Ebook: Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade Against the New Deal

“A compelling and readable story of resistance to the new economic order.”—Boston Globe

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.

“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 persuasively shows how anti–New Deal business interests helped create a new political conservatism after 1945. It 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

“A compelling and readable story of resistance to the new economic order.” —Boston Globe

“A fascinating account of how important wealthy donors were to the rise and success of conservatism…. While many historians have focused on the role of ideas, activists, and politicians, this work takes us to the people who put their money where their mouths were.” —Huffington Post

“With ferocious archival spadework and a sharply honed critical intelligence, this study shifts the agenda of history-writing about American conservatism and marks a new stage in its maturity. A very important book.” —Rick Perlstein, Nixonland

“Highly readable for its absorbing historical background…. A valuable addition to the history of conservatism.” —Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

“Readable and engaging…. As certain topics remain at the forefront of the political conversation—the economy, increasing government programs, the future of the conservatism and the influence of business in politics, to name a few—Invisible Handslays the groundwork for anyone trying to grasp where some of these issues began and what they mean.” —Roll Call

“Invisible Hands is a brilliant, lucid, meticulously researched account of the politics of business conservatism. Kim Phillips-Fein’s work is pathbreaking. For anyone who wants to understand the triumph of the conservative order during the past quarter century, Invisible Hands is a must read.” —Steve Fraser, author of Wall Street: America’s Dream Palace

“A cogently argued, densely researched book…. Phillips-Fein arranges her material into a new synthesis, using archival research to date and describe the exact set of connections that formed at mid-century and that went on to precipitate the Reagan Revolution. She does this with an eye for the vivid—and at times for the entertaining—detail. She moves among the history of ideas, movements, institutions, and political change in prose that is clear and engaging.” —Dissent

Kim Phillips-Fein won the Bancroft Dissertation Prize for her research on Invisible Hands. She has written for The Nation, The Baffler, and many other publications. She is an assistant professor at the Gallatin School of New York University and lives in New York City.