“A vibrant and fascinating account of monetary gold’s volatile fortunes in the U.S.”
—Booklist

“Ledbetter has a knack for finding the most interesting, if sometimes-obscure, pleas for gold, many offered by government officials. . . . An absorbing and often entertaining look at precious metal and its place—or lack thereof—in our wallets.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“An excellent book for those well-versed in economic topics. . . . Ledbetter hews closely to the financial aspects of gold as an influence on the country’s progress, though he does touch upon some of the cultural, technological, and artistic roles it has played—such as the fate of the Golden Rooster of Las Vegas—which makes for some entertaining diversions. . . . A solid look at America’s golden history.”
—Publishers Weekly

Tracing the fascinating—indeed, at times absurd—origins of a national obsession, ONE NATION UNDER GOLD explores America’s longstanding fixation with gold: how it has colored our political, economic, and cultural history—and why, even today, millions of Americans remain convinced it affords the perfect antidote to our economic woes.

Contrary to popular myth, gold was not discovered by California prospectors but by a twelve-year-old North Carolinian in 1799. When the 16-pound rock he used as a doorstop was correctly identified as gold, it set off a rush foreshadowing the California-bound “Gold Fever” that would raise the temperature of the nation forty years later, crown the young republic as a global economic power, and forever entrance the American imagination.

From that moment of discovery timed (some would say divinely) to the birth of a nation, acclaimed author and editor of Inc. magazine James Ledbetter recounts the complex history of gold in the United States, proving that the precious metal became synonymous with American industry and, in many ways, identity. And like any fundamental myth, the narrative of what role gold should come to play in the nation became one of the most contested issues in nineteenth-century politics—and beyond. With the crucial exception of slavery, no question tormented the era more than what our money should be, for it informed every major public policy concern, from the structure of government and the very meaning of the Constitution to questions about the nation’s economic growth and expansion.

Tracing a navigable through line from Andrew Jackson’s war against a central banking system to William Jennings Bryan’s inflammatory speech at the Democratic Convention of 1896 (here deemed “a masterpiece of Americana”), FDR’s departure from the gold standard in 1933, Nixon’s decision to float the dollar in 1971, and the inevitable rise of the Tea Party, Ledbetter reveals the deep-rooted ideology and powerful nostalgia at play for goldbugs, who remain devoted to the shiny tender. Gold has, from the very beginning, been inextricably tied to a kind of renegade political freedom and power against the forces of big government and corrupt corporate industry—an argument that still holds much weight today.