Here is an article of what my Democratic friends cite as the best Democratic POTUS, JFK.
It highlights his belief in religious freedom, anti-communism, and supply-side economics. Not unlike another Democrat of the early 1960s, Ronald Reagan.
Modern Democrats Would View John F. Kennedy As A Reaganite Extremist
In the midst of so much division, let's take a stroll along memory lane and recall when Republicans and Democrats had much in common.
When it came to civil rights, and racial equality, JFK may have talked the talk but he was wary, if not fearful about doing anything substantive. He was afraid of losing Democratic votes in Congress, back when the southern states were solidly Democratic. It was LBJ who really did the dirty work. Yes, he could be crude and boorish, was a bully, and an arm-twister. But he's the one who got the Civil Rights and Voting Rights bills passed, and got Medicare off the ground in 1965. His big mistake was getting involved in Vietnam. And some aspects of his War on Poverty have been less than total successes. But it can be argued that in terms of transformative legislation, Lyndon Johnson was the most accomplished President of the last 60 years.
And getting back to the 60s, this was when many Republicans were progressives. The Civil and Voting Rights Acts, and Medicare could not have enacted without Republican votes. And if JFK would be seen by Democrats today as conservative, Richard Nixon would be seen by today's Republicans as a liberal progressive. Some of what he accomplished:
Establishment of the EPA.
Passage and signing of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Also the Noise Control Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Extended Medicare benefits to people under 65 who were disabled, or had kidney failure. He also signed the amendment to Social Security which established SSI. Spending for these programs doubled while he was President.
He signed the National Cancer Act, providing well over $1 billion in federal money for cancer research.
He signed the Consumer Product Safety Act and the law establishing OSHA. Which greatly expanded the federal government's oversight power in industry.
He supported expanding the U.S. Civil Rights Code to prohibit sex discrimination. This led to Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in education and requires equitable spending on women's sports.
He began the process to normalize relations with China.
He ended combat missions by US troops in Vietnam. And also ended the draft.
He supported and signed Title X into law. Which provides federal money for family planning services, including contraceptives. This is where Planned Parenthood gets funding. Pres. Nixon said this in 1969:
"It is my view that no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition. I believe, therefore, that we should establish as a national goal the provision of adequate family planning services within the next five years to all those who want them but cannot afford them. This we have the capacity to do.”
Can you imagine a Republican saying this today? Not to mention that all 3 of his Nixon's SCOTUS appointees--Chief Justice Warren Burger, Justice Harry Blackmun, and Justice Lewis Powell--voted in Roe v. Wade to decriminalize abortion. And Justice Blackmun wrote the majority opinion.
Nixon the Progressive
