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The KEY is who does the working class support (and that depends on who response the the needs of the Working Class). FDR was NOT pro-working class when he was elected, in many ways he was more conservative then Clinton, but the times requires a push to the left and FDR went with that Push. I like to point out his "Pittsburgh" Speed of 1932. In that speech he made several promises. In 1936 the GOP brought up those promises and said FDR had NOT fulfilled them. FDR asked his speech writer to get the speech and prepare a speech how FDR had fulfilled his promises made in the 1932 Pittsburgh Speech. The writer re-read the Speech, and returned to FDR and said the best response was to claim He never made the speech. FDR HAD broken every promise in that Speech, and this breach was punished by the American People by him only winning 46 out of 48 states.
The reason for the Speech, is the Democratic Congress FORCED through reforms, that FDR dare not oppose and occasionally overruled FDR (For example FDR vetoed Congresses granting of the Bonus promised WWI in 1936, even through it was NOT to be paid till 1948, Congress over-ruled that Veto, one of the few FDR vetoes over ridden). Congress passed laws that had been proposed since the 1890s on financial fraud (Forming the Security and Exchange Commission for example), strengthen other agencies (Including the Federal Reserve) to better regulate business. Strengthening offsetting groups to business (For example the Federal Labor Relations Board was formed, so that Labor will no longer be subject to Court issuing injections, Courts could still issue injunctions but business first had to go through the Labor Relations Board and show they were negotiating in good faith).
My point is it was CONGRESS as while as FDR that did the Reforms, FDR tended to lead Congress, but when FDR did not go far enough, Congress would over rule FDR. By the time of WWII, FDR had changed, do to the changes he and Congress had made, he found himself much more to the left then he was in 1932. Thus during WWII he asked for and received from Congress very high top marginal tax rates (94%, through long term investment was subject to a 50% Capital Gains Valuation).
JFK was much less liberal than FDR was in FDR's later term. During the Civil Rights Movement, JFK did call into Federal Service several States National Guard during times when it was feared the Governor's of those states whose Guard was called up would call them up to suppress Civil Rights marches. On the other hand, JFK did the same thing FDR did on Civil Rights, said the Right things (Both JFK and FDR opposed segregation) but did NOTHING to end it. JFK did come up with the Peace Corp (Which had originally been formed, under a different and less effective name, by Truman, but that earlier effort had been killed by the GOP when Eisenhower was elected). When in the Senate, the person in the Senate considered to have the nearest political outlook of JFK was Nixon. JFK's VP was way to the left the JFK on most items, including Civil Rights. There is a memo from Robert Kennedy to the Government of Sweden (I believe, I am doing this from memory) that told the Swedish Government that LBJ did NOT speak for the US Government, when LBJ went to Sweden on a State Visit. LBJ's only real duty under JFK was to head JFK's Civil Rights Board. A board LBJ used to point out problems with Civil Rights in the US, something JFK did not want LBJ to do (and JFK appointed LBJ to the Civil Rights Board given that LBJ was from Texas and had previously opposed various Civil Rights acts when LBJ had been the Senator from Texas).
LBJ, was also from a well to do family, not the 1% of the people who control more of the wealth of this country than any other group (As did JFK and FDR) but the upper middle Class just below that Super rich group. As a group this Upper Middle Class has more power than any other group, it is roughly 20-30 % of the population and controls almost as much wealth as the top 1% The Working Class is about 50% of the population but has a lot less money, 10% of the country is truly poor, they lack of wealth and low population tend to make them politically irrelevant except as a base both the Working Class and Upper Middle Class fear i.e. Laws are often pass to protect the poor, but such laws tend to be enforced and supported if the laws tend to protect the other groups also).
It was LBJ, after he became President that forced through Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Voting Rights act of 1965, and his Great Society programs. Some of these reforms were not passed till Nixon was President, but the push started with LBJ, this includes the Occupations and Safety administration, passed over Nixon's Veto, Supplemental Security Income, more commonly called SSI, The passing of the First Federal aid to public Schools (Which included a restricts that no money could go to Segregated Schools, this really killed segregation more than any other law) and strengthening of the EPA to help the Environment. All do what CONGRESS wanted, under the leadership of LBJ in the late 1960s, and under Nixon from the remains of his administration which tended to survive till Nixon's Second term.
While JFK made liberal Speeches, FDR followed the Country to the left, the most liberal President was LBJ and he was stuck with Vietnam (Which he did not want to go into, but could not afford to leave fall to the Communists for the GOP would have used that "defeat" as grounds to get back in power and kill LBJ's Reforms). Vietnam cost the US a lot, a cost incurred do to the GOP willingness to use it as a Political weapon to get back in power. People forget, the first troop withdraw was done by LBJ after General Westmoreland told LBJ Westmoreland needed more men after the Tet offensive of 1968 (The growing opposition to the war, permitted the withdraw even through LBJ technically stayed in favor of the war). The final withdraw was done by Congress in 1973 when Congress passed a law forbidding any US troops in Southeast Asia. The GOP used the Subsequent fall of South Vietnam as part of their Campaign to "Strengthen" America, which ended up with Reagan in 1980. LBJ saw this coming and tried to prevent it, it cost him the Presidency and his health (He died in 1973). LBj's programs have been under attack ever since by the GOP, for the GOP hates those liberal programs LBJ and Congress passed between 1964 and 1980 then anything else.
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