Need info: What exactly was an Eisenhower Republican?

[Darth_Kitten]

I've read some info about what one IS (or maybe, WAS?), and have my own opinions, but I'd like to ask Americans their experience.

I don't think a lot of present day Republicans really know, being a bit...er....extreme?

Feel free to move this if I'm posting in the wrong forum. Thanks.

[hfojvt]

1. one that voted for, and agreed with, Eisenhower

vs. a Goldwater or Reagan Republican. Other people on the Eisenhower side might be Ford, Rockefeller, Snowe and Chafee. As far as policy goes, these areas, for a start

1. Not stuck on tax cuts for the rich as an answer to every problem or situation
2. Not religiously fundamentalist
3. Willing to work with Democrats and compromise
4. Not as imperialistic (Eisenhower warned against the MIC, whereas Reagan and Bush embraced and funded it.)

[JHB]

2. It probably has a lot in common with "Rockefeller Republican"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Republican

Rockefeller Republican refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who held moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller. The term largely fell out of use by the end of the twentieth century, and has been replaced by the terms "moderate Republican," "liberal Republican", and the derogatory term RINO. Modern Rockefeller Republicans are sometimes socially conservative and more fiscally centrist, while others are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Still others espouse government investments in environmentalism, infrastructure, farms and higher education as necessities for the nation's survival, in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton and Theodore Roosevelt. In general, Rockefeller Republicans oppose socialism and the redistribution of wealth while supporting some regulation of business in matters pertaining to the public good. Richard Nixon, often considered the last Rockefeller Republican president, founded the Environmental Protection Agency, cooled relations with China and the Soviet Union, and referred to himself as a Keynesian.

Although there is at least one blog purporting to be "Eisenhower Republican":
http://ikeonic.blogspot.com/2010/04/ten-principles-of-eisenhower-republican.html

1) We remain loyal Republicans, in good times and bad.
2) Government is not the problem, but government can't solve every problem.
3) Government has a duty to develop infrastructure per the Commerce Clause.
4) Government should empower consumers with “Goldilocks” regulation of free, fair marketplaces.
5) The government should not reward laziness and guarantee you a free ride through life.
6) Government should act to conserve, manage and protect vital, finite resources.
7) Roe v. Wade and decisions like it are a terrible rewriting of the Constitution.
8) Every dollar in increased taxation decreases economic freedom.
9) When we go to war, we go all out or we don't go at all.
10) Americans must do what we can to promote and preserve freedom around the world.

(At the actual site each of those comes with explanatory text)

About seven of those (maybe 6 1/2) would fit Democrats too, but some of those are also either "stealth" positions on other issues, or just ignoring how some of those play out in reality.

[Darth_Kitten]

3. Eisenhower wasn't even alive when Roe V. Wade came about...

I think I saw that blog this morning. Yeesh.

[uncommon]

4. Ugh, how is Roe v. Wade a "terrible rewriting" of the Constitution?

What balls.

[Darth_Kitten]

6. n/t

[Green_Lantern]

5. abortion is disgusting, sad, scary, and heated topic..

And that's why it should be decided in the courts and not by politicians.

[Darth_Kitten]

7. No, it's a woman's choice.

n/t

[Green_Lantern]

13. that's not the point...

Even without Roe v. Wade you could pass a law maintaining abortion as a woman's choice.

My point is that it's too fiery, divisive, and scary of a topic to be decided in the political arena.

[spanone]

8. someone who wants to live in the fifties....the tight-assed fifties

[Gaedel]

9. Eisenhower

Abortion wasn't a big issue then.

The big difference between Eisenhower and the Taft wing of the GOP was in international affairs. The Taft wing was isolationist while the Dewey-Eisenhower wing was for bi-partisan internationalism.

Ike was a deficit "hawk" which kept him against lowering income taxes.

[UTUSN]

10. A Colon POWELL type, but a bit less wishy washy and a bit more gravitas. n/t

[librechik]

11. A Republican who believes in the GI Bill, The Marshall Plan, and established single payer

health programs in Germany and Japan at the end of the war. A Republican who is unafraids to help those who need help, even though most of their fellows will castigate their compassion. Oh, and a republican alarmed about the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex, more than the ghost of communism.

[Silent3]

12. A politician slightly to the left of current centrist Democrats n/t

[w8liftinglady]

14. a guy like my dad,who was a military lifer...

...saw the need to care for the poor and helpless,keep the jobs here,make sure state college was affordable(he went to Yale,btw),and care for the citizens of countries we invade(He was incredibly distressed on the homeless victims of the Iraq war,as well as his grandson's multiple deployment-"we have n evil barbarian running the government).They are conservative on many issues,but want to help others become the best they can be.I've seen many like him...they ARE out there.

[old mark]

15. What passed for a moderate in the 1950's - the REALLY RIGHT

said that Ike was a commie...sounds familiar, no?

mark

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

16. A moderate Republican in a world where Dems were the party of segregation

I probably would have voted for Dems at the time (?) but if anyone said they just didn't feel like voting with the solid-south in 1952 or 1956 I would have a hard time arguing with them.