William Gibbs McAdoo was born in Georgia and educated in Tennesee. His uncle was a Confederate General out of Texas. McAdoo's law partner in New York was the son of John C. Pemberton, another Confederate General. McAdoo gave contributions to Confederate veterans groups and married Wilson's daughter. Generally a progressive, he won KKK support in his 1924 race for the Democratic nomination against Al Smith, a Catholic.
James Clark McReynolds was born in Kentucky and educated in Tennessee. Like McAdoo he lived and practiced in New York, but his roots were Southern. FWIW McReynolds, who Wilson later appointed to the Supreme Court was what used to be called a "colorful character" but is now described with other words:
McReynolds would not accept "Jews, drinkers, blacks, women, smokers, married or engaged individuals as law clerks". A blatant anti-Semite, "Time [magazine] called him 'Puritanical', 'intolerably rude', 'savagely sarcastic', 'incredibly reactionary', and 'anti-Semitic'". McReynolds refused to speak to Louis Brandeis, the first Jew on the Court, for three years following Brandeis's appointment and, when Brandeis retired in 1939, did not sign the customary dedicatory letter sent to justices on their retirement. He habitually left the conference room whenever Brandeis spoke. When Benjamin Cardozo's appointment was being pressed on President Herbert C. Hoover, McReynolds joined with fellow justices Butler and Van Devanter in urging the White House not to "afflict the Court with another Jew". When news of Cardozo's appointment was announced, McReynolds is claimed to have said "Huh, it seems that the only way you can get on the Supreme Court these days is to be either the son of a criminal or a Jew, or both." During Cardozo's swearing-in ceremony, McReynolds pointedly read a newspaper, and would often hold a brief or record in front of his face when Cardozo delivered an opinion from the bench. Likewise, he refused to sign opinions authored by Brandeis. Wikipedia
Must have been the New Yorker in him. There were a lot of Southerners who'd moved up to New York and voted Democrat. They were one important group the party could count on for contributions and talent.
Wilson's Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, was from North Carolina. His Postmaster General, Albert Sidney Burleson, was from Texas He was the son of a Confederate officer and was named after a Confederate General. Wilson's Secretary of Agriculture, David F. Houston, another Texan, was born in North Carolina and educated in South Carolina. He established his academic credentials by writing A Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina (1896). Wilson's closest associate -- for a time (he seemed to fall out with all his friends) was yet another Texan, Edward M. House.
If what you're arguing about is whether Southerners and Southerners alone, Democrats and Democrats alone, were behind the development of modern American liberalism or progressivism, the answer is no. There were enough Northern Democrats as well as Progressive Northern Republicans. Even among Wilson's appointees and supporters, Southerners probably weren't a majority. And among the progressives of his day, plenty had Northern or Republican roots.
If you're arguing about whether Northerners and only Northerners were responsible for today's liberalism or progressivism the answer is also no. There were enough Southerners and Border Staters like Wilson, Truman, Johnson, and Clinton who made contributions to the liberal side in American politics.
The answer is bound to be more complicated. But since many people today tend to believe that Southerners or Confederates or former Confederates or the sons of Confederate veterans were always conservative, it doesn't hurt to point out that this wasn't always the case.
Even in the 1950s and 60s, the absolute biggest porkers in congress were the New Deal Southern Democrats. The supported every big government program that came down the pike, especially if the could get a piece of the action.
“If what you’re arguing about is whether Southerners and Southerners alone, Democrats and Democrats alone, were behind the development of modern American liberalism or progressivism, the answer is no.”
BigIffy has been selling the story that Progressivism, Populism, and its modern variants all hark back to the Confederacy and the Democratic Party of the South.
“the answer is no. There were enough Northern Democrats as well as Progressive Northern Republicans. Even among Wilson’s appointees and supporters, Southerners probably weren’t a majority. And among the progressives of his day, plenty had Northern or Republican roots.”
That’s my argument.
“If you’re arguing about whether Northerners and only Northerners were responsible for today’s liberalism or progressivism the answer is also no. “
Not an issue. Thanks for your input.