Richard S. Tedlow
@richardstedlow.bsky.social
Apple University, emeritus; Harvard Business School, emeritus
Military leaders once loomed as potential threats to American democracy, but today democratic backsliding comes from a different source. A "personalist" politic has captured a major party and subordinated institutions to the will of one man.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 72: Democratic Backsliding
The Era of the “Personalist” Presidency
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Military leaders once loomed as potential threats to American democracy, but today democratic backsliding comes from a different source. A "personalist" politic has captured a major party and subordinated institutions to the will of one man.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
In “American Democracy on Life Support” I explore how a nation that outlasted aristocracy, autocracy, fascism, and communism now struggles to protect its own elections. This is the crisis Tocqueville never imagined.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 71: American Democracy on Life Support
Democracy’s Long Arc — and Its Current Crisis
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
In “American Democracy on Life Support” I explore how a nation that outlasted aristocracy, autocracy, fascism, and communism now struggles to protect its own elections. This is the crisis Tocqueville never imagined.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce crossed the Atlantic in the 19th century to describe America. What they saw helps us understand what we are at risk of losing now.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Alexis de Tocqueville and James Bryce crossed the Atlantic in the 19th century to describe America. What they saw helps us understand what we are at risk of losing now.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Trump’s second term has shown us one thing clearly: a president unbound by yesterday can’t offer a coherent vision of tomorrow. My newest chapter looks at what we can learn from his own inaugural address—and why it reveals more than he intended.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 69: The Man Who Deletes Yesterday
Trump and the Mystery of America’s Future
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Trump’s second term has shown us one thing clearly: a president unbound by yesterday can’t offer a coherent vision of tomorrow. My newest chapter looks at what we can learn from his own inaugural address—and why it reveals more than he intended.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Jacinda Ardern showed what modern leadership can look like—empathy joined to decisive action. America should take note. Read “Leadership in a Modern Democracy” in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 67: Leadership in a Modern Democracy
Jacinda Ardern from Christchurch to COVID
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Jacinda Ardern showed what modern leadership can look like—empathy joined to decisive action. America should take note. Read “Leadership in a Modern Democracy” in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Hatred has often appeared in politics. Roosevelt understood it. Nixon succumbed to it.
Jacinda Ardern transcended it.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Jacinda Ardern transcended it.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 66: In Search of Authenticity
A Lesson from Jacinda Ardern: Prime Minister of New Zealand from October 26, 2017 to January 25, 2023
open.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Hatred has often appeared in politics. Roosevelt understood it. Nixon succumbed to it.
Jacinda Ardern transcended it.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Jacinda Ardern transcended it.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
In Chapter 65: “The Lion and the Fox – From 'The Prince' to the Presidency,” we explore how Machiavelli’s realism (or cynicism) - his belief that power depends on fear, manipulation, and necessity - still shapes leadership today.
Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 65: The Lion and the Fox
From 'The Prince' to the Presidency - The World According to Machiavelli
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:01 PM
In Chapter 65: “The Lion and the Fox – From 'The Prince' to the Presidency,” we explore how Machiavelli’s realism (or cynicism) - his belief that power depends on fear, manipulation, and necessity - still shapes leadership today.
Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Science and politics share an important trait. When their paradigms no longer explain reality, a revolution takes place. Thomas S. Kuhn called it a “paradigm shift.” We in the United States are living through one now.
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
October 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Science and politics share an important trait. When their paradigms no longer explain reality, a revolution takes place. Thomas S. Kuhn called it a “paradigm shift.” We in the United States are living through one now.
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
“Where Has All the Leadership Gone?” It has gone into hiding. Once, CEOs like Bob Iger stood on principle. Today, silence reigns. Appeasement is not prudence. As Kipling warned, “once you have paid him the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane.”
Read on here:
open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here:
open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 63: "Where Has All the Leadership Gone?"
“Where Has All the Leadership Gone?”
open.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
“Where Has All the Leadership Gone?” It has gone into hiding. Once, CEOs like Bob Iger stood on principle. Today, silence reigns. Appeasement is not prudence. As Kipling warned, “once you have paid him the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane.”
Read on here:
open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here:
open.substack.com/pub/richards...
When Trump tells a reporter, “You have a lot of hate in your heart,” he’s not just lashing out—he’s performing. His cruelty is his currency.
Read more in Chapter 62: “Against Trump, But For What?” on ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read more in Chapter 62: “Against Trump, But For What?” on ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 62: Against Trump, But For What?
In Search of a Conviction Politician
open.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:12 PM
When Trump tells a reporter, “You have a lot of hate in your heart,” he’s not just lashing out—he’s performing. His cruelty is his currency.
Read more in Chapter 62: “Against Trump, But For What?” on ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read more in Chapter 62: “Against Trump, But For What?” on ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Political assassination strikes at the heart of democracy. 1968 saw Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy fall. Today, our politics grow tribal again. What lessons remain unlearned?
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 61: When Politics Become Tribal...
The Assassinations of 1968
open.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Political assassination strikes at the heart of democracy. 1968 saw Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy fall. Today, our politics grow tribal again. What lessons remain unlearned?
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Winston Churchill called George C. Marshall “the true organizer of victory.” My latest chapter in 'Dystopias and Demagogues' looks at Marshall's lessons in war, peace, and history. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
#USPolitics #USHistory #Marshallplan
#USPolitics #USHistory #Marshallplan
Chapter 60: The “True Organizer of Victory”
General George C. Marshall and the Lessons of History
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Winston Churchill called George C. Marshall “the true organizer of victory.” My latest chapter in 'Dystopias and Demagogues' looks at Marshall's lessons in war, peace, and history. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
#USPolitics #USHistory #Marshallplan
#USPolitics #USHistory #Marshallplan
There was a time when losing an election didn’t mean losing the republic. That time is over. In “The Collapse of Consensus,” I trace how the political center fractured—and why we may not see it return.
Read the latest in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read the latest in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 59: The Collapse of Consensus
Why the traditional rules of politics no longer apply
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
There was a time when losing an election didn’t mean losing the republic. That time is over. In “The Collapse of Consensus,” I trace how the political center fractured—and why we may not see it return.
Read the latest in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read the latest in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
The United States has endured dark chapters in our past. But never before have we faced a would-be autocrat so openly contemptuous of norms, law, and democracy itself.
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 58: Law and Tyranny
From Secret Crimes to Public Defiance
open.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The United States has endured dark chapters in our past. But never before have we faced a would-be autocrat so openly contemptuous of norms, law, and democracy itself.
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
“Appeasement” once meant "compromise". After Munich, it became synonymous with betrayal. Chamberlain thought he secured “peace for our time.” In truth, he had handed Hitler a victory without a fight. Today, we see echoes of that betrayal.
Read on here: bit.ly/45AOy5Z
Read on here: bit.ly/45AOy5Z
August 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
“Appeasement” once meant "compromise". After Munich, it became synonymous with betrayal. Chamberlain thought he secured “peace for our time.” In truth, he had handed Hitler a victory without a fight. Today, we see echoes of that betrayal.
Read on here: bit.ly/45AOy5Z
Read on here: bit.ly/45AOy5Z
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door.” This warning from "Fahrenheit 451" is menacing. From World War I to Nazi Germany to Trump’s America, book burning persists—sometimes by fire, sometimes by decree.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 56: The Loaded Gun Next Door
In Pursuit of Willful Ignorance
open.substack.com
August 19, 2025 at 4:01 PM
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door.” This warning from "Fahrenheit 451" is menacing. From World War I to Nazi Germany to Trump’s America, book burning persists—sometimes by fire, sometimes by decree.
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Hitler and Trump share chilling parallels—outsiders, felons, violent coup attempts, but then legal power. Gatekeepers failed in both cases. History warns. Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 55: The Path to Power
How Hitler and Trump Got to "The Top of The Greasy Pole"
open.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Hitler and Trump share chilling parallels—outsiders, felons, violent coup attempts, but then legal power. Gatekeepers failed in both cases. History warns. Read on: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Hitler denied food shortages. Trump denies job data. Both deny truth to preserve myth. That path ends in ruin.
Https://open.substack.com/pub/richardstedlow/p/chapter-54-working-toward-the-fuhrer?r=40qjkx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Https://open.substack.com/pub/richardstedlow/p/chapter-54-working-toward-the-fuhrer?r=40qjkx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
August 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Hitler denied food shortages. Trump denies job data. Both deny truth to preserve myth. That path ends in ruin.
Https://open.substack.com/pub/richardstedlow/p/chapter-54-working-toward-the-fuhrer?r=40qjkx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Https://open.substack.com/pub/richardstedlow/p/chapter-54-working-toward-the-fuhrer?r=40qjkx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Trump casts himself as “your voice.” But his alliance with power tells a different story. Read “The People vs. The Powerful” from ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’. open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 53: The People vs. The Powerful
The One Year Anniversary of "Dystopias and Demagogues"
open.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Trump casts himself as “your voice.” But his alliance with power tells a different story. Read “The People vs. The Powerful” from ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’. open.substack.com/pub/richards...
The Vietnam War was not only about Vietnam. It was also about Munich, dominoes, and the fear of appearing weak. In "The Forgotten War," I break down the logic—flawed yet fateful—that led to America’s most puzzling war.
New chapter in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
New chapter in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 52: The Forgotten War
Speak, Memory
open.substack.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The Vietnam War was not only about Vietnam. It was also about Munich, dominoes, and the fear of appearing weak. In "The Forgotten War," I break down the logic—flawed yet fateful—that led to America’s most puzzling war.
New chapter in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
New chapter in ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Once dismissed as bland and unimaginative, Eisenhower now ranks among the greatest American presidents.
In "Chapter 51: The World We Have Lost", I explore the contrast between him and today's leadership vacuum.
Read Chapter 51 here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
In "Chapter 51: The World We Have Lost", I explore the contrast between him and today's leadership vacuum.
Read Chapter 51 here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 51: The World We Have Lost
Another Look at Dwight David Eisenhower
open.substack.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Once dismissed as bland and unimaginative, Eisenhower now ranks among the greatest American presidents.
In "Chapter 51: The World We Have Lost", I explore the contrast between him and today's leadership vacuum.
Read Chapter 51 here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
In "Chapter 51: The World We Have Lost", I explore the contrast between him and today's leadership vacuum.
Read Chapter 51 here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Trump’s not restoring the nation—he’s remaking it.
Read “You Say You Want a Revolution”: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read “You Say You Want a Revolution”: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 50: You Say You Want a Revolution
Lexington, Yorktown, and the White House Lawn
open.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Trump’s not restoring the nation—he’s remaking it.
Read “You Say You Want a Revolution”: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read “You Say You Want a Revolution”: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
New ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’ chapter: “Deep Dive into Dystopia” From Robespierre to feed‑driven fears, I chart how utopian dreams can breed terror—and why 2 + 2 = 5 still stalks us. Read here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 49: Deep Dive into Dystopia
Inside the Logic of Lies
open.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 4:00 PM
New ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’ chapter: “Deep Dive into Dystopia” From Robespierre to feed‑driven fears, I chart how utopian dreams can breed terror—and why 2 + 2 = 5 still stalks us. Read here: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
In 2020, we told ourselves that the country was through with Trump and that America would course-correct. In 2024, we learned otherwise. “The Future - Another American Century?” is my attempt to imagine what happens when the unimaginable becomes routine.
Read on here: bit.ly/45DkQh7
Read on here: bit.ly/45DkQh7
Chapter 48: The Future - Another American Century?
Through A Glass Darkly
bit.ly
June 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
In 2020, we told ourselves that the country was through with Trump and that America would course-correct. In 2024, we learned otherwise. “The Future - Another American Century?” is my attempt to imagine what happens when the unimaginable becomes routine.
Read on here: bit.ly/45DkQh7
Read on here: bit.ly/45DkQh7
Ten years ago, Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower and changed American politics forever. In Chapter 47 of ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’, I explore why the usual rules never applied to him - and why they still don’t.
Read “The Rise of Trump” now: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read “The Rise of Trump” now: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Chapter 47: The Rise of Trump
The Paradoxical President
open.substack.com
June 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Ten years ago, Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower and changed American politics forever. In Chapter 47 of ‘Dystopias and Demagogues’, I explore why the usual rules never applied to him - and why they still don’t.
Read “The Rise of Trump” now: open.substack.com/pub/richards...
Read “The Rise of Trump” now: open.substack.com/pub/richards...