Who was the most conservative Democrat to ever serve as President?

Answer 1

Going back only a few decades, Lyndon Johnson would be considered a conservative "Dixiecrat" running a close second would be Clinton in his domestic policies. What is considered Liberal or conservative today may not be the case even 50 years ago. Many historians agree that Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt would be conservative Democrats by today's standards. Despite the banner waving of the Republican Party.

One trick for definition is seeing the U.S. as a human body: A conservative thinks 100 years ahead and tries to save as much of the healthy body as possible. If the foot needs to be cut off to save the body, cut away.

A liberal thinks 20 years ahead and will try to save every part of the body without exception. Not bad thinking if you're the foot.

Unfortunately that definition does not always apply. As republicans and democrats alike enjoy the instant gratification that goes hand and hand with re-election. For example some conservatives neglect the environment as the price of progress, and some liberals tout the environment in the face of progress. It's not always black and white.

AnswerDepends what you mean by "conservative".

If it means pro-business and favouring employers over unions, then probably Grover Cleveland.

John F. Kennedy. His presidency was short lived but he gave the largest tax cut in history, had a strong policy against communism, favored a hand up instead of hand outs when it came to welfare and embraced American exceptionalism with the likes of sending man to the moon.

Answer 2

The founders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Later on with Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, Reagan, Bush.

This question is difficult to answer without making it more clear what you mean by conservative:

From the perspective of big business, the answer is probably Calvin Coolidge, whose general response to the booming economic success of the Roaring Twenties can be summed up by his quote "the chief business of the American people is business."

From the perspective of rhetoric, the answer might be Ronald Reagan, who was probably the most self-consciously conservative President ever.*

From the perspective of modern social conservatism, George W. Bush is probably the most conservative, although this is largely a function of the fact that modern "social conservative" issues have only been around for the past few decades.

From a broader perspective, the answer might be Grover Cleveland, who mercilessly used his veto power (vetoing 414 bills in 8 years) to cut pork-barrel spending and maintain his conception of limited government. That said, Grover Cleveland only seems so conservative in comparison to the stark and ever-growing popularity of "big government" in America since the Civil War.

Prior to Abraham Lincoln, all of our Presidents were fairly conservative (they believed in a government of starkly-limited powers), but so was the country as a whole. Among the most conservative of our early presidents would probably be Washington, Madison, Monroe, the second Adams, and Polk.

/* His self-conscious conservatism was probably exceeded by that of Barry Goldwater (known as "Mr. Conservative") who was without doubt the most conservative major party candidate for the Presidency in modern times, although he lost the 1964 election to then-incumbent President Lyndon Johnson.

Answer 3

1. Bill Clinton.

After his election in 1992, instead of spending on social programs as per his campaign promises, he decided to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans to deal with the deficit problem. As a result, a deficit of over a quarter trillion dollars was eliminated and even became a surplus during his second term.