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  • Published: 21 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9798890571847
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $55.00

The Last American President

A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink



From bestselling progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann comes an urgent autopsy of American democracy, showing how plutocrats, political cowardice, and systemic rot built the perfect runway for Trump's authoritarian ascent.

Trump didn't break American democracy—he revealed how broken it already was.

In this urgent, deeply researched book, four-time Project Censored Award–winning, New York Times bestselling author Thom Hartmann argues that Trump is a symptom, not the disease. The real story is the ecosystem that built him: a childhood defined by cruelty, a mentor who weaponized shamelessness, a political party that sold its principles for power, and a donor class that used him to dismantle the guardrails on their own greed.

Inside, you'll find

  • a psychological portrait of how Trump was made—not born;
  • a clear-eyed account of how the Republican Party and billionaire networks enabled his rise;
  • global comparisons to Hungary, Venezuela, and Weimar Germany—because this pattern has a name; and
  • 7 proven, history-backed strategies for defeating authoritarianism before it becomes permanent.

This is not a book about despair. It is a book about recognition—and resistance.

For readers of How Democracies Die and On Tyranny who are ready to move from understanding the crisis to doing something about it.

The choice, as always, is ours.

  • Published: 21 October 2025
  • ISBN: 9798890571847
  • Imprint: Berrett-Koehler
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 224
  • RRP: $55.00

About the author

Thom Hartmann

Thom Hartmann is an award-winning author, international lecturer, teacher, and psychotherapist. His books have been written about in Time magazine, he has been on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and he has been featured as a guest on numerous radio and TV shows, including NPR's "All Things Considered," CNN, and BBC. A former journalist, editor, and occasional woodsplitter, he lives in Vermont with his wife, Louise.

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