Let’s play round 2 of “Name That Liberal”

Summary:  Americans know so little of our own history, our own politics.  So it’s fun and educational to play Name That Liberal.

This man was one of the 20th century’s most effective Presidents — and certainly that century’s third  most liberal President  in terms of his deeds (but not his words).

Contents

1. What do experts say about this President?
2. What did he do?
3. Who was he?
4. For more information, and an afterword

(1)  What do people say about this President?

{He was} “in many respects the last liberal president.”
— Famous leftist Noam Chomsky, “The Colombia Plan“, Z Magazine, June 2000

“In his singular, unsung way, {he} defanged and healed one of the potentially greatest controversies of the time.”
— about school desegregation,written by historian Conrad Black in his biography of this President

“There has been more change in the structure of American public school education {during his Administration} than in the past 100 years.”
— attributed to a 19XX memo by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, sociologist and Senator (D-NY)

“Probably more new regulation was imposed on the economy during the {his} administration than in any other presidency since the New Deal.
— conservative economist Herbert Stein, Presidential Economics: The Making of Economic Policy from Roosevelt to Clinton, 1994, page 190.

{During his administration} 8 new independent regulatory agencies and 8 new agencies within the executive branch were created. In addition, 13 existing independent agencies, and 22 executive branch agencies, were substantially reformed and strengthened during these years. It represented a vast expansion and centralization of government power, penetrating local and remote reaches of the private economy.
— “The Rise of Environmentalism and the New Regulation“, Steven Hayward, Elizabeth Fowler, and Laura Steadman, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 4 April 2000

(2  What did he do?

(a)  He signed a host of liberal legislation:

• the National Environmental Policy Act
• the Clean Air Act of 19XX
• the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 19XX (over his veto)
• the Economic Stabilization Act — the most socialist Federal legislation passed during peacetime in US history, government control of prices and wages
• the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 19XX, , which included Title X — providing Federal money for contraceptives
• the Education Amendments of 19XX, which included Title IX,  prohibiting gender discrimination in all federally funded schools — and drastically cut funds for boys sports programs
• the Rehabilitation Act of 19XX –prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by Federal Agencies or in federally funded programs (read this speech for an example of liberalism triumphant)

(b)  He founded many agencies that push the liberal agenda:

• the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• the Consumer Product Safety Commission
• the Council on Environmental Quality

(c)  He used his executive powers to implement other liberal policies:

• He implemented the first federal affirmative action program, the Philadelphia Plan
• He issued executive Order 11458, establishing the Office of Minority Business Enterprise
• He issued Order No. 11478, ordering federal agencies “to establish and maintain an affirmative action program of equal employment opportunity for all civilian employees”
• He took the US off the gold standard
• He negotiated and signed a disarmament treaty with our major enemy
• He negotiated and signed a treaty preventing the US from using its high-tech advantage to build a defense against our major enemy
• He started peaceful relations with a long-standing enemy of America, ending decades of US efforts to contain or even collapse this totalitarian regime

(d)  He advocated much liberal legislation which even the Democratic majority in Congress would not pass:

• The Family Assistance Plan, a national minimum income provided by the government (see this account of its history explaining why key Democratic Party members voted it down)
• Comprehensive Health Insurance Act, a national health care system far more sweeping than HillaryCare or ObamaCare (see this speech describing it)

(3) Who was this radical leftist?

Richard Nixon.  Imagine what he could have done without the distraction of Vietnam — and the paranoia resulting from the War, which ultimately destroyed him.

(4a)  Other chapters in the Name that Liberal series

• Round One
• Round Three

(4b)  Posts about conservatives in American politics

1. What happens to the Republican Party after the election?, 2 November 2008
2. R.I.P., G.O.P. – a well-deserved end, 7 November 2008
3. Conservative reflections about America – starting to use their time in the wilderness to think, 15 November 2008
4. Conservatives should look back before attempting to move forward, 5 December 2008
5. President Bush gets in a few last blows on America before he leaves, 13 January 2009
6. Are the new “tea party” protests a grass roots rebellion or agitprop?, 1 March 2009
7. Republicans have found a sure-fire path to victory in the November elections, 5 February 2010
8. The Tea Party movement develops a platform. It’s the Underpants Gnomes Business Plan!, 8 March 2010
9. Whose values do Dick and Liz Cheney share? Those of America? Or those of our enemies, in the past and today?, 14 March 2010
10. The evolution of the Republican Party has shaped America during the past fifty years, 8 May 2010
11. Two contrasting views of the Republican Party, 23 May 2010
12. Will people on the right help cut Federal spending?, 19 June 2010

(4c)  Afterword and contact info

• For more about this website, see the About the FM website page.
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