Thank you for pointing all this out!
I’ve always held the (unpopular here) observation that Republicans and Democrats flipped c. Wilson years. Even Teddy Roosevelt had “Progressive” tendencies, indicating what really happened before.
It’s amazing how many Civil War fights happen here, all because of Yankee sensibilities being offended.
“I’ve always held the (unpopular here) observation that Republicans and Democrats flipped c. Wilson years. Even Teddy Roosevelt had “Progressive” tendencies, indicating what really happened before.”
Your suspicions are correct. Teddy was a progressive and he even ran on the Progressive Party ticket in 1912. The GOP had progressives at that time. Robert La Follette of Wisconsin. Hiram Johnson of California. Some progressive Republicans joined Wilson’s administration. Even more joined the administration of Teddy’s cousin FDR.
That progressive wing lingered on beyond FDR. Margaret Sanger was an active Republican in Tucson. The Republicans who collaborated with LBJ and refused to support Goldwater might qualify as well. Trump isn’t the first Republican to have knives in his back.