The Last American President - by Thom Hartmann (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

The Last American President rips open America's wounded democracy to expose a terrifying truth: Donald Trump isn't an anomaly--he's the inevitable product of a system engineered to fail. This searing investigation reveals how a man forged by childhood trauma, pathological narcissism, and calculated cruelty didn't hijack democracy--he was handed the keys by those who should have been its guardians.

Hartmann uncovers the unholy alliance between Trump's damaged psyche and America's rotted institutions. From Fred Trump's brutal parenting to Roy Cohn's lessons in shamelessness, from a Republican Party that traded principles for power to billionaire donors who treated democracy as a profit center, this book exposes the assembly line that manufactured an authoritarian.

But this is about more than Trump's past--it's about America's future. As climate catastrophe accelerates and fascism spreads globally, Hartmann reveals the nightmare scenario: a second Trump term that doesn't just end American democracy but also triggers irreversible planetary damage. Through meticulous research and unflinching analysis, he shows how political cowardice and corporate greed created the perfect storm that could extinguish humanity's last chance at survival.

This isn't just political commentary--it's a last-minute alarm sounding before the point of no return.

Review Quotes

"As both a psychotherapist and a political scientist, Hartmann dives deep into the murky bilge of Trump's brain and comes up with the detailed expose of a pathological narcissist who feeds on the easily bamboozled marks we call voters. It'll make you sick and nauseated, but you'll love it."
--Greg Palast, bestselling author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

"This work expertly lays out how Trumpism has reshaped our understanding and reliance on democracy's most fundamental institutions. Now Americans must play the long game: defend our most valued principles to save our democracy."
--Ali Velshi, Anchor, MSNBC, and Senior Correspondent, NBC News

"Hartmann understands that the attack on our democracy comes from the president but also an entire infrastructure of money and political power that was built over decades and that aims to turn America into an oligarchy."
--David Sirota, award-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Uprising and Hostile Takeover

About the Author

Thom Hartmann is a four‐time winner of the Project Censored Award, a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books, and America's #1 progressive talk radio show host for more than a decade. His show is carried on SiriusXM and radio stations nationwide and simulcast as television on Free Speech TV.