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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
1. What "liberal" has meant over the years has changed so much it might not mean much
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 01:58 AM
Jun 2016

If you mean "the closest to the 2016 definition of Progressive", that's undeniably Barack Obama, with a second place to a misremembered and largely imagined version of FDR who didn't do about 75% of what the actual FDR did.

bonemachine

(757 posts)
2. neither of those would be particularly controversial choices
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:05 AM
Jun 2016

I expect the OP is considering a candidate who was not a Democrat.

 

Gabi Hayes

(28,795 posts)
5. wrongo....open to everyone. not going to put in my 1c until there's more discussion
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:13 AM
Jun 2016

which looks like it might not happen

barry goldwater looks liberal in context with today's wingnut loons running amok everywhere

 

Gabi Hayes

(28,795 posts)
3. wow! packed quite a lot into a very small space.
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:09 AM
Jun 2016

care to elaborate?

Jim Powell or Amity Shlaes? or both?

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
4. AFAIK those are both libertarians and I haven't read much of either
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:11 AM
Jun 2016

I'd be happy to elaborate if you can ask something more specific. If we look at what people who self-identify as "liberal" and "progressive" seem to define those terms as meaning (and those populations are distinct, incidentally), then the closest to either of those definitions is clearly Barack Obama.

In the past, the sense of the word "liberal" was closer to what we today call "libertarian"; there were probably Presidents in that era who were more "liberal" in that sense than any other President, but libertarianism isn't something I've studied much so I don't really know. Jefferson, maybe?

 

Gabi Hayes

(28,795 posts)
7. I guess we can start by giving some background for the conclusions you've drawn
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:24 AM
Jun 2016

that FDR's term consisted of largely imagined programs/achievements/or
however you choose to characterize that era and his influence. that's why I cited the two authors above, because you seem to hold similar views.

I'm curious to know, as I assume you weren't kicking it back in the day.

you've piqued my interest, that's for sure

that said, it's time for my pallet

Agnosticsherbet

(11,619 posts)
6. You need to add President Johnson...
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:18 AM
Jun 2016

American liberalism was at high tide under President Johnson.

The Wilderness Protection Act saved 9.1 million acres of forestland from industrial development.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided major funding for American public schools.
The Voting Rights Act banned literacy tests and other discriminatory methods of denying suffrage to African Americans.
Medicare was created to offset the costs of health care for the nation's elderly.
The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities used public money to fund artists and galleries.
The Immigration Act ended discriminatory quotas based on ethnic origin.
An Omnibus Housing Act provided funds to construct low-income housing.
Congress tightened pollution controls with stronger Air and Water Quality Acts.
Standards were raised for safety in consumer products.


The Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it was Johnson who got the thing passed against the protest of Southern Democrats and signed it into law.
President Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law, July 30, 1965.
 

spud_demon

(76 posts)
8. I have to mention Jimmy Carter
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 02:33 AM
Jun 2016

If liberalism is about compassion and honesty, Carter was the best.

(I know, you're not discussing it, you're asking if it's OK to discuss it, which I'm going to pretend I don't understand.)

gordianot

(15,226 posts)
9. I would not too many here are too easily offended.
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 03:46 AM
Jun 2016

I would like to tick around. The people I admired the most either got shot, or died in plane crashes. If not for the Vietnam war Johnson came closest to a true progressive or liberal.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
11. Characterizing programs makes more sense to me than characterizing people.
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 05:55 AM
Jun 2016

The New Deals, the Fair Deal and the Great Society were leftist programs. Were FDR, HST and LBJ leftist, or merely trying to avoid uprisings? Certainly many things in their administrations were not leftist, as were some of the things in their respective personal histories.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
13. This is the sort of topic that can only be discussed ...
Tue Jun 28, 2016, 05:57 AM
Jun 2016

... over a pitcher of beer.

Yes, it's a fine topic.

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