Book Review - The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink

Title: The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink
Author: Thom Hartmann
My Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍
My Review: This book is awesome! It explains how Trump came to power & how America has been conned by greedy corporations & a psychopath intent on destroying democracy for wealth & power. I totally recommend it!

Description (Audible): 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.

Description (ChatGPT):  In this rapid-fire, provocative work, Hartmann argues that the figure often seen as an aberration—Donald Trump—is instead the inevitable outcome of long-decaying institutions and a political party that abandoned core values for power. He constructs a multi-layered portrait combining psychological analysis, political history, and systemic critique: from Trump’s familial and business upbringing, to the transformation of the Republican Party and a plutocratic donor class, to a broader warning about democracy and climate risk. 

Hartmann’s style is urgent, unabashedly partisan, and clearly aimed at wake-up call rather than neutral scholarship. He credentials himself as psychotherapist, historian and commentator to explore the “authoritarian assembly line” that he claims produced this moment.

One of the book’s strengths is its synthesis: rather than simply recounting well-known scandals, it weaves them into a larger narrative of democratic erosion—tying electoral dismantling, donor influence, media spectacle and personal trauma together. Critics and reviewers note this depth of layering as a highlight. Goodreads+1

On the flip side, readers should be aware that this is not a neutral or lightly-nuanced treatment. Some may find the tone alarmist, the partisan lens heavy, and the causal attributions (e.g., specific vote suppression numbers) open to challenge. Reddit

Verdict:
If you are interested in a forceful, urgent commentary on the state of U.S. democracy, especially through a progressive lens, this book delivers. It stands out for its narrative linking individual personality, institutional change and systemic risk. If you prefer balanced partisan distance or want a deeply footnoted academic text, this may feel more advocacy-than-analysis. Either way, it’s a compelling read that is likely to provoke thought and discussion.