The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
by: Jeff Sharlet
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They are the Family—fundamentalism's avant-garde, waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. They consider themselves the new chosen—congressmen, generals, and foreign dictators who meet in confidential cells, to pray and plan for a "leadership led by God," to be won not by force but through "quiet diplomacy." Their base is a leafy estate overlooking the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia, and Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have reported from inside its walls.
The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power—not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the far right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host Prayer Breakfasts; in private, they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao as leadership models, the Family's current leader, Doug Coe, declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."
Sharlet's discoveries dramatically challenge conventional wisdom about American fundamentalism, revealing its crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the cold war, and the no-holds-barred economics of globalization. The question Sharlet believes we must ask is not "What do fundamentalists want?" but "What have they already done?"
Part history, part investigative journalism, The Family is a compelling account of how fundamentalism came to be interwoven with American power, a story that stretches from the religious revivals that have shaken this nation from its beginning to fundamentalism's new frontiers. No other book about the right has exposed the Family or revealed its far-reaching impact on democracy, and no future reckoning of American fundamentalism will be able to ignore it.
A journalist's penetrating look at the untold story of christian fundamentalism's most elite organization, a self-described invisible network dedicated to a religion of power for the powerful
They are the Family—fundamentalism's avant-garde, waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. They consider themselves the new chosen—congressmen, generals, and foreign dictators who meet in confidential cells, to pray and plan for a "leadership led by God," to be won not by force but through "quiet diplomacy." Their base is a leafy estate overlooking the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia, and Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have reported from inside its walls.
The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power—not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the far right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host Prayer Breakfasts; in private, they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao as leadership models, the Family's current leader, Doug Coe, declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."
Sharlet's discoveries dramatically challenge conventional wisdom about American fundamentalism, revealing its crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the cold war, and the no-holds-barred economics of globalization. The question Sharlet believes we must ask is not "What do fundamentalists want?" but "What have they already done?"
Part history, part investigative journalism, The Family is a compelling account of how fundamentalism came to be interwoven with American power, a story that stretches from the religious revivals that have shaken this nation from its beginning to fundamentalism's new frontiers. No other book about the right has exposed the Family or revealed its far-reaching impact on democracy, and no future reckoning of American fundamentalism will be able to ignore it.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Indispensible for understanding the American ruling class
"The Family" expands on Jeff Sharlet's groundbreaking article "Jesus Plus Nothing," published in Harper's a few years ago.It's available on line, and I would suggest you read it whether or not you buy this book.Odds are, if you read it, you will want to read "The Family."
A primary virtue of "The Family" is that Sharlet likes the majority of the people that he met through and in the organization.This is not a hatchet job on the right wing or on religion; Sharlet has no axe to ... Read More
Rating: - Worth The Price
This is an excellent book about an important subject.It seamlessly blends history, journalism (Gonzo & traditional), philosophy and theology in a slick popular style.Jeff Sharlet has clearly been immersed in this subject for a long time; the writing is assured, controlled and ferocious.
Rating: 
- One More Piece of the Puzzle
Personal experience, extensive research, and a good story combine to make this a worthwhile read.
"The Family" is a group of powerful, authoritarian, fundamentalists who have become interwoven with American and international power.The Family believes in "leadership," a "fetishized term for power," and an end in itself.Ultimately, the Family seeks to establish God's kingdom on earth.
Few have the access to Washington power enjoyed by the Family.Over the years, membership ... Read More
Rating: 
- Dangerously misleading. . . a missed opportunity
This book was given to me by my father-in-law, a retired Church of England minister who had numerous clashes in his career with narrow-minded Christians in and out of the Church hierarchy.He has understandable concerns about what he reads about the "Religious Right" in the US, and given the book's uniformly excellent reviews in Australia, he gave me Sharlet's THE FAMILY.
I was riveted from the first chapter:Sharlet was welcomed into the core of an organisation devoted to extending the influence ... Read More
Rating: - How Power Corrupts
Jeff Sharlet may not be what one might call a disciple of Jesus, but the picture he presents of THE FAMILY (documented all the way) is the Master's vision of demonic "powers and principalities" at work.
Secrecy---as opposed to Jesus as light, warning that everything hidden will be exposed.
Compromise with corrupt power to achieve more (corrupt) power. As opposed to Jesus telling Satan, who offers him the kingdoms of the world, to get lost.
... Read More
- Indispensible for understanding the American ruling class"The Family" expands on Jeff Sharlet's groundbreaking article "Jesus Plus Nothing," published in Harper's a few years ago.It's available on line, and I would suggest you read it whether or not you buy this book.Odds are, if you read it, you will want to read "The Family."
A primary virtue of "The Family" is that Sharlet likes the majority of the people that he met through and in the organization.This is not a hatchet job on the right wing or on religion; Sharlet has no axe to ... Read More
- Worth The PriceThis is an excellent book about an important subject.It seamlessly blends history, journalism (Gonzo & traditional), philosophy and theology in a slick popular style.Jeff Sharlet has clearly been immersed in this subject for a long time; the writing is assured, controlled and ferocious.
- One More Piece of the PuzzlePersonal experience, extensive research, and a good story combine to make this a worthwhile read.
"The Family" is a group of powerful, authoritarian, fundamentalists who have become interwoven with American and international power.The Family believes in "leadership," a "fetishized term for power," and an end in itself.Ultimately, the Family seeks to establish God's kingdom on earth.
Few have the access to Washington power enjoyed by the Family.Over the years, membership ... Read More
- Dangerously misleading. . . a missed opportunityThis book was given to me by my father-in-law, a retired Church of England minister who had numerous clashes in his career with narrow-minded Christians in and out of the Church hierarchy.He has understandable concerns about what he reads about the "Religious Right" in the US, and given the book's uniformly excellent reviews in Australia, he gave me Sharlet's THE FAMILY.
I was riveted from the first chapter:Sharlet was welcomed into the core of an organisation devoted to extending the influence ... Read More
- How Power CorruptsJeff Sharlet may not be what one might call a disciple of Jesus, but the picture he presents of THE FAMILY (documented all the way) is the Master's vision of demonic "powers and principalities" at work.
Secrecy---as opposed to Jesus as light, warning that everything hidden will be exposed.
Compromise with corrupt power to achieve more (corrupt) power. As opposed to Jesus telling Satan, who offers him the kingdoms of the world, to get lost.
... Read More
