Rogue Elephant: How the Republicans Went from the Party of Business to the Party of Chaos

Rogue Elephant traces the radicalization of the Republican Party over the past fifty years, arguing that its subordination to Donald Trump was not an anomaly, but rather the culmination of processes at work for decades.

Providing a new perspective on figures from Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush to the Tea Party and Donald Trump, it shows that the party's lurch to the far right was the product of a volatile mix of a disorganized party structure and a divided and fractious class of American business owners.

These forces have propelled ever more reactionary leaders to the front of the party, setting up cycles where the insurgents of one period become the party establishment of the next, and find themselves confronted with a new batch of insurgents even farther to the right.

The result is that a party that was once seen as the handmaiden of American business has increasingly found itself in conflict with business groups like the Chamber of Commerce.

Considering the implications of these dynamics for American democracy, Heideman warns that there may be no going back to normal for the Republican Party without a much broader transformation of American society.

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Audiobook: 11 November 2025