The Businessmen’s Crusade Against the New Deal
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“The riveting story of how economic conservatism became one of the leading strands in American political thought… Engaging history from a talented new scholarly voice.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Kim Phillips-Fein’s Invisible Hands… is essential reading on the history of contemporary American politics, and especially on the origins of Ronald Reagan’s ascendancy.” —Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008”
Invisible Hands tells the story of how a small group of American businessmen succeeded in building a political movement. Long before the “culture wars” of the 1960s sparked the Republican backlash against cultural liberalism, these high-powered individuals actively resisted New Deal economics and sought to educate and organize their peers. Kim Phillips-Fein recounts the little-known efforts of men such as W. C. Mullendore, Leonard Read, and Jasper Crane, drawing on meticulous research and narrative gifts to craft a compelling history of the role of big and small business in American politics―and a blueprint for anyone who wants insight into the way that money has been used to create political change.