Why are 1920s Republicans viewed as more moderate than the Modern GOP

[OSR stands with Israel]

Like many posters on here are willing to say the prefer 1920s Republicans like Coolidge and Hoover too Modern Republican Presidents (Post 1980). That makes no sense as the 1920s era Republicans were more right wing than the Modern GOP(even the 2010s version in almost every way).


Taxes: Harding and Coolidge cut the top tax rate from 77% to 25% and by the end of Coolidge Presidency , income taxes were effectively paid by only 2% of the nation

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Government Spending: Today whenever a Republican proposes the slightest budget cuts to programs the left screams, during the 1920s when the budget was considerably smaller than now and there were considerably fewer programs the GOP then still cut the budget by over 25% and Coolidge vetoed the most basic farm subsidies as well.

Regulations: Republicans then were even more anti Regulation than they are now

Immigration: The 1924 Immigration act was far more anti-immigrant than anything Trump has proposed

Prohibition: Republicans strongly were in favor of Alcohol Prohibition then

Southern Strategy: The Republicans in 1928 used anti-catholic bigotry in their campaign against Smith



So where did this whole 1920s era Republicans were more moderate than the Modern GOP come from, I find it hilarious in almost every way .

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The assumption that LaFollette was a typical Republican maybe.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The assumption that LaFollette was a typical Republican maybe.

He left the GOP for a reason lol


and while there were more Liberals in the party then, the policies the party pursued were more right wing than the policies the modern GOP pursues and at the end of the day that is what matters.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I think the only thing Democrats might prefer 1920s Republicans on would be national security/war.

Coolidge at least was to the right of the Tea Party on fiscal issues and arguably to the right of Trump on immigration.

[junior chįmp]

The GOP could do basic math back then since they actually managed to balance the budget

[OSR stands with Israel]

The GOP could do basic math back then since they actually managed to balance the budget

Well they did because they cut the budget by over 25%


Do you think that would be possible today

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Because democrats have a compulsive need to rehabilitate awful republicans into moderates to lecture modern republicans.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Also, while they were far right, they weren't actively murdering our country for partisan gain.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Also, while they were far right, they weren't actively murdering our country for partisan gain.

Hoover handling of the Depression was far worse than anything the GOP has done economically today

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Also, while they were far right, they weren't actively murdering our country for partisan gain.

Hoover handling of the Depression was far worse than anything the GOP has done economically today

He wasn't massacring democratic norms iirc.

[Virginiá]

The GOP could do basic math back then since they actually managed to balance the budget

Well they did because they cut the budget by over 25%


Do you think that would be possible today

To cut 25%? No. I just don't see how that could be done without a backlash of some sort. Any realistic plan along those lines would have to make huge cuts to the safety net, and that would cause bipartisan anger, even though Republican voters have long been voting for people who have advocated cuts to those programs.

But the thing is, Republicans can't seem to accept that if your tax plan requires big spending cuts, it's deeply irresponsible to pass said tax plan without the spending cuts (or some other viable plan to offset the cost of the tax cuts). It'd be one thing if this was the first time Republicans tried their voodoo economics and saw it failed, and decided it wasn't a good idea to do it again. But this is not the first time. They keep doing it, and in the process are leaving future generations with massive debt. It's hard to overstate how irresponsible this is, and in a sane, more just world, would be the kind of policy blunder that would disqualify them as a legitimate governing party.

[OSR stands with Israel]

But that’s what I’m saying the GOP then refused to raise taxes either and infect cut them by a much larger margin than they did today


And they offset that by slashing the budget by more than 25 percent

[Virginiá]

But that’s what I’m saying the GOP then refused to raise taxes either and infect cut them by a much larger margin than they did today


And they offset that by slashing the budget by more than 25 percent

How do we know the 1920s GOP wouldn't have slashed taxes anyway (without cutting spending, like today), even if they had big social programs back then? It's really a question of their principles and desire to run a good government. I really can't speak to their mindset back then, but at times it does seem like the willingness to make tough decisions for the good of the country happened more often generation(s) ago than it does today.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

1920s Republicans had a 1920 mindset.

2010s Republicans have an 1880 mindset.
 

[darklordoftech]

I don't think anyone claims that the 1920s GOP was more moderate than today's GOP. They might prefer it over today's GOP because of things like Coolidge cracking down on lynching, but that doesn't mean they think it was more moderate.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Who is saying this outside the right?

[OSR stands with Israel]

1920s Republicans had a 1920 mindset.

2010s Republicans have an 1880 mindset.
  

First of a lol no on 1880s mindset , at most you could argue they are stuck in the 1980s. Trump basically is a Cruder version of a Dubya who didn’t invade Iraq .

Anyway  Harding got elected on a platform of return to normalcy which at the very least was turning back the clock on the previous two decades and was arguably the most conservative President since maybe Hayes if not even more and Coolidge was even more conservative than Harding  

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The GOP could do basic math back then since they actually managed to balance the budget

it was much easier to balance the budget in the pre-New Deal era. No ultra-popular social programs costing the government money, at least compared to now...

[TDAS04]

Maybe because they were less racist than the Democrars of that era?  It's not so much that Republicans were less conservative in the 1920s, but the Democrats of today aren't influenced by the Klan like the Democrats of the 1920s.  (Then again, there was plenty of Klan influence in the GOP too).

Actually, Harding did support some pro-worker legislation, and his pardon of Eugene Debs made him fairly pro-civil liberties.  Coolidge was fiscally right-wing as hell, but he supported civil rights legislation (including voting rights for Native Americans), and seemed like a far nicer person than the current GOP president.  Also, GOP presidents of the time did scale back US imperialism in Latin America.

They were still definitely conservative, though. 

[Kodak]

Who is saying this outside the right?

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I thought the same thing, as Hoover appointed Ben Cardoza to the SCOTUS, but it was Calvin Coolidge who appointed Jay Edgar Hoover to the FBI, who allowed four assassinations of Democrats on his watch in the 1960's.  As chief law enforcement officer.

[Storebought]

The GOP of the 1920s certainly had a different opinion on the need for (any) defense spending.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The GOP of the 1920s certainly had a different opinion on the need for (any) defense spending.

That really doesnt have much do with right or left as there are interventionist and isolationist wings of both parties. Also back then it was the Progressives who were more in favor of increasing defense spending and being interventionist than the Conservatives who opposed it.

[smoltchanov]

1920s Republicans had a 1920 mindset.

2010s Republicans have an 1880 mindset.
 

Well, i tend to agee. The people of 1920th tended to agree (to some extent) with 1920th mindset of Republicans of that time. But people of 2010th - wouldn't. And present mindset of Republican party is hardly better, then in 1920th. So, the gap between general public mindset, and GOP mindset, is MUCH wider.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Both parties were conservative.  All 3 Democrats nominated for president in the 1920s bailed on FDR at some point, as did John J. Raskob, the DNC chairman.