Who would you have voted for?

[Gustaf]

OK, this is just for fun and if you don't want to participate, feel free not to. The idea is to state what candidate you would have voted for in past elections, with the knowledge you had at the time (so you can't not vote for Nixon in 1972 b/c of Watergate, Carter in 1976 b/c of the hostages, etc). I don't know how far we could or should go, but I will start off at 1948:

1948: Truman, I think

1952: Eisenhower, probably

1956: Eisenhower

1960: Kennedy

1964: Hard one, Goldwater's opposition to civil rights would probably have given my vote to LBJ

1968: Humphrey

1972: Nixon, I think.

1976: Carter

1980: Reagan

1984: Reagan

1988: Bush, I think

1992: Clinton, I think, but it would've been a hard one.

1996: Clinton

2000: Bush, I think

That makes it 7-7 for me then. Feel free to join in!

[Dave from Michigan]

In every election since 1948 I would have voted for the Republican candidate.

[© Tweed the Younger]

Lets see:

1948: Truman
1952: Stevenson
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Kennedy
1964: Hass (Socialist Labor)
1968: Gregory (Peace+Freedom)
1972: McGovern
1976: Carter
1980: John Anderson (National Union Party)
1984: Mondale
1988: Dukakis
1992: Perot (Independent)
1996: Clinton
2000: Gore

So...9 Dem, 1 Republican, 4 Third Party.

[Sibboleth]

1900: Bryan
1904: Debs
1908: Bryan
1912: Debs
1916: Wilson
1920: Debs
1924: Davis
1928: Thomas
1932: FDR
1936: FDR
1940: FDR
1944: FDR
1948: Truman
1952: Stevenson
1956: Stevenson
1960: Kennedy
1964: LBJ
1968: Humphrey
1972: Abstain/McGovern
1976: Carter
1980: Carter
1984: Mondale
1988: Dukakis
1992: Clinton
1996: Clinton
2000: Gore

1928 changed to Thomas on reflection
1904 changed to Debs on reflection

[© Tweed the Younger]

Lets go early like Al did...

1900: McKinley
1904: TR
1908: Taft
1912: TR (Progressive)
1916: Wilson
1920: Debs (Socialist)
1924: LaFollette (Progressive)
1928: Thomas (Socialist)
1932: FDR
1936: FDR
1940: FDR
1944: FDR

[opebo]

The answer to this question seems pretty obvious - I would've voted for the Republican in any election, at any time, for president or whatever office.  I don't really 'get' ticket splitting.

[12th Doctor]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

[Gustaf]

1824: Jackson
1828: Jackson
1832: Jackson
1836: Van Buren
1840: Abstain
1844: Clay
1848: Cass
1852: Pierce
1856: Buchanan (useless... with hindsight)
1860: Douglas or Bell
1864: McClellan
1868: Seymour
1872: Greeley
1876: Tilden
1880: Hancock
1884: Cleveland
1888: Cleveland/Streeter (not on ballot in all states)
1892: Cleveland or Weaver
1896: Bryan

Wow, you're taking this a long way...if you had been an elector, then who would you have voted for back in pre-democratic days?

Why would you have supported the Democrats during the civil-war-era?

[Sibboleth]

I'll do the pre-democratic elections tomorrow

I would have supported the Democrats during the Civil War for several different reasons.
The main one is that I would have blamed Lincoln for starting it...

[Gustaf]

I'll do the pre-democratic elections tomorrow

I would have supported the Democrats during the Civil War for several different reasons.
The main one is that I would have blamed Lincoln for starting it...

That might well be true, but they still were a bunch of Southern aristocrats keeping slaves!

[© Tweed the Younger]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

[Gustaf]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

[© Tweed the Younger]

Supersoulty may have mixed up the years there.

[Gustaf]

Supersoulty may have mixed up the years there.

But he wrote Smith, he must know that FDR ran in 1932, right?

[© Tweed the Younger]

Supersoulty may have mixed up the years there.

But he wrote Smith, he must know that FDR ran in 1932, right?

Who knows.  He's got some explanin' to do.

[Gustaf]

Supersoulty may have mixed up the years there.

But he wrote Smith, he must know that FDR ran in 1932, right?

Who knows.  He's got some explanin' to do.

I wonder what this will do to his electability...

Supersoulty, where are you? Come here and explain this mess!

[12th Doctor]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

[Gustaf]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

[12th Doctor]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

[Gustaf]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

Oh, sorry, missed that. So you're really anti-FDR, huh?

How do you think the American economy would have fared under Hoover?

[12th Doctor]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

Oh, sorry, missed that. So you're really anti-FDR, huh?

How do you think the American economy would have fared under Hoover?

Don't get me wrong, Hoover made a lot of mistakes, but the Depression wasn't his fault, it would have happened no matter who was president.  The events that set the Depression in motion started at the end of WWI.  An often ignored fact is that when Hoover left office, the economy was recovering and unemployment was down.  It kept getting lower during the first two years of the FDR administration (still Hoover's economy) and then spiked again in the third and fourth years of FDR's administration (FDR's economy).  So for ALL that Hoover was doing wrong, he must have done SOMETHING right.

[Gustaf]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

Oh, sorry, missed that. So you're really anti-FDR, huh?

How do you think the American economy would have fared under Hoover?

Don't get me wrong, Hoover made a lot of mistakes, but the Depression wasn't his fault, it would have happened no matter who was president.  The events that set the Depression in motion started at the end of WWI.  An often ignored fact is that when Hoover left office, the economy was recovering and unemployment was down.  It kept getting lower during the first two years of the FDR administration (still Hoover's economy) and then spiked again in the third and fourth years of FDR's administration (FDR's economy).  So for ALL that Hoover was doing wrong, he must have done SOMETHING right.

I don't have immediate access to statistics from that time, but that sounds dubious. I do know that the stock market did not recover until the 50s. I believe that Keynesian policies were necessary to battle the depression, and I don't think Hoover would've done that, hence it would have been worse than it would otherwise have been.

[© Tweed the Younger]

1824: Jackson
1828: Jackson
1832: Jackson
1836: Van Buren
1840: Van Buren
1844: Polk
1848: Van Buren (Free Soil)
1852: Hale (Free Soil)
1856: Fremont)
1860: Douglas
1864: McClellan
1868: Grant
1872: Grant
1876: Tilden
1880: Garfield
1884: Cleveland
1888: Cleveland
1892: Weaver
1896: McKinley

[12th Doctor]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

Oh, sorry, missed that. So you're really anti-FDR, huh?

How do you think the American economy would have fared under Hoover?

Don't get me wrong, Hoover made a lot of mistakes, but the Depression wasn't his fault, it would have happened no matter who was president.  The events that set the Depression in motion started at the end of WWI.  An often ignored fact is that when Hoover left office, the economy was recovering and unemployment was down.  It kept getting lower during the first two years of the FDR administration (still Hoover's economy) and then spiked again in the third and fourth years of FDR's administration (FDR's economy).  So for ALL that Hoover was doing wrong, he must have done SOMETHING right.

I don't have immediate access to statistics from that time, but that sounds dubious. I do know that the stock market did not recover until the 50s. I believe that Keynesian policies were necessary to battle the depression, and I don't think Hoover would've done that, hence it would have been worse than it would otherwise have been.

To be fair I should point out that the numbers I am using are for private sector employment.  The acctual number of those employed did go up during MOST of the FDR administration, but ALL of the net gain in jobs can be attributed to government works projects, which is "artificial" when considering acctual economic impact.

[Gustaf]

1900: McKinnley
1904: TR
1908: Taft (the most under-rated president in history in my oppinion)
1912: TR
1916: Hughes
1920: Harding
1924: Coolidge
1928: Smith
1932: Hoover
1936: Landon
1940: Willkie
1944: Dewey
1948: Truman
1952: Eisenhower
1956: Eisenhower
1960: Nixon
1964: Goldwater
1968: Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Ford
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Bush
1992: Bush
1996: Dole
2000: Bush

I don't get why you would have voted against FDR four times, expecially when your other choice was Hoover, the worst president in history, hands down.

The weird thing is, the only time Supersoulty would've voted Democrat is 1928, Hoover's first election, when no one else did! (Hoover thrashed Smith 58-40) Why would someone vote against Hoover in 1928, but for him in 1932?

Smith's views are closer to my own than Hoover's, but FDR is much farther away from me than Hoover.  Remember that Smith repudiated the Democratic Party in 1936, even though he supported FDR over Hoover at first.

OK, is makes a weird kind of sense...someone named Smith is the only Democrat that you would ever have voted for? It's still hard to accept...

I would have voted for Truman over Dewey.

Oh, sorry, missed that. So you're really anti-FDR, huh?

How do you think the American economy would have fared under Hoover?

Don't get me wrong, Hoover made a lot of mistakes, but the Depression wasn't his fault, it would have happened no matter who was president.  The events that set the Depression in motion started at the end of WWI.  An often ignored fact is that when Hoover left office, the economy was recovering and unemployment was down.  It kept getting lower during the first two years of the FDR administration (still Hoover's economy) and then spiked again in the third and fourth years of FDR's administration (FDR's economy).  So for ALL that Hoover was doing wrong, he must have done SOMETHING right.

I don't have immediate access to statistics from that time, but that sounds dubious. I do know that the stock market did not recover until the 50s. I believe that Keynesian policies were necessary to battle the depression, and I don't think Hoover would've done that, hence it would have been worse than it would otherwise have been.

To be fair I should point out that the numbers I am using are for private sector employment.  The acctual number of those employed did go up during MOST of the FDR administration, but ALL of the net gain in jobs can be attributed to government works projects, which is "artificial" when considering acctual economic impact.

Not really, since that was part of the point, stimulating the economy through public projects. What would've happened if these people had been unemployed?