Was Dwight D. Eisenhower a better Democrat than President Obama?

[FLAprogressive]

Eisenhower:
- Expanded social security
- Created one of the biggest infrastructure/job-creating programs ever, the Interstate Highway System
- Warned of the military-industrial complex
- Kept taxes on millionaires high

Obama:
- Cuts social security
- Pushes through a tax-cut filled economic "stimulus" with not enough infrastructure improvements
- Conspires with the military-industrial complex
- Keeps taxes on millionaires low

Gee, if you didn't know any better, which one would you think is the Democratic president??

[roomfullofmirrors]

1. Ike pushed through the 1957 civil rights act too

at a time when the Democratic party was still the party of the "old south".

[onenote]

31. before you cream in your jeans about Ike, read up on actual history.

For example, its been pointed out that the 1957 Civil Rights Act passed during Ike's presidency. Of course, that bill, as watered down and rewritten by Congress was essentially a sham. Despite the passage of this "voting rights bill" the percentage of African Americans voting in the South declined between 1956 and 1960. Ike famously refused to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King, sloughing him off to VP Nixon.

Ike also was responsible for an executive order that prohibited gays from being employed by the federal government.

Finally, for those who are so enamored of Ike, I'm wondering whether, in 1960, you would have voted for Nixon over JFK. After all, Nixon campaigned on a promise to continue the "peace and prosperity" of the Ike years, while JFK, among other things, argued that the Eisenhower presidency had not kept the US military as strong as it needed to be vis a vis the Russians.

[roomfullofmirrors]

43. I think you need the history refresher here.

"Of course, that bill, as watered down and rewritten by Congress was essentially a sham."
It was 1957. It was a big deal. It was the biggest step forward in civil rights since 1875.

"Ike also was responsible for an executive order that prohibited gays from being employed by the federal government."
Like I said, it was 1957. what do you expect?

Ike was a truly great American and one of our finest presidents. the fact that he was a republican is completely irrelevant considering how completely rotten the Democratic party was in 1957. It was, in fact, the democratic party, that most actively opposed the civil rights act and who most actively suppressed the black vote. Incidentally, it was also Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops into Arkansas when the democrats, led by Governor Orval Faubus (D), tried to prevent Blacks from attending the same schools as whites. He also kept us out of Vietnam. Who was it that got us into that disaster again?

[TBF]

2. It's frustrating isn't it -

I tend to think it's capitalism running it's course ... we are at the point now where it's fish or cut bait. We take out capitalism or it's gonna take us out (as in ruining the planet).

[Fire1]

3. Ike was more of a centrist than President Obama. 1957

legislation was simply 'intended' to end segregation in the schools and failed miserably.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Eisenhower: 91% top tax rate

And Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.

[cali]

5. that's a silly question it's anachronistic.

it was a completely different era.

[indepat]

10. BHO seems to have governed light-years to the right of Ike and left is left and right is

right, i.e., wrong-headed. :patriot:

[cali]

12. this isn't a defense of Obama. It's a defense of critical thinking and history.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I've seen the case made that Nixon was more liberal

Kind of a stretch, but . . . . .

[Cali_Democrat]

7. That's pretty damning right there

Facts don't lie. I just wish it weren't true, but it is :(

Four of the most important issues facing this country...Eisenhower had it right and Obama has it wrong.

[Quixote1818]

8. K and R. No doubt about it! nt

[hifiguy]

9. Ike also fought the Pentagon at nearly every turn

when they wanted more and larger appropriations. Having been a five-star general he knew exactly what kind of bullshit shenanigans went on in the procurements process. The Current Occupant just writes blank checks.

[L0oniX]

11. Can't recommend this enough!

[no_hypocrisy]

13. I like Ike.

[slay]

14. Yes

without a doubt.

[NYC Liberal]

15. No, he wasn't. Eisenhower wasn't a bad guy, but...

this is similar to the assertion that Richard M. Nixon was a "liberal."

[divvy]

51. What are the 134+ promises he kept?

do you have a list?

[theoldman]

16. Those were the best years of my life.

Ike was a far better president than historians have given him credit. Don't forget that the Southern Democrats during Ike's administration are the present day Republicans. I just hope Obama wakes up from his dream, gets a backbone, and ends up being a good president.

[The Big Vetolski]

17. Yes. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

18. I liked Ike.

I was 6-14 when he was president. Of course, I was just a kid, but it seemed like things were going pretty well then, at least for my family.

[larwdem]

19. sad but true

I like Ike :patriot:

[brooklynite]

20. Unrec'd

Please describe how President Obama will cut social security with factual information, rather than speculation and innuendo

Please provide evidence that President Obama is "conspiring" with the MIC

Please explain how you would have protected unemployment benefits for millions of Americans when negotiating on the tax issue.

[Bryn]

21. He was awesome comparing to today's politicians.

He was my president from when I was 2 until age of 10. I learned about him when I was in 1st grade. I loved him!

[Jack Sprat]

22. Way better, but

Ike would be a Democrat now and would be labeled an extreme leftist by Limbaugh and Beck. That is just how dramatic the tilt has been to the right in the last 3 decades.

[unblock]

23. nixon was further to the left, but what's your point?

once upon a time we had a center-left and a center-right party.

by the standards of nixon's time and going back to fdr's certainly, today we have a clearly right-wing party and a clearly fascist party.


but that's a symptom of where the power really is. back then, the middle class, the unions, and the people in general had some actual power. the distribution of wealth was remarkably equal compared to today. so politicians served the people, for the most part, and quietly gave the rich and powerful a bit under the table.

today the unions have been kneecapped and the concentration of wealth is so insane that even being a mere millionaire isn't enough to get a ticket to the party. so the both parties, in their own way, throw a rhetorical bone to ordinary mortals, but mostly the work for and fight for the hearts and minds and wallets of the rich and powerful, who these days have NO sense of duty or morals.

if you blame obama, you're missing the point. there's a tidal wave pushing the country out to sea and you're blaming ONE GUY.

NO ONE GUY can stop a tidal wave. fdr himself would have been rendered irrelevant by today's media, congress, corporations, and the rich. he would have been scandalized as a cripple, oh, sorry, i mean someone who tried to cover up that he couldn't walk (it's never about the thing, it's always about the lying about the thing, or so people who keep talking about the thing always insist) and he would have found near zero support in congress for any works program and he surely would have been impeached over trying to stack the courts or any of a number of things he did. and if he HAD managed to be even somewhat successful, they would have just assassinated him for real.

was can't bemoan that he's not superman and we can't sit around WAITING for superman to save us all.

we need a MOVEMENT, and a damn powerful one at that, to stand up against the tidal wave of corporate power.
until then, NO PRESIDENT IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH JACK BECAUSE WE'RE GIVING HIM THE POWER TO DO SO.

[Faryn Balyncd]

24. His granddaughter Susan (among other Eisenhowers) supported Obama

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102621.html

[Autumn]

25. I think he was one of the best.

One of my most favorite memories is sitting on Grandpas lap listening to Ike on the radio while Grandma sat crocheting.

[Vinca]

26. Now I know why my grandmother kept a picture of Ike on the living room wall.

[Long Shadow]

27. Nearly anyone could have been a good president after WWII.

That was a golden era.

[Vidar]

28. Ike was better in every way than Obama. Even Nixon demonstrated

more "Democratic" values than Obama.

[onenote]

32. Sure. Refusing to meet with MLK and issuing an order prohibiting gays from working in govt

are two of the "every ways" that you think Ike is better than Obama. Which tells us a lot about your values.

[somone]

33. No kidding

Yep, even that crook was a better progressive than Obama. Sad.

[SidDithers]

29. How many women, visible minorities or gays did Ike have in his Cabinet...

Surely it wasn't just old, white guys.

Sid

[Romulox]

46. By your logic, Bobby Jindal + Condie Rice are the ULTIMATE liberals!

Visible minority + hard shift to the right = "progress!" :eyes:

[SidDithers]

50. ROFL...

You might want to go back and review your Logic textbooks.

Sid

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. Yes. Absolutely.

It really pisses me off that we can't even meet that standard.

[Little Star]

34. I like Ike. And yes, I think he was a more of a Democrat. n/t

[johnaries]

35. Every statement you made about Obama is a lie. nt

[democracy1st]

38. I only see one and thats the cuts what are you refering too?

[SidDithers]

36. "President Eisenhower Prohibits Lesbian and Gay Federal Workers...

On April 27, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450: Security Requirements for Government Employment. The order listed "sexual perversion" as a condition for firing a federal employee and for denying employment to potential applicants. Homosexuality, moral perversion, and communism were categorized as national security threats; the issue of homosexual federal workers had become a dire federal personnel policy concern.

http://salempress.com/store/samples/great_events_from_history_glbt/great_events_from_history_glbt_eisenhower.htm


Interesting avatar you've got there, considering you're such a fan of Eisenhower. :rofl:

Sid

[democracy1st]

37. It was 1953 what did you expect!

[SidDithers]

44. So, "times have changed" is your argument?...

interesting.

Sid

[BumRushDaShow]

39. DU has officially jumped the shark by endorsing repukes. n/t

[A Simple Game]

41. I know what the name of the site is, but I have always seen the

sides lining up as liberal and progressive against conservative and reactionary.

Not all Democrats are on the right side according to my standards.

In fact I consider many on this board to be Democrats in name only.

[gkhouston]

40. Are we going to have a Kirk vs. Picard match-up next? n/t

[dionysus]

42. Was Aquaman a better Democrat than President Obama?

man this shit is funny sometimes...

[Romulox]

48. I'd think everybody would agree--if Batman is outswimming Aquaman, there's a *problem*

I don't give a damn WHAT emblem is on his chest! :hi:

[MilesColtrane]

45. "Was Dwight D. Eisenhower a better Democrat than President Obama?"

Since Eisenhower wasn't a Democrat, he can't be a "better Democrat".

Did somebody turn up the stupid in here?

[Javaman]

47. I agree...

this has to be one of the most idiotic posts I have seen on DU in a while.

[Romulox]

49. "Centrists" HATE this comparison!

Keep up the good work! :hi: