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!

[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?

[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!

[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?

[Gustaf]

Supersoulty may have mixed up the years there.

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

[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!

[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...

[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?

[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.

[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?

[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?

What would have happened if FDR hadn'd regulated the CRAP out of the economy?  The fact is that in 1938, we were no closer to acctually getting out of the Depression.  WWII is what pulled the country out of Depression, not the New Deal.

I don't think that's a universally held view, but I don't know enough about these things to be sure. I will ask my father, he's an economist.

[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!

The Northern Democrat's were Southern Aristocrat's???

Who said the Northern Democrats? But I get what you mean, what were the policies of the Northern Democrats on "Civil War issues" then?

[Gustaf]

They supported the war but thought that Lincoln was mismanaging it.
And opposed the excesses of Sherman et al.

Well, who wouldn't be opposed to George "burn 'em all" Sherman?

[Gustaf]

They supported the war but thought that Lincoln was mismanaging it.
And opposed the excesses of Sherman et al.

Well, who wouldn't be opposed to George "burn 'em all" Sherman?

Shermans win wars.  He's a type of general that is necessary - like Curtis LeMay in WWII and the cold war.  Doesn't make a popular politician after retirement though.

I don't know if they're really that necessary. Curtis LeMay was Wallace's insane running mate in 1968, wasn't he?

[Gustaf]

They supported the war but thought that Lincoln was mismanaging it.
And opposed the excesses of Sherman et al.

Well, who wouldn't be opposed to George "burn 'em all" Sherman?

Shermans win wars.  He's a type of general that is necessary - like Curtis LeMay in WWII and the cold war.  Doesn't make a popular politician after retirement though.

I don't know if they're really that necessary. Curtis LeMay was Wallace's insane running mate in 1968, wasn't he?

Yes!  I would have voted for him anytime, but of course most people would not.

Are you talking about LeMay or Wallace? Wasn't it LeMay who claimed that nuclear testing wasn't dangerous?

[Gustaf]

Nice to see Trondheim would have voted against Reagan twice...that makes two of us!

Well, he seems to be way to the left, since he wouldn't vote for the Democratic candidate in lots of elections.

[Gustaf]

1789 Washington
1792 Washington
1796 Adams
1800 Adams
1804 Jefferson
1808 Madison
1812 Madison
1816 Monroe
1820 Monroe
1824 Adams
1828 Adams
1832 Clay
1836 Harrison
1840 Harrison
1844 Clay
1848 Cass
1852 Hale (Free soil)
1856 Fremont
1860 Lincoln
1864 Lincoln
1868 Seymour
1872 Greeley
1876 Hayes
1880 Weaver
1884 Cleveland
1888 Cleveland
1892 Weaver
1896 Bryan
1900 Bryan
1904 TR
1908 Bryan
1912 Wilson
1916 Wilson
1920 Cox
1924 LaFollette
1928 Smith
1932 FDR
1936 FDR
1940 FDR
1944 FDR
1948 Truman
1952 Stevenson
1956 Stevenson
1960 Kennedy
1964 LBJ
1968 Humphrey
1972 McGovern
1976 Carter
1980 Anderson
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Perot
1996 Clinton
2000 Gore

Looks like MiamiU found himself a soulmate...

[Gustaf]

1789 Washington
1792 Washington
1796 Adams
1800 Adams
1804 Jefferson
1808 Madison
1812 Madison
1816 Monroe
1820 Monroe
1824 Adams
1828 Adams
1832 Clay
1836 Harrison
1840 Harrison
1844 Clay
1848 Cass
1852 Hale (Free soil)
1856 Fremont
1860 Lincoln
1864 Lincoln
1868 Seymour
1872 Greeley
1876 Hayes
1880 Weaver
1884 Cleveland
1888 Cleveland
1892 Weaver
1896 Bryan
1900 Bryan
1904 TR
1908 Bryan
1912 Wilson
1916 Wilson
1920 Cox
1924 LaFollette
1928 Smith
1932 FDR
1936 FDR
1940 FDR
1944 FDR
1948 Truman
1952 Stevenson
1956 Stevenson
1960 Kennedy
1964 LBJ
1968 Humphrey
1972 McGovern
1976 Carter
1980 Anderson
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Perot
1996 Clinton
2000 Gore

Looks like MiamiU found himself a soulmate...

AAAAAAAAARGHH! Posted this too early! Are you from Scandinavia E.M.? It looks a little Icelandish to me...

[Gustaf]

1924 LaFollette
1980 Anderson
1984 Mondale
1992 Perot

Against Reagan twice!  Woo!
LaFollete in 1924! Woo!
Perot in '92! Yay!

This guy's awesome.

See? I told you he was a soulmate...

[Gustaf]

Can you really say who you would vote for I personally said I would vote for all the republicans but now we know what happened in history but if you didn't know what would happen but had to go on what the candidate said would you vote that way. Maybe you would it's just a thought. Like know I would say I would not vote for roosevelt in 1932 but if I lost my job and money roosevelt's idea's may have seemed great even though they didn't work well.

Well, the idea of this thread was to say for whom you would have voted for with the knowledge you had at the time. I don't think you should cast the vote out of personal interest, but based on idelogy, b7C it makes more sense to me when it comes to past elections.

[Gustaf]

My first election will be next year, but with the benefit of hindsight let me, as the jaguar of the Inca king would say, "pass through a blue mist to a diferent time and place".

1948          Truman
1952          Eisenhower
1956          Eisenhower
1960          Kennedy
1964          Goldwater (I like Johnson, but Goldwater was awesome, even if there are serious places I disagree with him.)
1968          Nixon
1972          Scoop Jackson in the primary. Then maybe not vote?
1976          Ford; Reagan in primary
1980          Reagan
1984          Reagan
1988          Bush
1992          Bush
1996          Dole (no good choices this election at all)
2000          Bush
 
My father's actual votes
DAD was born in '50 in Dillon, SC
1968 Nixon (couldn't vote yet, but a major supporter. Still has a 'help uncle Strom elect Nixon' sticker. I've seen it.) My grandma voted for Wallace. I still can't believe that.
1972 Nixon
1976 Ford
1980 Reagan
1984 Reagan
Romantic interlude: MOM and DAD meet
M is born!
1988 Reagan
1992 Bush
1996 Dole
1990 Bush

My mother's actual votes
MOM was born in '47 in Galveston, TX
1964 LBJ (couldn't vote yet, but a major supporter. She even met the guy)
1968 MOM was clean for Gene! Then voted Humphrey
1972 McGovern
1976 Ford (The big switch! Carter turned her off the democrats!)
1980 Reagan
1984 Reagan
Romantic interlude: MOM and DAD meet
M is born!
1988 Bush
1992 Bush
1996 Dole
2000 Bush

I think your dad might be the only one in the country who voted for Reagan in 1988...

[Gustaf]

1952- Eisenhower
1956- Eisenhower
1960- Kennedy
1964- Goldwater
1968- Sit Out
1972- Sit Out
1976- Reagan in Primary, Sit out General Election
1980- Reagan
1984- Reagan
1988- Bush
1992- Bush
1996- Dole
2000- McCain in Primary, Bush in General

If you can't tell Im not a fan of Nixon

B/c of non-Watergate reasons? Since the idea was not to vote with hindsight, i.e. not not vote for Nixon b/c of Watergate, since we didn't know about it until after his last election.

[Gustaf]

1952- Eisenhower
1956- Eisenhower
1960- Kennedy
1964- Goldwater
1968- Sit Out
1972- Sit Out
1976- Reagan in Primary, Sit out General Election
1980- Reagan
1984- Reagan
1988- Bush
1992- Bush
1996- Dole
2000- McCain in Primary, Bush in General

If you can't tell Im not a fan of Nixon

B/c of non-Watergate reasons? Since the idea was not to vote with hindsight, i.e. not not vote for Nixon b/c of Watergate, since we didn't know about it until after his last election.

Yes, Nixon seemed like a corrupt and sneaky man even before Watergate to me(I've read biographies and such).

OK, I guess you're right...

[Gustaf]

I would go from an avowed Federalist to a Democrat, briefly flirting with third party candidates like Lincoln, Debs, and La Follette.

1789 Washington
1792 Washington
1796 Adams
1800 Adams
1804 Pinckney
1808 Pinckney
1812 Clinton
1816 King
1820 Monroe
1824 Adams
1828 Adams
1832 Clay
1836 Van Buren
1840 Van Buren
1844 Polk
1848 Cass
1852 Pierce
1856 Buchanan (If only for his supposed sexual orientation)
1860 Lincoln
1864 Lincoln
1868 Seymour
1872 Greeley
1876 Tilden
1880 Hancock
1884 Cleveland
1888 Cleveland
1892 Cleveland
1896 Bryan
1900 Bryan
1904 Debs
1908 Bryan
1912 Wilson
1916 Wilson
1920 Cox
1924 LaFollette
1928 Smith
1932 FDR
1936 FDR
1940 FDR
1944 FDR
1948 Truman
1952 Stevenson
1956 Stevenson
1960 Kennedy
1964 LBJ
1968 Humphrey
1972 McGovern
1976 Carter
1980 Carter
1984 Mondale
1988 Dukakis
1992 Clinton
1996 Clinton
2000 Gore

Why is Lincoln a 3rd party candidate?

[Gustaf]

Why is Lincoln a 3rd party candidate?

Well, he was kind of a third party at the time, neither a Democrat nor a Whig.  I just didn't want to admit I'd vote for a Republican.

Ah, I suspected that was your real reason. I think he has to be seen as a major party candidate anyway, sorry Immy.