Was Dwight D. Eisenhower a liberal

Blue Works Better ^ | By MannyGoldstein at Sun

[meandog]

I am constantly amazed (and annoyed) when the Right claims that the US has been hijacked by the Left over the past few decades. This is utter nonsense - the actual evidence indicates that we've moved far, far to the Right.

Consider the case of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States (1953-1961), Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, and a Republican. Funny thing is, by today's standards, Ike would be a flaming liberal, to the Left of all recent serious contenders for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Ike on Taxes First, a quick definition of earned income vs. capital gains.

Earned income is income made from a job.

Capital gains, in contrast, is money made from the appreciation in value of something one owns (assets such as stocks, property, art, ...), rather than money earned from a job.

Average folks gets most of their income from their jobs, and thus the tax rate on earned income is most important to them. Rich people get most of their income from the appreciation of assets, and thus the tax rate on capital gains is more important to them.

Earned Income Tax: Ike's Time vs. Our Time

The highest tax bracket on earned income today is 35%. During Ike's administration, the highest tax bracket was 92% in 1953, and 91% thereafter [1]. Yes, taxes on the Rich were almost three times higher under the Republican Eisenhower compared to our current President, or compared to the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton!

Capital Gains Tax: Ike's Time vs. Our Time

It is considered to be almost the gospel today that capital gains should be taxed at a far lower rate than earned income. Today the maximum capital gains tax rate is a whopping 15% on assets that have been held for at least a year since purchase. This is why the middle class, who are dependant on earned income, effectively pay taxes at a higher rate than do the wealthy.

In Ike's day, capital gains were not treated differently from earned income, so the rich paid 91% tax on capital gains. From 91% to 15% - another reason why it's good to be rich!

Note that in 1955, in the middle of Ike's presidency, the typical (median) family paid less than 20% in all taxes [2]. By 2003, the total of all taxes paid by a typical family had more than doubled, to almost 40% of income.

So in Ike's day, the rich paid a lot of taxes, the middle-class paid a little taxes, and somehow it all worked out.

But Did Ike Want To Tax The Rich?

You might be curious as to whether Ike actually wanted such a high tax rate on the Rich, or was somehow forced into it by, say, a Democratically-controlled Congress. It turns out that when Ike ascended to the Presidency, both houses of Congress were indeed controlled by a single party - the Republican party. Republicans controlled the Presidency, the House, and the Senate - they could have done anything they wanted. And some in Congress did pressure Ike to roll back taxes on the rich, but he held the line, saying:

"We cannot afford to reduce taxes, reduce income,until we have in sight a program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced."

Ike on Defense Ike was one tough hombre, the toughest of the tough. As Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, he had led millions of troops to take back Europe from the Nazis, and he got the job done. An astonishing feat, an honest "Mission Accomplished". Ike was President during the early part of the Cold War - a war where our opponent had actual weapons of mass destruction pointed at us. Let's see some of the things that Ike had to say about war, the millitary, and... Halliburton. Would Ike's views be considered to be Liberal or Right-wing today?

On the millitary in general "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms in not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

On the Iraq War "All of us have heard this term 'preventative war' since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time... I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing."

On Halliburton "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Ike on the Labor Movement We'll let Ike speak for himself on this one:

"Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice."

" . . . Workers have a right to organize into unions and to bargain collectively with their employers, and . . . a strong, free labor movement is an invigorating and necessary part of our industrial society."

and while we're at it:

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

Ike and Socialized Medicine

In 1960 Eisenhower signed into law the Kerr-Mills Bill, generally considered to be the forerunner of Medicare. For the first time, Kerr-Mills provided for government payment of medical bills of 70% of citizens aged 65 and older. When was the last time you heard of even a Democrat suggesting an expansion of socialized medicine?

Ike And Unilateralism Eisenhower knew the value of working closely with allies, and specifically of working out problems peaceully through the UN. While the Right would have you believe that the UN is some sort of recent liberal plot to displace the US, the reality is that the UN grew out of the alliance of 26 nations forged to fight the axis powers in WWII. Eisenhower was, in effect, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for the United Nations. For example, when President Truman announced the surrender of Germany he said “General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations”.

Here, again, are Eisenhower's own words:

"The world must learn to work together, or finally it will not work at all."

"If the United Nations once admits that international disputes can be settled by using force, then we will have destroyed the foundation of the organization and our best hope of establishing a world order. "

"The people of the world genuinely want peace. Some day the leaders of the world are going to have to give in and give, it to them."

[RightWhale]

Eisenhower was nearly the Dem nominee in 1952 but finally decided to go for the Republican nomination. Even so, it took several ballots to secure the nomination.

[Eagle Eye]

How many successful combat missions did he fly?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Ike did not like MacArthur

The feeling was mutual: "The best clerk I've ever had" -- MacArthur, speaking about Ike.

[hinckley buzzard]

Ike was not very easily categorized by the usual right-left dichotomy, despite the best efforts of these leftwing jerk-offs. At the time he was excoriated by liberals as "a do-nothing president" who just played golf while the world burned. It later became clear that he had a strong grip on the government and, like Reagan, made it look so easy people thought he was asleep at the switch. They were wrong.

His domestic policies were not geared toward the kind of idiot litmus tests used by the writer here. He did what the world needed at a very dangerous time--managed the early unstable rounds of the Cold War when the risk of going to war with the USSR was far more than theoretical. As for the Interstate and integration, no one could say then that these were "liberal" policies, any more than they are today: providing basic infrastructure and equal protection under the law are both responsibilities of the government under the Constitution. The "Military-Industrial Complex" comment, a favorite fetish of adolescent 60's leftwingers, has always been taken way out of context, as it was a passing observation from the man who won the War thanks to "The Arsenal for Democracy."

Ike did the right thing as God gave him to see the right. He was no ideologue one way or the other.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The prudent and level-headed Paul

You have a sly sense of humour.

[hinckley buzzard]

In Ike's day, capital gains were not treated differently from earned income, so the rich paid 91% tax on capital gains. From 91% to 15% - another reason why it's good to be rich!

What this diseased bitch doesn't tell you is that there were so many deductions and shelters in the labyrinthine tax codes of the fifties that no one came anywhere near paying the tax rates they pay today. The average federal tax bill in the 50's was about 3-5% compared to maybe 17% today. This is good example of liberal lying by selecting the facts. All one has to do is to consider that in the 50's a family could be supported well by one wage earner, which is what most families had--back then.

[Richard Kimball]

All true. The fact that Kennedy even had to campaign in Texas when he had a Texan on the ticket and there was functionally no Republican party in the state speaks to his weakness in the south.

Part of Johnson's 64 victory was, I think, sympathy votes because of the assassination, but Goldwater also came across as a crank, making jokes about lobbing missiles into the bathroom at the Kremlin, etc.

Kennedy was still convinced he would defeat Goldwater handily, but would lose to Rockefeller. Part of Goldwater's problem was that he alienated the moderates, and I think this has been a continuing problem in the Republican party. There aren't enough conservatives OR moderates to swing a national election without the other. Yet conservatives keep trying to purge moderates and moderates keep trying to purge conservatives.

I'd also point out that even the term "conservative" is up for grabs, now. Pat Buchanan and Ronald Reagan are both considered conservative, but their positions on free trade, immigration, and national defense are so far apart as to be irreconcilable.

[Captain Kirk]

Thanks but I meant it seriously. Unlike McCain, but like Ike, Paul is not a social engineer or a Wilsonian in foreign policy. Paul also follows in the tradition of Ike in his belief in the need for diplomacy (unlike McCain). If that doesn’t qualify as a prudent and level-headed approach, what does?

[puroresu]

the culture was vastly different

And that's the primary difference between then and now. Our culture has collapsed radically to the left. In Ike's era, illegitimacy was in single digits. Abortion was illegal. Homosexuals weren't prancing down the street in g-strings or demanding the right to indoctrinate children. Schools taught kids to read & write. They taught math & science. History was about the greatness of our nation, not its sins. Everything wasn't dumbed down and reduced to its lowest common denominator. There was no feminism, multiculturalism, or open borders. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Our cultural collapse is not only bad in its own right, but it renders fiscal conservatism impossible, and threatens our ability to defend our nation. Look at what America was like in terms of culture, family life, demographics, and so forth in 1958 vs. today. If the cultural trendline to the left continues, what will America be like in 2058? Will Christianity be outlawed as a cult? Will we have forced abortions? Will children be taken from their parents at birth and raised communally? Will human-animal marriage be legal? It sounds far-fetched, but no more so than abortion-on-demand, same-sex "marriage", schools distributing condoms, or sanctuary cities would have in 1958.

[DMZFrank]

The only two places in the US where socialism works is in the military and the family. they work there because in both places, the subordinate members of those organizations yeild a significant portion of their liberty and rights in order for them to work. (Children must obey to their parent’s directives, can not leave the home except under very narrowly defined circumstances, soldiers lose the rights of free speech, freedom to withdraw their labor, protection against hazards to their safety, obedience to almost all orders, to decide where you will live, all your basic needs taken care of)

It is not suprising that many military men have some socialist leanings given that they see how well it works in the armed services. They just ignore the part about how you have to give certain inalienable rights to make it work.

[Biblebelter]

Who cares if Eisenhower was liberal? He had a campaign slogan that people bought into, I LIKE IKE. The best McCain can come up with is a bullyism, LIKE ME or ELSE.

[ohioman]

That was Willy.