When did the Democrats become the good guys?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

Back in 1870, I think it's fairly clear that the Republicans were the better of the two US political parties.

By the mid 1930s, I think it's equally fairly clear that the Democrats were.

When and why/how do you think that changed?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. FDR, solving the Depression, and winning WWII.

Three huge wins for Democrats. It's pretty plain, really.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Introduced Govt. as a force for good to people. Projected compassion.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. By the 1890's, the Republicans were the Robber Baron party.

[anonymous171]

13. Yep. And they still are. nt

[Odin2005]

3. 1912

That's when the Progressives bolted from the GOP.

[KharmaTrain]

10. In 1912 I Probably Would Have Voted For TR Not Wilson

Considering Wilson thought Birth of A Nation was a movie masterpiece, he wasn't quite the agent of change Teddy was.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Johnson. Lied about Vietnam. Headstart.Voting Rights Act. Carter-Inflation /hostag/Incompetency. nt

[BuyingThyme]

5. It was either with Nixon or Reagan.

From my perspective, anyways.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Johnson and Nixon lied about Vietnam, etc. Trust was ruined. nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. What abouf FDR and Truman? Or the civil rights movement?

N.T.

[BuyingThyme]

15. I'm not that old.

[Cerridwen]

6. William Jennings Bryan - around 1896

Progressive movement

If I remember Zinn and my other history books correctly.

Progressives started to split from Bourbon Democrats who were big business proponents.

Silver (Bourbon Dems) versus Gold ("new" Dems)

edit: spelling *sigh*

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. Good point on WJB.

Often overlooked by history, but he was a very big deal.

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. I would say that you are asking the wrong question

The Republicans have always been elitist. The Democrats have always been populist. "Good guys" and "bad guys" depends on where the elistists and populists have stood on particular issues.

A hundred and fifty years ago, popular opinion was incredibly racist and held a view that it was the nation's "manifest destiny" to expand by any means to the Pacific; therefore, the populist party was incredibly racist and vocally expansionist. In that same time frame, the elitists favored abolition and preferred a slow, gradual, orderly expansion; therefore, the elitist party favored abolition and generally opposed rapid expansion through annexation (as we did with Texas) or conquest (as we did in the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars.)

Forty years ago, popular opinion had become less racist and more attuned to the needs of the poor and working class; therefore, the populist party was more inclusive and worked to meet the needs of the poor and working class. Because of much expanded educational opportunities after World War II, the elite class narrowed from being the educated to being just the monied, so the elitist party came to express the views of the monied class, which included racist snobbery, deregulation, expansion of foreign markets and a willingness to use military means to increase business opportunities.

Today, that distinction between the populist party and elitist party holds just as true.

[anonymous171]

14. The problem is that today dems don't like to be populist for some reason.

We forget that we are the party of the working man. We should be winning the poor areas of the south every single election.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. It started with Grant -

Immediately after the Civil War the Republican administrations were overrun with war/recovery profiteers, which came to a head in the Grant administration - probably the most corrupt in history one prior to Bush2. The end of the century robber barons flocked to the repulicans because that was where the money was - seeing as how the Democrats were mostly southerners and therefore all but locked out of the system in the aftermath of the war.

The repubs went from a reform party (1852-1865) to the party of graft and corruption (1865-present). Apparently they prefer the latter role.

[bigtree]

17. Dixiecrats

. . . and the party response to them solidified the political landscape as far as my own generation (and my parent's) were concerned.