFTA would open the door to millions of new tech jobs to replace all those dirty factory jobs that would go to Mexico and, later, to China. By 2008, voters were starting to get wise to the game...¨
¨Both parties, by 2015, had once again become exactly what [Italian sociologist] Robert Michels had predicted in his 1911 book [¨Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy¨]: rigidified institutions that pretended to serve the people but, in fact, served the oligarchs that provided the money to keep them well funded and in power.¨
January 18, 2022
4.5 stars! This is a book I think every American should read. For those with little interest, I would recommend that at the very least you read just the last two sections - Part 5 and Part 6. We are in very real danger of losing our democracy, but most of us are just too busy living our lives to notice. When we see authoritarian rule in other countries like Brazil, Hungary, North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia and Russia, we are aghast, and tell ourselves that we are lucky to live in the United States. When we see countries where elections are not free and fair or countries where the media is controlled by the government, we find it hard to believe. But these things can happen here, and the process has already begun. We have seen this before, and as Thom points out, it is a very slow process, where we allow the first small transgression, and then each succeedingly larger transgression, until we have given up all control.
We are in desperate need of a wake-up call, but I am worried that we won't wake up until it's too late.
We are in desperate need of a wake-up call, but I am worried that we won't wake up until it's too late.
December 14, 2023
amazing. must read book about how money controls politics and threatens democracy.
November 28, 2021
I felt the book was mislabeled. While Hartman does include some history I had never heard of about the rise of think tanks and the court decisions that led to corporate money in politics, they weren't the bulk of the book like I would have expected them to be. There was also a fair bit of Trump topics that I felt didn't fit the themes of the book. The forward addresses that it was written before the 2020 election, but considering the results it just makes the book seem dated.
The book is mostly about how bad the GOP is and Trump's attempts at tyranny. Ultimately I was hoping by reading this book I would gain a deeper knowledge about oligarchy in America, but it all felt really shallow to me.
The book is mostly about how bad the GOP is and Trump's attempts at tyranny. Ultimately I was hoping by reading this book I would gain a deeper knowledge about oligarchy in America, but it all felt really shallow to me.
March 30, 2025
I’m no longer using Goodreads as I will not support Oligarchs such as Jefferey Bezos. You can find me on StoryGraph, my username is: roy207
The switch is easy, and you can export your goodreads library and upload to StoryGraph so you pick up where you left off. I did this all from my phone.
What is your excuse?
The switch is easy, and you can export your goodreads library and upload to StoryGraph so you pick up where you left off. I did this all from my phone.
What is your excuse?
March 23, 2021
Excellent book everyone should read.
April 20, 2021
5-word review: money, taxation, education, journalism, voting
October 26, 2021
Wow what a great read! I highly recommend this read if you're a person who's actually interested in the American experiment surviving.
November 3, 2021
Thank you Thom Hartmann for exposing our disastrous health care system. Medicare For All is the only way to fair and HUMANE health care in this country.
March 29, 2021
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. I didn't love it, and I don't feel terribly hopeful now that I've read it, but I cannot say there's anything wrong with it.
It's educational and easy to read and understand. Hartmann goes back in time to demonstrate the various times the oligarchy of the United States attempted to trample over democracy. He explains in a way that I'd never before heard, the Confederacy was a group of oligarchs who compelled the poor southerners to fight for them to continue to make huge amounts of money, and he explains how the invention of the cotton gin was largely to blame for this. It was fascinating.
He also covers some important points that are not revelatory, but useful to have in one place. "Oligarchies find debt one of the easiest ways to control their citizens, particularly where there are laws that criminalize failure to pay." Of course, keeping people poorly educated is another tool of oligarchs. He demonstrates, with data, how the south has invested significantly less in public education and keeps more of its citizens in poverty.
But here was the part that I found most useful, in which Hartmann describes the process by which oligarchs take over a democracy and turn it to tyranny:
"Oligarchs fund media, lobbyists, and think tanks that seize the public dialogue while burrowing deeply in the popular media and academia. They use the power of that money to further weaken laws keeping money out of politics. They move from ownership of individual politicians to ownership of an entire political party. They use that party to seize control of government itself and then 'deconstruct the administrative state.' Without the state protecting the people, and with the state controlling elections in a way that widely disenfranchises the victims of the oligarchy, democracy becomes a sham exercise and a police state emerges to enforce the new economic and social order."
In a book like this, I don't think it's necessary to worry about spoilers so I will tell you what he suggests we do. "First, we challenge oligarchs and tyrants head-on through expanding the right to vote, the right to unionize, and the obligation of the very wealthy to pay reasonable taxes. Then we provide Americans with the life that citizens of every other advanced democracy already enjoy: free healthcare, free education, good public transportation, greening infrastructure, and a democratic government that responds to all of its citizens wants and needs."
Another thing that I found stunning was Hartmann's observation about the GOP logo. In 2000, they flipped the stars on their logo from the polar star to the pentagram. No one in the GOP has been willing or able to explain to him why this was done.
There were many references to other books from Mr. Hartmann, other “hidden histories” to learn more about subjects which he barely explored in this book—Supreme Court, guns, healthcare, voting rights, and monopolies. At times, I felt as if he were trying to sell me on the complete series, implying that I only had a small part of the knowledge necessary to understand the whole picture, and understanding everything is essential if I wish to take meaningful action. I’m sure those books are equally interesting, but the fact that there are so many of them is a bit overwhelming. I guess the biggest problem I had with this book, despite some very informative and enlightening history, is that the call to arms at the end, though not lackluster, is not exciting enough. I wanted to feel energized and motivated to do something, but instead, I feel a bit depressed and powerless.
It's educational and easy to read and understand. Hartmann goes back in time to demonstrate the various times the oligarchy of the United States attempted to trample over democracy. He explains in a way that I'd never before heard, the Confederacy was a group of oligarchs who compelled the poor southerners to fight for them to continue to make huge amounts of money, and he explains how the invention of the cotton gin was largely to blame for this. It was fascinating.
He also covers some important points that are not revelatory, but useful to have in one place. "Oligarchies find debt one of the easiest ways to control their citizens, particularly where there are laws that criminalize failure to pay." Of course, keeping people poorly educated is another tool of oligarchs. He demonstrates, with data, how the south has invested significantly less in public education and keeps more of its citizens in poverty.
But here was the part that I found most useful, in which Hartmann describes the process by which oligarchs take over a democracy and turn it to tyranny:
"Oligarchs fund media, lobbyists, and think tanks that seize the public dialogue while burrowing deeply in the popular media and academia. They use the power of that money to further weaken laws keeping money out of politics. They move from ownership of individual politicians to ownership of an entire political party. They use that party to seize control of government itself and then 'deconstruct the administrative state.' Without the state protecting the people, and with the state controlling elections in a way that widely disenfranchises the victims of the oligarchy, democracy becomes a sham exercise and a police state emerges to enforce the new economic and social order."
In a book like this, I don't think it's necessary to worry about spoilers so I will tell you what he suggests we do. "First, we challenge oligarchs and tyrants head-on through expanding the right to vote, the right to unionize, and the obligation of the very wealthy to pay reasonable taxes. Then we provide Americans with the life that citizens of every other advanced democracy already enjoy: free healthcare, free education, good public transportation, greening infrastructure, and a democratic government that responds to all of its citizens wants and needs."
Another thing that I found stunning was Hartmann's observation about the GOP logo. In 2000, they flipped the stars on their logo from the polar star to the pentagram. No one in the GOP has been willing or able to explain to him why this was done.
There were many references to other books from Mr. Hartmann, other “hidden histories” to learn more about subjects which he barely explored in this book—Supreme Court, guns, healthcare, voting rights, and monopolies. At times, I felt as if he were trying to sell me on the complete series, implying that I only had a small part of the knowledge necessary to understand the whole picture, and understanding everything is essential if I wish to take meaningful action. I’m sure those books are equally interesting, but the fact that there are so many of them is a bit overwhelming. I guess the biggest problem I had with this book, despite some very informative and enlightening history, is that the call to arms at the end, though not lackluster, is not exciting enough. I wanted to feel energized and motivated to do something, but instead, I feel a bit depressed and powerless.
June 25, 2025
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the history of the battle against oligarchy in America—and how we can win the latest round.
Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny.
The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class.
Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point.
Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: This is another provocatively unapologetic takedown of the right-wing slow coup that's been ongoing since "They" installed that fatuous old actor in the White House after manipulating the media into reporting insanity as facts.
Not gonna work to deradicalize your MAGAt relative, but definitely can offer you some armor against joining them for even a second. Staying alert to what their end game is will keep your from getting too far off the line "They" don't want you to draw. It's blatantly partisan and at times on the overkill side, but better that than playing nice with nasty people.
To fight intolerance, you must learn to be intolerant of it. Paradoxically that works for all topics in public life.
The Publisher Says: Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the history of the battle against oligarchy in America—and how we can win the latest round.
Billionaire oligarchs want to own our republic, and they're nearly there thanks to legislation and Supreme Court decisions that they have essentially bought. They put Trump and his political allies into office and support a vast network of think tanks, publications, and social media that every day push our nation closer and closer to police-state tyranny.
The United States was born in a struggle against the oligarchs of the British aristocracy, and ever since then the history of America has been one of dynamic tension between democracy and oligarchy. And much like the shock of the 1929 crash woke America up to glaring inequality and the ongoing theft of democracy by that generation's oligarchs, the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has laid bare how extensively oligarchs have looted our nation's economic system, gutted governmental institutions, and stolen the wealth of the former middle class.
Thom Hartmann traces the history of this struggle against oligarchy from America's founding to the United States' war with the feudal Confederacy to President Franklin Roosevelt's struggle against “economic royalists,” who wanted to block the New Deal. In each of those cases, the oligarchs lost the battle. But with increasing right-wing control of the media, unlimited campaign contributions, and a conservative takeover of the judicial system, we're at a crisis point.
Now is the time for action, before we flip into tyranny. We've beaten the oligarchs before, and we can do it again. Hartmann lays out practical measures we can take to break up media monopolies, limit the influence of money in politics, reclaim the wealth stolen over decades by the oligarchy, and build a movement that will return control of America to We the People.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: This is another provocatively unapologetic takedown of the right-wing slow coup that's been ongoing since "They" installed that fatuous old actor in the White House after manipulating the media into reporting insanity as facts.
Not gonna work to deradicalize your MAGAt relative, but definitely can offer you some armor against joining them for even a second. Staying alert to what their end game is will keep your from getting too far off the line "They" don't want you to draw. It's blatantly partisan and at times on the overkill side, but better that than playing nice with nasty people.
To fight intolerance, you must learn to be intolerant of it. Paradoxically that works for all topics in public life.
December 2, 2025
Pros
- Excellent primer on American oligarchy: how it works, where it shows up, and why it needs to be curtailed. For anyone new to the topic, it’s a solid overview of how oligarchic power touches free speech, legislation, legal representation, education, criminal justice, and more.
- Clearly explains the 80-year power cycle in American history, showing how confrontations with oligarchy tend to peak once every eight decades. It’s an intriguing political and historical framing.
- Calls out the political right as the main instigators and champions of American oligarchy, detailing how its candidates, think tanks, religious rhetoric, and cable media have driven this consolidation of power.
Cons
-While the author briefly notes that the left has also contributed to the rise of American oligarchy, he doesn’t meaningfully account for their role. Clinton, Obama, and Biden all played major parts in enabling oligarchic power over the past 40 years, yet the book overwhelmingly targets the right.
-“American oligarchs” are often described as an abstract force rather than specific actors. Without naming names, the narrative sometimes feels like the author is arguing against a vague adversary instead of detailing concrete power actors.
Summary
This is a strong book for anyone new to the subject or anyone looking for a condensed overview of how American oligarchy has developed over the past half-century. The author covers a wide range of issues and makes a strong case for why this form of leadership harms ordinary people and destabilizes the global order.
He correctly identifies the right as holding the lion’s share of responsibility, and gestures at the left’s complicity, though far too lightly. His optimism about change can feel a bit unrealistic. I found myself wishing he had held the old-guard Democrats more accountable for their role in empowering oligarchs, and that he had named more oligarchs directly to make the opposition feel tangible rather than abstract.
- Excellent primer on American oligarchy: how it works, where it shows up, and why it needs to be curtailed. For anyone new to the topic, it’s a solid overview of how oligarchic power touches free speech, legislation, legal representation, education, criminal justice, and more.
- Clearly explains the 80-year power cycle in American history, showing how confrontations with oligarchy tend to peak once every eight decades. It’s an intriguing political and historical framing.
- Calls out the political right as the main instigators and champions of American oligarchy, detailing how its candidates, think tanks, religious rhetoric, and cable media have driven this consolidation of power.
Cons
-While the author briefly notes that the left has also contributed to the rise of American oligarchy, he doesn’t meaningfully account for their role. Clinton, Obama, and Biden all played major parts in enabling oligarchic power over the past 40 years, yet the book overwhelmingly targets the right.
-“American oligarchs” are often described as an abstract force rather than specific actors. Without naming names, the narrative sometimes feels like the author is arguing against a vague adversary instead of detailing concrete power actors.
Summary
This is a strong book for anyone new to the subject or anyone looking for a condensed overview of how American oligarchy has developed over the past half-century. The author covers a wide range of issues and makes a strong case for why this form of leadership harms ordinary people and destabilizes the global order.
He correctly identifies the right as holding the lion’s share of responsibility, and gestures at the left’s complicity, though far too lightly. His optimism about change can feel a bit unrealistic. I found myself wishing he had held the old-guard Democrats more accountable for their role in empowering oligarchs, and that he had named more oligarchs directly to make the opposition feel tangible rather than abstract.
November 4, 2025
This book is a distillation of the history of the United States from the point of view of the political forces that have ebbed and flowed. If you have read, “ How the South Won the Civil War”, then this short book simplifies that premise and points out the clear and present danger we are facing in the United States. A lot has happened in the five years since the book was published. Although we had a brief reprieve under Biden and the passage of laws that might have made some of the changes that were recommended in this book, Biden’s failure to build a consensus among his supporters that such changes should be permanent (instead of being framed as needed to combat the COVID crisis) and his failure to allow a robust public debate about his successor led directly to the recapture of the government by the oligarchs in 2024. The true head of the government in 2025, with Donald Trump as clownish president, who is alternately feared, ridiculed and mocked on the world stage, is the head of OMB, Russel Voigt, who has presided over the greatest dismemberment of government in history. I write this on Election Day, where it remains to be seen if the forces against the oligarchs will prevail in a few places, the government is irreparably deadlocked and a duly elected representative from Arizona cannot be seated months after her election due to Speaker Mike Johnson ‘s cowardly subservience to his masters.
August 7, 2025
A Wake-Up Call for Every American Who Cares About Democracy!!
This book gives a high-level overview as Hartmann traces the centuries-long battle between democracy and oligarchy in America—from the founding revolt against British aristocracy to the modern-day corporate stranglehold on our institutions.
"Politics turned from the art of the possible to the art of the con, at least for those politicians and parties willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder."
Hartmann’s analysis of the first Trump term is particularly sobering, describing it as a moment when oligarchy nearly tipped into outright tyranny. And here we are in the second Trump term, watching it happen.
“We are living through America’s third struggle with oligarchy... a plan for the various oligarchs of America to stop competing and organize to take over the US government.”
Yet, the book is not just a warning—it’s a blueprint for resistance.
If you care about the future of our republic, The Hidden History of American Oligarchy is not just recommended—it’s required.
This book gives a high-level overview as Hartmann traces the centuries-long battle between democracy and oligarchy in America—from the founding revolt against British aristocracy to the modern-day corporate stranglehold on our institutions.
"Politics turned from the art of the possible to the art of the con, at least for those politicians and parties willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder."
Hartmann’s analysis of the first Trump term is particularly sobering, describing it as a moment when oligarchy nearly tipped into outright tyranny. And here we are in the second Trump term, watching it happen.
“We are living through America’s third struggle with oligarchy... a plan for the various oligarchs of America to stop competing and organize to take over the US government.”
Yet, the book is not just a warning—it’s a blueprint for resistance.
If you care about the future of our republic, The Hidden History of American Oligarchy is not just recommended—it’s required.
August 2, 2025
Everything makes sense now. This book has taught me all the things that I needed to know to understand the crazy times we are living in.. It’s not particularly good news, but I feel like I now know what we’re working with the history of it and how to go forward and that that’s a lot.
I’d heard the term oligarchy bandied about and had a vague idea of what it meant but what I didn’t know is that it is a constant danger to our republic and the world.
It doesn’t sound like these people are going anywhere either so we are definitely needing to get smarter and not become passive about watching out for this. I’m very sad that our current state has fallen into this so deeply that we are entering the stages of tyranny.
I will definitely be sharing this with as many people as possible and recommending the author and reading more of his books. The explanations are clear and something that anyone can understand we need this to be accessible to the general public, so I applaud that.
I’d heard the term oligarchy bandied about and had a vague idea of what it meant but what I didn’t know is that it is a constant danger to our republic and the world.
It doesn’t sound like these people are going anywhere either so we are definitely needing to get smarter and not become passive about watching out for this. I’m very sad that our current state has fallen into this so deeply that we are entering the stages of tyranny.
I will definitely be sharing this with as many people as possible and recommending the author and reading more of his books. The explanations are clear and something that anyone can understand we need this to be accessible to the general public, so I applaud that.
January 28, 2022
There is a lot of good information here, especially on the backgrounds of people whose names you might hear in the context of their current roles. The author does have a particular political POV, and can be a bit reductive at times, but if you can't distinguish the person from the information he presents, then maybe political books aren't for you. Also, this is part of a series, so some things that you'd think would be covered here, like the electoral college, are discussed in the Voting book instead. But all in all, the book provides many good reminders that the rich are and have always been in it for themselves, and corruption only gets worse if it goes unchecked.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
August 12, 2022
I believe that if you want to understand politics, you need to understand history. And very few authors out there understand both as well as Thom Hartmann.
I've read a few of his books and I've enjoyed the lessons that I've learned in them.
The United States is currently in the midst of an economic crisis. No, it didn't start recently. It started in 1981, but the seeds were planted a while before that. We have to change a lot of how we do things in order to save the foundation of the country.
In this book, you'll get a really good idea of how we go to where we are, and some steps that could be used to fix it. Of course, if you know your history, you may already know the New Deal that we need.
I've read a few of his books and I've enjoyed the lessons that I've learned in them.
The United States is currently in the midst of an economic crisis. No, it didn't start recently. It started in 1981, but the seeds were planted a while before that. We have to change a lot of how we do things in order to save the foundation of the country.
In this book, you'll get a really good idea of how we go to where we are, and some steps that could be used to fix it. Of course, if you know your history, you may already know the New Deal that we need.
April 30, 2025
A must read in these days of the Trump Regime
Very informative of what and how an Oligarchy starts and works. Some interesting thoughts brought back to mind, like Reagan was a lifelong Democrat until he wasn’t and became a Republican president. Hmm, sounds familiar, can’t get in on your party so just switch sides.
As an lifelong independent who have voted on both sides of the aisle and actually voted for Reagan in my first election, learning about how different forms of government work from the bottom up and the inside out should be something that interests all of us if we really want to be informed voters.
Very informative of what and how an Oligarchy starts and works. Some interesting thoughts brought back to mind, like Reagan was a lifelong Democrat until he wasn’t and became a Republican president. Hmm, sounds familiar, can’t get in on your party so just switch sides.
As an lifelong independent who have voted on both sides of the aisle and actually voted for Reagan in my first election, learning about how different forms of government work from the bottom up and the inside out should be something that interests all of us if we really want to be informed voters.
June 15, 2025
A good refresher of the timeline of actual history. I'm engaged and schooled in the justice system and current political scene. Listening to Thom regularly, I always learn or relearn things in history I forgot. Although we're flipping into tyranny today it's important to keep clear of propaganda and remind ourselves of what actually happened throughout time. It's why I chose to start his books with this important one.
This is a good book to recommend to those who don't follow history so closely and want to learn how we got here and some suggestions on how to get our democracy back. Thom has structured the book in a very clear and easy to read style.
This is a good book to recommend to those who don't follow history so closely and want to learn how we got here and some suggestions on how to get our democracy back. Thom has structured the book in a very clear and easy to read style.
June 29, 2025
Very good intro to the history of American Oligarchy and the tactics of oligarchic society. As someone with a background in political science and theory though, this book was merely surface level. Hartmann provides his “fixes” to prevent us from falling into a tyrannical oligarchy. But he doesn’t go in depth or explain them at all. He merely says get money out of politics, without explaining how we do so. Overall it was good history and intro into these things, but I wanted more as someone with a deeper background.
Overall grade: B
Overall grade: B
June 21, 2021
Look, Hartmann knows his history and his subject, but he also knows his audience, and anytime someone’s writing so clearly to that bias, you have to read them with a grain (or cup!) of salt.
That aside, the book is written sharply—he’s making an argument, and making it concisely. I went in already convinced by prior study that America’s relationship with oligarchy was deeply problematic, and I appreciated the ways Hartmann drew on histories beyond the typical talking points.
That aside, the book is written sharply—he’s making an argument, and making it concisely. I went in already convinced by prior study that America’s relationship with oligarchy was deeply problematic, and I appreciated the ways Hartmann drew on histories beyond the typical talking points.
December 4, 2021
Depending on how into current events you are, portions will be familiar. However, much is new. Most interesting to me were discussions of how corporations became persons and studies of democracy in animals. Although the situation of oligarchy becoming tyranny is grim, there is the hope based on two previous periods that US escaped back into democracy. And there are suggestions, some government level, some individual level, for a remedy.
June 21, 2021
Scary parallels between rise of conservative Republicanism since Reagan, the tyranny of Britain, the Confederacy, the Robber Barons culminating in the Great Depression and of course, Nazis-- roughly an 80 year cycle where oligarchs get control then overflown.
November 27, 2021
Democracy is hard work
It is very useful to have this handbook for the task of returning the authority of the government to the people, where it belongs. Now it remains to be seen if we can accomplish the work required.
It is very useful to have this handbook for the task of returning the authority of the government to the people, where it belongs. Now it remains to be seen if we can accomplish the work required.
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