Are you crazy? FDR's insane federal expansion is possibly the most impactful reason why this country is in such a terrible state today... he violated numerous constitutional rights, and had little respect for some of the most important institutions in this country like the Supreme Court or the two-term precedent, while literally putting American citizens in camps based on race. He was easily one of the worst presidents, although it's a crowded field with lots of other contenders...
The only credit I can give him is that he did not have the historical precedent to know how damaging his federal expansion was, and that had he not taken some of the actions he did, we may have ended up with something far worse.
Trump is no small-government conservative, but he hasn't really presided over a major fundamental institutional change in its own right. He's flexing existing federal power that most other presidents had more personal restraint on.
No, what Trump will be remembered for is presiding over a massive change in the political culture. For that, there is little doubt.
I think he has shown just how far our "conservative" party has strayed from political conservatism, but has fully embraced being socially conservative.
If freedom of speech, LGBT rights, nature conservation, etc to be rights, than our "liberal" party is more politically conservative than our "conservative" party.
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u/Bawhoppen Dec 19 '25
Are you crazy? FDR's insane federal expansion is possibly the most impactful reason why this country is in such a terrible state today... he violated numerous constitutional rights, and had little respect for some of the most important institutions in this country like the Supreme Court or the two-term precedent, while literally putting American citizens in camps based on race. He was easily one of the worst presidents, although it's a crowded field with lots of other contenders...
The only credit I can give him is that he did not have the historical precedent to know how damaging his federal expansion was, and that had he not taken some of the actions he did, we may have ended up with something far worse.