One Nation Under Gold: How One Precious Metal Has Dominated the American Imagination for Four Centuries

by James Ledbetter Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Overview

Worshiped by Tea Party politicians but loathed by sane economists, gold has influenced American monetary policy and has exerted an irrational influence on the national psyche for centuries. It is an existential quest that extends to today, as millions of investors remain entranced by the metal, and as right-wing presidential candidates present it as the antidote to our economic woes. Acclaimed author James Ledbetter traces the origins of our national obsession, revealing how gold's sacred status dates from precolonial days when conquistadors fanatically searched the New World for the gilded city of El Dorado. From William Jennings Bryan's legendary Cross of Gold speech of 1896, to FDR's ban on private gold ownership, to Nixon's 1971 decision to float the dollar and detach it from gold, Ledbetter's "really superb treatment" (Julian Zelizer) expertly explores the controversies around this hallowed metal, investigating for the first time what our centuries-long fixation ultimately reveals about the American identity.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The book is wildly entertaining as well as informative. …Ledbetter is a first-rate reporter with a nose for unearthing great stories. He delivers great and often outré stories in abundance…Ledbetter has written a delightful book, one that succeeds in capturing, among other things, much of the loopiness that has undeservedly tarnished the reputation of the true gold standard."— Ralph Benko Forbes

"[A] chronicle of the American people’s fascination with gold. . . . [Ledbetter’s] well-spun narrative spans the better part of four centuries."— James Grant Wall Street Journal

"A surprisingly readable history of U.S. fiscal policy. Starting with America’s earliest currencies . . . the book traces the chaotic end of the gold standard and dissects our modern obsession with trying to bring it back . . . . [Ledbetter’s] measured, persuasive conclusion after surveying two centuries of haphazard fiscal decision making is that a return to a gold standard would be a deeply bad idea. Consider this a must read for the gold bugs in your life"— Anne VanderMey Fortune

"Everyone is familiar with gold but few know of its complex history—until now, thanks to James Ledbetter’s skillful storytelling."— Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Prize–winning economist and best-selling author of The Great Divide

"What an original, imaginative book! Bristling with ideas, this lucid history reveals the economic, cultural, and political dimensions of gold’s role in the American experience. So doing, it illuminates, informs, and provokes."— Ira Katznelson, author of the Bancroft Prize–winning Fear Itself

"I learned an interesting new fact on nearly every page of One Nation Under Gold, but I also learned more than facts: James Ledbetter shows us how men have been transfixed by this metal and the folly that has resulted from that obsession. A gripping story, and a history that has had far more influence over policy in the United States than you might think."— Michael Tomasky, editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

"The material on the gold crisis of the 1960s is really superb—without question the best treatment I have seen of this issue. This was the issue Johnson faced, combined with Vietnam and racial backlash."— Julian Zelizer, author of The Fierce Urgency of Now

"[This] is the first book to really make sense of the tumultuous and entertaining history of Americans’ obsession with gold, brilliantly illuminating how our fascination with the precious metal has shaped our national psyche, sparked political turmoil, and exerted a powerful and often malignant influence on economic policy."— James Surowiecki

Kirkus Reviews

2017-04-04
Is the dollar as good as gold? Not for a long time, writes Inc. editor Ledbetter (Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex, 2011, etc.), and therein hangs a tale.As the author notes, gold finds in Americans "a psychological wellspring that reaches beyond any purely physical qualities." Monetary gold, however, is more complicated: gold mania may be one thing, but a modern economy is better based on more abundant materials. Still, arguments for the gold standard, which was finally abandoned during Richard Nixon's second term, have been constant throughout American history. Ledbetter has a knack for finding the most interesting, if sometimes-obscure, pleas for gold, many offered by government officials. In the early Republic, one argued strenuously against paper currency, saying "there would be no end to the legion of paper devils which shall pour forth from the loins of the Secretary." In later times, the father of the multibillionaire Warren Buffett, a Nebraska congressman, urged that the Bretton Woods monetary agreements would weaken American sovereignty—which was being betrayed, he added, by Dwight Eisenhower, earning Buffett a reputation as "a bedrock reactionary who shot off his mouth once too often," as columnist Drew Pearson said. Arguments for and against the gold standard have as often been politically as economically grounded, and Ledbetter's book is a touch short on the actual mechanics of gold and its convertibility while satisfyingly long on the sharp political divisions that have formed around it. Now that individual Americans are allowed to own gold—a right, one Swiss-born commentator gloomily warns, that can be taken away at any time—it has returned to popularity. Meanwhile, politicians on the right, including Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, have either outright endorsed a return to the gold standard or confessed to a liking for the sound of it. An absorbing and often entertaining look at precious metal and its place—or lack thereof—in our wallets.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171360337
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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