"An invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people"

You might think this the words of a conspiracy theorist, or a libertarian longing for the days before World War 2. Nope, it was US President Teddy Roosevelt back in 1906.



Here is the full quote:

Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.