Founder’s Fire

From a New York Times bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes a bold reinterpretation of American history—just in time for the country’s 250th birthday.

Whether it's 1776 or the era of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Arthur Herman argues that the United States has always been propelled forward by a special kind of leader: the founder.

More than just business creators, founders are visionaries—risk-takers, builders, rebels—who reinvent America in times of crisis and stagnation. From Washington and Lincoln to Edison, Ford, Elon Musk, and even political disruptors like Martin Luther King and Donald Trump, this book reveals how their relentless drive, bold vision, and refusal to accept a stagnant status quo have reshaped America time and again.

Herman introduces a compelling framework: the constant battle between founders and the managers who inevitably take over their achievements and enterprises. As our own history shows, those successors often institutionalize, but can also stifle, innovation and meaningful change—until a new generation of founders and disruptors surges forward to renew and reinvent based on first principles, whether it’s a business, an institution, or America itself.    

In a contemporary twist, The Founder’s Fire even shows how current cultural touchstones like Shark Tank reflect the enduring appeal of the founder mindset stretching back to 1776 and rolling on through the rich pageantry of American history until today.

Insightful, provocative, and deeply relevant, this is a sweeping history that helps us understand America’s past, present, and its future. In its pages readers will discover the soul of America as the founder nation: and perhaps learn something about themselves in the process.