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How to Get Rich in American History

May 16, 2026 — 05:54 pm EDT

Written by

Motley Fool Staff for

The Motley Fool->

In this episode of Motley Fool Conversations, Motley Fool contributor Rich Lumelleau speaks with historian, investor, and author Dr. Joseph S. Moore about his new book, How to Get Rich in American History.

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This podcast was recorded on May 10, 2026.

Joseph Moore: From the George Washington administration until Michael Jackson's Thriller album, dividends were 90% something of returns, and price movement was very little of a game. Since then, I think over 70% of our investment returns come not from dividends, but from price elevation.

Mac Greer: That was historian, investor, and author Joseph Moore discussing his new book, How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked, and Didn't. I'm Motley Fool producer Mac Greer. My colleague Rich Lumelleau recently talked with Moore about all of that financial advice, and about some timeless lessons for today's investor. Enjoy.

Rich Lumelleau: Welcome to Motley Fool Conversations. I'm Motley Fool contributor Rich Lumelleau. Our guest today is someone who brings a rare combination of perspectives to the world of investing. Dr. Joseph Moore is an author, historian, and investor who didn't start out believing in the American dream, but through his own experience in the markets, he's come to see it as not only real but also achievable. In our conversation today, we're going to explore the strategies, decisions, and lessons behind his investing success, including some surprising approaches that paid off, and others that didn't. We'll also dig into what history can teach us about markets today, and how everyday investors can apply those insights in a practical way. Dr. Moore, welcome to The Motley Fool. I'm so glad to be here. Thank you, Rich. Great. You have just published a book called How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Advice That Worked, and Didn't, and so I look forward to jumping into the thoughts around that and pull out some anecdotes, and some investing wisdom for our Fool investors. But before we do that, why don't you just give us a couple minutes of your background?

Joseph Moore: Thank you. I was getting a PhD in American History. I came from a very rural working class family in the South. My mother was brought home to a house with no flush toilet, and she was the sixth child. On my father's side, they were active resisters to capitalism, as it were. These were mill strikers who had the Communist Party had sent activists down South to teach people to dumb rednecks to read the Communist Manifesto. Those rednecks were my great-grandparents. They charged the mills, and these things, like my dad growing up would vote communist for President. I did not enter through the door of believing in capitalism, and so I was getting a PhD in History, and I did all the same things that you hear professors do. I assigned Karl Marx on day one, but not Adam Smith.

But for some reason, at that time, in 2005, someone said, the lesson of history is clear, you need to buy a house, and instead of thinking about that for a hot second, I just nodded my head. We bought a house. We're graduate students. I mean, it is the no-verification loan world, that a friend of ours was going to lead a financial class at the local church. He was like, Would you come? I said, absolutely not. I'm smart, I don't need this stuff, plus, it's all a scam anyway. He said, would you just do me a favor because I'm scared, I'm going to be embarrassed if only two people show up. We went to help a friend, and they make us do a budget. We go home, we fill it out, and my wife falls asleep, and I stayed up literally all night. I was like, who gave us a mortgage? We have no money. We put our house on the m