What political party would these Founding Fathers be a part of today?

[Thomas]

Here is the list
George Washington (if he had to choose between the two main parties)
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
Aaron Burr
Patrick Henry
George Clinton

State your opinions

[RINO Tom]

George Washington - No idea, and more importantly prefer not to say...
Benjamin Franklin - Democrat
Alexander Hamilton - Republican
Aaron Burr - Democrat
Patrick Henry - Democrat while younger, possibly switch to Republican later in life ... not sure
George Clinton - Republican

[Grumpier Than Thou]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

[RINO Tom]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

Well, I mean ... I didn't think that was an option.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Green Party

[OSR stands with Israel]

George Washington - None
Benjamin Franklin - Democratic
Thomas Jefferson - Libertarian
Alexander Hamilton - Republican
Aaron Burr- Democratic
Patrick Henry - Not sure
George Clinton - Libertarian

[HisGrace]

They'd probably all find the Democrat's social policy (and even the Republican's to an extent) appalling because they come from 200+ years ago. On non-social issues Hamilton and Henry would probably be Democrats and the rest Republicans. Jefferson might be a "movement" libertarian who rejects both parties as tyrannical.

[Kingpoleon]

George Washington: Independent/Reform
Benjamin Franklin: Republican
Alexander Hamilton: Democratic
Aaron Burr: Democratic(?)
Patrick Henry: Democratic
George Clinton: Republican

Thomas Jefferson: Libertarian/Republican
James Madison: Reform/Independent

[SWE]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

Hamilton would absolutely be pissed at how polite discourse has gotten, yeah.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

They, um, made party politics.

[TheLeftwardTide]

George Washington: Would rather die than join either (actually principled)
Benjamin Franklin: Democratic
Alexander Hamilton: Republican
Aaron Burr: Democratic
Patrick Henry: Democratic
George Clinton: Republican

John Adams: Republican
Thomas Jefferson: Democratic
James Madison: Democratic

[Grumpier Than Thou]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

They, um, made party politics.

Not with the intention for it to become a two party system with no other alternative. Many of them wouldn't even want to keep the constitution in its current form.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Why would Patrick Henry be a Democrat?
He wanted state taxes to support clergy and in spite of a turn to the Federalists near the end of his life was mostly quite far from a big gov guy when it came to federal power.

[RINO Tom]

Why would Patrick Henry be a Democrat?
He wanted state taxes to support clergy and in spite of a turn to the Federalists near the end of his life was mostly quite far from a big gov guy when it came to federal power.

His alignment with Jeffersonian thought - and not the Federalists, at least early on - is exactly why.

[Goldwater]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

They, um, made party politics.

Not with the intention for it to become a two party system with no other alternative. Many of them wouldn't even want to keep the constitution in its current form.

Didn't the hatred of a two party system mostly come from George Washington?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

They, um, made party politics.

Not with the intention for it to become a two party system with no other alternative. Many of them wouldn't even want to keep the constitution in its current form.

Didn't the hatred of a two party system mostly come from George Washington?

For the most part they all hated the idea of a party system, but they couldn't help themselves and just blamed the other guys for starting it.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

None, because they'd be disgusted at the state of party politics today (sane, normal)

They, um, made party politics.

Not with the intention for it to become a two party system with no other alternative. Many of them wouldn't even want to keep the constitution in its current form.

Didn't the hatred of a two party system mostly come from George Washington?

For the most part they all hated the idea of a party system, but they couldn't help themselves and just blamed the other guys for starting it.

More or less. It's worth bearing in mind that party membership was not as clear-cut as it is today, and so it was possible for the leading statesmen to plausibly deny involvement in partisan activities — much in the same way that candidates would plead "indifference" to the cause of their election, they would cry "who, me?" and then fervently insist that they knew nothing of such perfidious intrigue.

[Kingpoleon]

Why would Patrick Henry be a Democrat?
He wanted state taxes to support clergy and in spite of a turn to the Federalists near the end of his life was mostly quite far from a big gov guy when it came to federal power.

His alignment with Jeffersonian thought - and not the Federalists, at least early on - is exactly why.

That's an interesting theory. In that case, why would Madison be a Democrat? He was the exact opposite of Jefferson in most ways.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Why would Patrick Henry be a Democrat?
He wanted state taxes to support clergy and in spite of a turn to the Federalists near the end of his life was mostly quite far from a big gov guy when it came to federal power.

His alignment with Jeffersonian thought - and not the Federalists, at least early on - is exactly why.

Were I to do a list, it would put Henry to the right, but it would be based more on his caution towards the French Revolution--not only a very divisive issue, but the origin of right and left politics--rather than his own revolutionary career.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Why would Patrick Henry be a Democrat?
He wanted state taxes to support clergy and in spite of a turn to the Federalists near the end of his life was mostly quite far from a big gov guy when it came to federal power.

His alignment with Jeffersonian thought - and not the Federalists, at least early on - is exactly why.

That's an interesting theory. In that case, why would Madison be a Democrat? He was the exact opposite of Jefferson in most ways.

Maybe in the context of what a Constitution should involve, but once it came to actually putting that Constitution into practice and protesting what they saw as beyond the scope of enumerated powers (concerns which each eventually ignored to a degree once they became Presidents themselves)...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Thomas Paine would be a Berniecrat. Most of the founding fathers would be fairly conservative by today's standards, though.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I haven't put together my own "list", but I would probably place Madison on the right owing to (my limited knowledge of) how he structured his argument in the Federalist Papers.

[RINO Tom]

I haven't put together my own "list", but I would probably place Madison on the right owing to (my limited knowledge of) how he structured his argument in the Federalist Papers.

From what I've read, Madison is one of the hardest to pin down.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

People mistaking Jeffersonian thought for what we now call libertarianism is a classic clunker of an argument.

I can't imagine any of the Founding Fathers particularly approving of Trump though.

[RINO Tom]

People mistaking Jeffersonian thought for what we now call libertarianism is a classic clunker of an argument.

Exactly.  Libertarianism came about (or at least gained steam) during a time when it so happened that many mainstream conservatives were starting to realize their goals were better accomplished through limiting the federal government's influence, specifically over business and private finances ... it's pretty knee-jerk to assume that Jeffersonian thinkers of the 1800s are "one of your own" just because they used the same methods and arguments about government to literally achieve a diametrically opposed goal.