Historical political party platforms, 1840-2008

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(Some interesting bits) 1936 Democratic (FDR) -

We know that drought, dust storms, floods, minimum wages, maximum hours, child labor, and working conditions in industry, monopolistic and unfair business practices cannot be adequately handled exclusively by 48 separate State legislatures, 48 separate State administrations, and 48 separate State courts. Transactions and activities which inevitably overflow State boundaries call for both State and Federal treatment.

We reaffirm our opposition to war as an instrument of national policy, and declare that disputes between nations should be settled by peaceful means. We shall continue to observe a true neutrality in the disputes of others; to be prepared, resolutely to resist aggression against ourselves.

1940 Dem (FDR) -

A far-flung system of employment exchanges has brought together millions of idle workers and available jobs. The workers' right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing is being enforced. We have enacted an effective wage and hour law. Child labor in factories has been outlawed.

We have attacked and will continue to attack unbridled concentration of economic power and the exploitation of the consumer and the investor. We have attacked the kind of banking which treated America as a colonial empire to exploit; the kind of securities business which regarded the Stock Exchange as a private gambling club for wagering other people's money.

The Democratic Party, which established social security for the nation, is dedicated to its extension. We pledge to make the Social Security Act increasingly effective, by covering millions of persons not now protected under its terms; by progressively extending and increasing the benefits of the old-age and survivors insurance system

1944 Dem Platform (FDR)

Our gallant sons are dying on land, on sea, and in the air. They do not die as Republicans. They do not die as Democrats. They die as Americans. We pledge that their blood shall not have been shed in vain. America has the opportunity to lead the world in this great service to mankind. We pledge our support to the Atlantic Charter and the Four Freedoms and the application of the principles enunciated therein to the United Nations and other peace-loving nations, large and small.

We favor the opening of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration and colonization, and such a policy as to result in the establishment there of a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth.

We favor legislation assuring equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex. We recommend to Congress the submission of a Constitutional amendment on equal rights for women. We believe that the country which has the greatest measure of social justice is capable of the greatest achievements.

We favor enactment of legislation granting the fullest measure of self-government for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and eventual statehood for Alaska and Hawaii.

We believe that racial and religious minorities have the right to live, develop and vote equally with all citizens and share the rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. Congress should exert its full constitutional powers to protect those rights.

Finally, this Convention sends its affectionate greetings to our beloved and matchless leader and President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He stands before the nation and the world, the champion of human liberty and dignity. He has rescued our people from the ravages of economic disaster. His rare foresight and magnificent courage have saved our nation from the assault of international brigands and dictators. Fulfilling the ardent hope of his life, he has already laid the foundation of enduring peace for a troubled world and the well being of our nation. All mankind is his debtor. His life and services have been a great blessing to humanity.

That God may keep him strong in body and in spirit to carry on his yet unfinished work is our hope and our prayer.

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Holy Sh*t, what a bomb, Former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt's progressive party platform of 1912 - Has to one of the most different, courageous & iconic platforms of all times - Visionary & legendary !

Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare, they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. To dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task. The deliberate betrayal of its trust by the Republican party, the fatal incapacity of the Democratic party to deal with the new issues, have compelled the people to forge a new instrument of government. Unhampered by tradition, uncorrupted by power, undismayed by the magnitude of the task, the new party offers itself to sweep away old abuses.

In particular, the party declares for direct primaries for the nomination of State and National officers, for nation-wide preferential primaries for candidates for the presidency. The Progressive party, believing that a free people should have the power to amend their fundamental law to adapt it progressively to the changing needs of the people, pledges itself to provide a more easy and expeditious method of amending the Federal Constitution. The extreme insistence on States' rights by the Democratic party in the Baltimore platform demonstrates anew its inability to administer the affairs of a union of States which have in all essential respects become one people.

We pledge our party to legislation that will compel strict limitation of all campaign contributions and expenditures, and detailed publicity of both before as well as after primaries and elections. The supreme duty of the Nation is the conservation of human resources through an enlightened measure of social and industrial justice. The prohibition of child labor. Minimum wage standards for working women, to provide a "living wage" in all industrial occupations. The establishment of an eight hour day for women and young persons. One day's rest in seven for all wage workers. The eight hour day in continuous twenty-four hour industries. The abolition of the convict contract labor system; substituting a system of prison production for governmental consumption only; and the application of prisoners' earnings to the support of their dependent families.

We favor the union of all the existing agencies of the Federal Government dealing with the public health into a single national health service without discrimination against or for any one set of therapeutic methods, school of medicine, or school of healing with such additional powers as may be necessary to enable it to perform efficiently such duties in the protection of the public from preventable diseases as may be properly undertaken by the Federal authorities.

But the existing concentration of vast wealth under a corporate system, unguarded and uncontrolled by the Nation, has placed in the hands of a few men enormous, secret, irresponsible power over the daily life of the citizen.

We pledge ourselves to the establishment of a non-partisan scientific tariff commission, reporting both to the President and to either branch of Congress, which shall report, first, as to the costs of production, efficiency of labor, capitalization, industrial organization and efficiency and the general competitive position in this country and abroad of industries seeking protection from Congress; second, as to the revenue producing power of the tariff and its relation to the resources of Government; and, third, as to the effect of the tariff on prices, operations of middlemen, and on the purchasing power of the consumer.

We believe in a graduated inheritance tax as a National means of equalizing the obligations of holders of property to Government, and we hereby pledge our party to enact such a Federal law as will tax large inheritances

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1904 Republican Platform (Teddy Roosevelt nomination) -

We replaced a Democratic tariff law based on free trade principles and garnished with sectional protection by a consistent protective tariff. Protection, which guards and develops our industries, is a cardinal policy of the Republican party. The measure of protection should always at least equal the difference in the cost of production at home and abroad. Whether, as in 1892, the Democratic party declares the protective tariff unconstitutional, or whether it demands tariff reform or tariff revision, its real object is always the destruction of the protective system.

1964 Democratic Platform (LBJ Nominee) -

The demands on the already inadequate sources of state and local revenues place a serious limitation on education. New methods of financial aid must be explored, including the channeling of federally collected revenues to all levels of education, and, to the extent permitted by the Constitution, to all schools. In order to insure that all students who can meet the requirements for college entrance can continue their education, we propose an expanded program of public scholarships, guaranteed loans, and work-study grants.

The immigration laws must be revised to permit families to be reunited, to welcome the persecuted and oppressed, and to eliminate the discriminatory provisions which base admission upon national origins. Carry the War on Poverty forward as a total war against the causes of human want.

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The Iconic 1980 GOP platform -

For too many years, the political debate has been conducted in terms set by the Democrats. They believe that every time new problems arise beyond the power of men and women as individuals to solve, it becomes the duty of government to solve them. Republicans disagree and have always taken the side of the individual, whose freedoms are threatened by the big government that Democratic idea has spawned. A defense of the individual against government was never more needed. Presently, the aggregate burden of taxation is so great that the average American spends a substantial part of every year, in effect, working for government.

These same tax policies subsidize debt, unemployment, and consumption. The present structure of the personal income tax system is designed to broaden the gap between effort and reward. Therefore, the Republican Party supports across-the-board reductions in personal income tax rates, phased in over three years, which will reduce tax rates from the range of 14 to 70 percent to a range from 10 to 50 percent.

The Democratic Congress has produced a jumble of degrading, dehumanizing, wasteful, overlapping, and inefficient programs that invite waste and fraud. For two generations, especially since the mid-1960s, the Democrats have deliberately perpetuated a status of federally subsidized poverty and manipulated dependency. For those on welfare, our nation's tax policies provide a penalty for getting a job. If necessary, the Republican Party will seek to adopt a Constitutional amendment to limit federal spending and balance the budget, except in time of national emergency as determined by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

The Democrats have presided over—and must take the blame for—the most monstrous expansion and abuse of the food stamp program to date. They have sacrificed the needy to the greedy, and sent the welfare bills to the taxpayers. End welfare fraud by removing ineligibles from the welfare rolls, tightening food stamp eligibility requirements, and ending aid to illegal aliens and the voluntarily unemployed. We oppose federalizing the welfare system. We support a block grant program that will help return control of welfare programs to the states. Decisions about who gets welfare, and how much, can be better made on the local level.

The Republican Party vigorously supports the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted into the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We believe that the statehood alternative is the only logical solution to the problem of inequality of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico within the framework of the federal Constitution.

While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own Party—we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. Next to religious training and the home, education is the most important means by which families hand down to each new generation their ideals and beliefs. But today, parents are losing control of their children's schooling. That is why we condemn the forced busing of school children to achieve arbitrary racial quotas. We will halt the unconstitutional regulatory vendetta launched by Mr. Carter's IRS Commissioner against independent schools.

We advocate the reform of Medicare to encourage home-based care whenever feasible. These programs need the careful, detailed reevaluation they have never received from the Democrats, who have characteristically neglected their financial stability. We believe that the needs of those who depend upon these programs, particularly the elderly, can be better served, especially when a Republican Administration cracks down on fraud and abuse so that program can be directed toward those truly in need. In the case of Medicaid, we will aid the states in restoring its financial integrity and its local direction.

Government's power to take and tax, to regulate and require, has already reached extravagant proportions. Republicans support a comprehensive program of regulatory reform, improved incentives, and revision of cumbersome and overly stringent Clean Air Act regulations. While the new environmental policies have resulted in improving air quality, cleaner waters, and more careful analysis of toxic chemicals, the price paid has far exceeded the direct and necessary cost of designing and installing new control technology.

We deplore Mr. Carter's personal attempts to rewrite history on defense budgets. His tough speeches before military audiences cannot hide his continuing opposition to Congressional defense increases. We associate ourselves with the characterization by Democratic Congressional leaders of the President's behavior on defense as "hypocritical." We would go further; it is disgraceful.

Holy Shi* Reagan, what a butcher. He is Super Trump minus the racism, sexism !

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1984 Republican Platform (Reagan)

With the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, we carried out the first phase of tax reduction and reform by cutting marginal tax rates. Families received further relief by reducing the marriage penalty and lowering estate and gift taxes. Businesses and workers benefitted when we replaced depreciation systems with the accelerated cost recovery system, reduced capital gains tax rates.

Congress ignored many of the President's budget reforms. It scaled back and delayed the tax cuts. The resulting recession dramatically increased the deficit, and government spending continues at an unacceptable level. Democrats claim deficits are caused by Americans' paying too little in taxes. Nonsense. We will work for the constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. If Congress fails to act, a constitutional convention should be convened to address only this issue. The President is denied proper control over the federal budget. To remedy this, we support enhanced authority to prevent wasteful spending, including a line-item veto.

Arbitrary minimum wage rates, for example, have eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and, with them, the opportunity for young people to get productive skills, good work habits, and a weekly paycheck. We encourage the adoption of a youth opportunity wage to encourage employers to hire and train inexperienced workers.We reaffirm out commitment to reduce marginal tax rates further. We oppose any scheme to roll back the estate tax cuts. Moreover, we support lower capital gains tax rates.

America was built on the institutions of home, family, religion, and neighborhood. By centralizing responsibility for social programs in Washington, liberal experimenters destroyed the sense of community that sustains local institutions. In many cases, they literally broke up neighborhoods and devastated rural communities. Washington's governing elite thought they knew better than the people how to spend the people's money. They played fast and loose with our schools, with law enforcement, with welfare, with housing. Worst of all, they tried to build their brave new world by assaulting our basic values. They attacked the integrity of the family and parental rights. They ignored traditional morality.

Government created a hellish cycle of dependency. Family cohesion was shattered, both by providing economic incentives to set up maternal households and by usurping the breadwinner's economic role in intact families. We have begun to clean up the welfare mess. Federal administration of welfare is the worst possible & programs and resources must be returned to State and local governments .We will support block grants to combine duplicative programs under State administration. We will employ the latest technology to combat welfare fraud in order to protect the needy from the greedy.

We will preserve Medicare and Medicaid. In order to assure their solvency and to avoid placing undue burdens on beneficiaries, reform must be a priority. Education is a matter of choice, and choice in education is inevitably political. Classroom materials should be developed and produced by the private sector in the public marketplace, and then selections should be made at the State, local, and school levels.  We therefore support the President's proposal for tuition tax credits. We will convert the Chapter One grants to vouchers, thereby giving poor parents the ability to choose the best schooling available. Welfare programs have devastated low-income families and induced single parenthood among teens. The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution.

With the estimates of the number of illegal aliens in the United States ranging as high as 12 million and better than one million more entering each year, we believe it is critical that responsible reforms of our immigration laws be made to enable us to regain control of our borders. In light of the inhibiting role federal election laws and regulations have had, Congress should consider abolishing the Federal Election Commission.

Democracy is under assault throughout the hemisphere. Marxist Nicaragua threatens not only Costa Rica and Honduras, but also El Salvador and Guatemala. The Sandinistas have systematically persecuted free institutions, including synagogue and church, schools, the private sector, the free press, minorities, and families and tribes throughout Nicaragua. We support continued assistance to the democratic freedom fighters in Nicaragua. Nicaragua cannot be allowed to remain a Communist sanctuary.

We will continue to support the freedom fighters and pledge our continuing humanitarian aid to the thousands of Afghan refugees who have sought sanctuary in Pakistan and elsewhere.

(Afghan Support talks about support to Taliban & Mujhahideen led by Laden)