43 U.S. presidents who would be considered 'libtards' today

David Akadjian for Daily Kos

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Sunday January 17, 2016 · 1:21 PM PST

2016/01/17 · 13:21

"Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington" by Gilbert Stuart - link. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gilbert_Stuart_Williamstown_Portrait_of_George_Washington.jpg#/media/File:Gilbert_Stua — George Washington: Weak, government-loving socialist.

Recently, I got into a discussion with some conservatives about whether Paul Ryan was a Muslim-loving socialist RINO.

I love these types of discussions because it gives me the chance to ask questions like:

What does it take to be a real Republican these days?

Things then get weird because people haven’t really thought about it much. They just seem to know it when they see it. So I continue the conversation and then ask questions like, which of our presidents were libtards? You know, the term that some on the right love to throw around.

Here’s my (surprisingly long) list.

PRESIDENT

TERM

BELIEFS

CONCLUSION

1. George Washington

Non-partisan

1789-1797

Oversaw the creation of a strong federal government, implemented a tax system, and created a national bank. Stayed out of the French Revolutionary Wars. In his farewell address, he warned against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

Weak, government-loving socialist.

2. John Adams

Federalist

1797-1801

Promoted a strong central government, restarted the U.S. Navy and created the Marine Corps. Penned “Thoughts on Government” in which he argued for a government that promoted “happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.”

Federalist … doesn’t that mean government?

Libtard.

3. Thomas Jefferson

Democratic-Republican

1801-1809

Supported public education and freedom of the press as the cornerstones of democracy. Sought to expand land distribution to the poor. Advocated for gradual emancipation of slaves. Authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom that became the basis for freedom of religion in the Constitution. Believed in the separation of church and state.

King of the libtards.

"Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800" by Rembrandt Peale - White House Historical Association. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Jefferson_by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800.jpg#/media/File:Thomas_Jefferson_by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800.jpg — Thomas Jefferson, Libtard King.

“Instead of an aristocracy of wealth, of more harm and danger than benefit to society, to make an opening for the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society and scattered with equal hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a well-ordered republic.”

- Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1821.

PRESIDENT

TERM

BELIEFS

CONCLUSION

4. James Madison

Democratic-Republican

1809-1817

Wrote the Federalist Papers with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. In a note opened after his death in 1836, he stated, "The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated."

Statist.

5. James Monroe

Democratic-Republican

1817-1825

Established the Monroe Doctrine stating the United States would neither meddle in or interfere with the concerns of European powers as well as asserted the U.S. opposition to any European interference in the Americas. Supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that eventually became Liberia. Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is named for him.

Loony leftist.

6. John Quincy Adams

Democratic-Republican

1825-1829

Ended the war of 1812. Noted as one of America’s greatest diplomats. Predicted the dissolution of the union from slavery. Supported infrastructure improvements such as roads, ports, canals, a national university, and funding for the arts and sciences.

Hippie.

"JQA Photo" by War Department: Office of Chief Signal Officer - National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JQA_Photo.tif#/media/File:JQA_Photo.tifPortrait — John Quincy Adams (a.k.a. “Hippie”)

“There is one principle which pervades all the institutions of this country, and which must always operate as an obstacle to the granting of favors to new comers. This is a land, not of privileges, but of equal rights.”

- John Quincy Adams, in a letter written while Secretary of State

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
7. Andrew Jackson Democratic	1829-1837	Denied the right of states to secede from the union or to nullify federal law.	Unionist.
8. Martin Van Buren Democratic	1837-1841	Set up a system of bonds to deal with the national debt and established an independent treasury system. Advocated for lower tariffs and free trade. Considered slavery immoral but sanctioned by the Constitution.	Despite support for free trade and slavery as Constitutional, was a Democrat. Therefore, a libtard (though one of our favorite libtards).
9. William Henry Harrison Whig	1841 (died in office)	Promised to reestablish the Bank of the United States and extend its capacity for credit by issuing paper currency.	Libtard.
10. John Tyler Whig-Independent	1841-1845	Fought to preserve the union through expansionist policies. Annexed Texas. Signed the Webster–Ashburton Treaty with Britain and the Treaty of Wanghia with Qing China.	Ruined Texas forever. We will never forget. Remember the Alamo!
11. James K. Polk Democratic	1845-1849	Won Mexican-American War. Built an independent treasury system that lasted more than 50 years. Oversaw the opening of the Smithsonian Museum and the first postage stamps.	Government will never work. Moron.

"Polkpolk" by Mathew Brady - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress — “Moron” Polk.

“Thank God, under our Constitution there was no connection between church and state.”

- James K. Polk, diary entry, October 14, 1846

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
12. Zachary Taylor Whig	1849-1850	War hero. Fought to preserve the Union.	Thug.
13. Millard Fillmore Whig	1850-1853	Supported the Compromise of 1850 that briefly ended the crisis over slavery. Refused to join the Republican Party when the Whigs broke up in 1854-56.	Traitor.
14. Franklin Pierce Democratic	1853-1857	Enforced the Fugitive Slave Laws.	Against fugitives. But still a law-enforcing Dumbocrat.
15. James Buchanan Democratic	1857-1861	Believed secession was illegal and also going to war was illegal. Failed to deal with the problem of slavery and secession in the South.	Weak statist.
16. Abraham Lincoln Republican	1861-1865	Preserved the union. Ended slavery. Promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, tariffs, and railroads.	The. Worst. Socialist.

"Abraham Lincoln November 1863" by Alexander Gardner - http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/112498/1/0/0. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg#/media/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg — Abraham (“dirty unkempt socialist”) Lincoln, November 1863.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

- Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
17. Andrew Johnson Democratic	1865-1869	Fought for restoration of states that seceded. Directed Southern states to hold conventions and elections to reform their governments.	Libtard.
18. Ulysses S. Grant Republican	1869-1877	Led the effort to remove vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan, and enforced voting laws and rights through the army and the Department of Justice.	RINO.
19. Rutherford B. Hayes Republican	1877-1881	Believed in meritocratic government, equal treatment without regard to race, and education. His biographer said that his greatest achievement was to restore popular faith in the presidency and reverse the deterioration of executive power that had set in after Lincoln’s death.	Commutard.
20. James A. Garfield Republican	1881-1881	Fought for freedom for all, including African Americans, and public education. When told that his party, including his own campaign manager, Stephen W. Dorsey, was involved in corruption at the Post Office, Garfield directed the attorney general and postmaster general to root out the corruption in the Post Office Department "to the bone."	Freedom hater.

"James Abram Garfield, photo portrait seated" by Unknown; part of Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress — Freedom-hater James A. Garfield.

“The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word.”

- James A. Garfield, The Province of History (1856)

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
21. Chester A. Arthur Republican	1881-1885	Lowered excise taxes (taxes paid by consumers) on everything but liquor. Spent a surplus of $145 million on internal improvements.	Big government spender.
22. and 24. Grover Cleveland Democratic	1885-1889 and 1893-1897	Cleveland was noted for his honesty, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. He relentlessly fought political corruption, patronage, and bossism. His reputation as a reformer was so strong that the like-minded wing of the Republican Party voted for him in the 1884 election.	Libtard. Dumbocrat.
23. Benjamin Harrison Republican	1889-1893	Passed the Sherman Antitrust Act. Presbyterian.	Hates business.
25. William McKinley Republican	1897-1901	Raised protective tariffs to promote American industry.	Lemming.
26. Theodore Roosevelt Republican	1901-1909	Championed “Square Deal” policies promising average people fairness. Nicknamed “the Trust Buster,” he curbed the power of corporations—including breaking up Rockefeller’s Standard Oil—and spoke out in favor of organized labor.	The Republic of Soc-landia. (“Sosh-land-i-a”)

"T Roosevelt" by Pach Brothers (photography studio) - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress — Teddy Roosevelt (“You didn’t create that!”)

"My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man."

— Teddy Roosevelt

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
27. William Howard Taft Republican	1909-1913	Continued Roosevelt’s trust-busting policies by filing 90 antitrust suits, including one against U.S. Steel.	RINO.
28. Woodrow Wilson Democratic	1913-1921	Passed legislation to establish the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission. Passed the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Farm Loan Act. Averted a railroad strike by establishing an eight-hour workday for the railroads. Promoted the League of Nations, forerunner of the United Nations. Won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize.	Moonbat.
29. Warren G. Harding Republican	1921-1923	Urged disarmament and lower defense costs. Negotiated with Britain and Japan to agree to build less naval war ships. Fought for support and investment in highways, aviation, and radio. Raised agricultural tariffs to protect American farmers.	Business-bashing elitist.
30. Calvin Coolidge Republican	1923-1929	Increased the estate tax and bolstered it with a gift tax. Improved programs for Native Americans and called for laws to prohibit lynching. Appointed some African Americans to federal office and signed the Indian Citizenship Act granting citizenship to all American Indians, and commissioned a reform panel to examine federal institutions and programs dealing with Indian nations.	Effete, weak-kneed Nancy.
31. Herbert Hoover Republican	1929-1933	Fought the Great Depression with moderate public works projects such as the Hoover Dam.	Nanny-state loving nanny.
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic	1933-1945	Single-handedly pulled the United States out of the Great Depression with his New Deal policies. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and grew labor unions while regulating business and finance. Won a record four presidential elections. Created the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the social safety net. Elaborated four essential freedoms the U.S. should fight for including equality of opportunity, jobs for those who can work, the ending of special privilege for the few, and the preservation of civil liberties for all. Also basically won World War II.	Un-American, socialist, statist commutard.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt - NARA - 535943" by Unknown or not provided - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_D._Roosevelt_-_NARA_-_535943.jpg#/media/File:Franklin_D._Roosevelt_-_NARA_-_535943.jpg — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, statist.

“For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.”

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Four Freedoms speech, 1941.

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
33. Harry S. Truman Democratic	1945-1953	Won World War II. Demobilized the military after the war and advocated for national health insurance and civil rights. Enacted the Housing Act of 1949.	Criminal-coddling deviant.
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican	1953-1961	Reduced federal deficits and lowered funding for the armed forces. Established NASA. Warned against the dangers of massive military spending and the military industrial complex in his farewell speech to the nation.	Islamofascist.
35. John F. Kennedy	1961-1963	Signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Established the peace corps and the “New Frontier” program, with the biggest frontier being space. Challenged America to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Raised the minimum wage and social security benefits. Protected the Freedom Riders in the South.	Hippie-loving, soft on crime, Catholic New England liberal.
36. Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic	1963-1969	Signed massive civil rights legislation including the Voting Rights Act. Designed the “Great Society” legislation. Established Medicare and Medicaid and public broadcasting. Funded urban and rural development. Launched the War on Poverty.	Reverse racist.
37. Richard Nixon	1969-1974	Initiated détente and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Imposed wage and price controls for short periods and enforced desegregation of the South. Established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing.	Democrat.
38. Gerald Ford	1974-1977	Signed the Helsinki accord. Pulled out of Vietnam.	Moron.

"John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait" by Cecil Stoughton, White House - This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 194255.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.English | Español | Français | Italiano | Македонски | മലയാളം | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Русский | Slovenščina | Türkçe | Tiếng Việt | 中文（简体） | 中文（繁體） | +/−http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset+Viewers/Image+Asset+Viewer.htm?guid={B9C835C6-2EF1-4C3F-A600-B4BE064F1A20}&type=Image. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_F._Kennedy,_White_House_color_photo_portrait.jpg#/media/File:John_F._Kennedy,_White_House_color_photo_portrait.jpg — John F. Kennedy, soft on crime.

“Let us not despair but act. Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past - let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

- John F. Kennedy, Loyola College Alumni Banquet speech

PRESIDENT	TERM	BELIEFS	CONCLUSION
39. Jimmy Carter Democratic	1977-1981	Pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers. Created the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. Pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaty, and the second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II).	ACLU-loving loser.
40. Ronald Reagan Republican	1981-1989	Brought government into the War on Drugs. Increased military spending. Started deficit-spending in order to “grow” the economy. Supported the Brady Bill and gun control legislation after leaving office. Survived an assassination attempt while in office. Raised social security taxes five times.	Freedom-hating, big deficit-spending libtard.
41. George H.W. Bush Republican	1989-1993	Raised taxes to deal with deficits. Fought to increase exploration of the moon and to build a space station. Sent aid to Somalia after their civil war. Passed the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Increased federal spending for education, childcare, and advanced technology research. Passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.	Terrorist-coddling, thumbsucking socialist.
42. Bill Clinton Democratic	1993-2001	Fought to pass national health care reform. Passed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Signed the Oslo Accords and tried to address the Arab-Israeli conflict. Left office with a budgetary surplus for the first time since 1969.	Statist hippie atheist RINO.
43. George W. Bush Republican	2001-2009	Passed Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors. Funded the AIDS relief program known as PEPFAR. Believed in deficit spending to finance wars. Passed Troubled Asset Relief Program to bail out banks after financial collapse in 2008.	Kennebunkport-loving, New York Times reading, Dubyatard socialist.
44. Barack Obama Democratic	2009-Present	Passed an economic stimulus program to pull the U.S. out of recession and avert the possibility of a depression. Passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Passed legislation to reform Wall Street and the Consumer Protection Act. Proposed modest gun control legislation after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings.	Socialislamofascist-redistributionish-communitarian.

"Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981" by Unknown - http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/DVIC_View/Still_Details.cfm?SDAN=DASC9003096&JPGPath=/Assets/Still/1990/Army/DA-SC-90-03096.JPG. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Official_Portrait_of_President_Reagan_1981.jpg#/media/File:Official_Portrait_of_President_Reagan_1981.jpg — Official 1981 portrait of President Reagan, deficit-spending libtard.

President Reagan raised Social Security taxes five times.

Now you might notice that Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States and I said 43 presidents would be considered libtards today. This is because Grover Cleveland was elected in non-consecutive terms and was both 22nd and 24th president.

Every president of the U.S. would be considered a libtard by today’s Republican base.

So what’s the point?

It’s not that all these presidents were great. Some of them, such as Warren Harding, were involved in massive corruption scandals like The Teapot Dome scandal. Buchanan and Pierce supported slavery even sough to justify it using the Constitution. Nixon had Watergate. Jefferson owned slaves.

The point is not to argue either way for any one president or another. The point is to illustrate how far to the right we’ve swung over the past 40 years.

What’s it take to be a Republican these days?

The answer, so far as I can tell, is rage. Rage that blots out everything else to the point where the only thing that matters is destroying the government. If you do anything else, you are considered a libtard.

This is why John Boehner is a libtard.
This is why Mitch McConnell is a libtard.
This is why Eric Cantor was booted from office.
This is why Paul Ryan is now a libtard.

All of these people took positions of leadership in government and compromised at some point, for the good of the United States. And even if the compromise was the smallest, tiniest of compromises, this is unacceptable in today’s Republican-base land.

We see this rage against the U.S. government, “of the people, by the people, for the people,” manifested in the sad Bundy militia standoff in Oregon.

Ask a conservative: If there’s corruption in the government, what should we do? The answers, inevitably, are:

Get rid of the corruption.
Destroy the government.

Sadly, the folks I’ve talked to lately seem to think in terms of No. 2.

How do you work with people who will call you a libtard the moment you want to try to accomplish anything?

It seems pretty darn near impossible, since their only desire is destruction.

There is only one party moving further and further out there in our country since the 1980s. It is the one forming militias. It is the one that believes airplane exhaust is some type of mind-controlling chemical and the government has secret weather machines.

Percentage of non-centrists in Congress illustrating both Republican and Democratic parties — Percentage of centrists in Congress over time (Poole and Rosental metric).

What to do?

Build something without them. Work to figure out how to get the money out of politics. Support people who believe in this goal.
Convince the independents.
Realize that words are just words. They can’t hurt you. The idea is simply to make you mad. And they don’t really even make sense anymore. All of our presidents would be considered libtards by today’s Republican base.

Libtard is just a negative word for someone they don’t like. If someone calls you a libtard, call them a socialist. Or a freedom-hating, reverse-racist, gay-loving New Yorker subscriber.

I’m a socialist? Well, I heard you listen to NPR!

It’s just nonsense.

Sillyland sometimes calls for silly tactics to point out the silliness. (NOTE: Please maintain that you would much rather have a rational conversation. But if you’re going to be called a libtard, why not have some fun with it?)

We are all libtards now.

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43 U.S. presidents who would be considered 'libtards' today

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