From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American liberals are proponents of
Modern liberalism in the United States . This ideology combines ideas of
civil liberty and
equality with support for
social justice and a
mixed economy . According to Ian Adams, all major American parties are "
liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse
classical liberalism , that is a form of democratized
Whig constitutionalism plus the
free market . The point of difference comes with the influence of
social liberalism ".
[1]
Economically, modern liberalism opposes cuts to the
social safety net and supports a role for government in reducing inequality, providing education, ensuring access to healthcare, regulating economic activity and protecting the natural environment.
[2] This form of liberalism took shape in the 20th century United States as the franchise and other civil rights were extended to a larger class of citizens. Major examples include
Theodore Roosevelt 's
Square Deal and
New Nationalism ,
Woodrow Wilson 's
New Freedom ,
Franklin D. Roosevelt 's
New Deal ,
Harry S. Truman 's
Fair Deal ,
John F. Kennedy 's
New Frontier and
Lyndon B. Johnson 's
Great Society .
In the first half of the 20th century, both major American parties had a
conservative and a
liberal wing. The conservative Northern Republicans and
Southern Democrats formed the
conservative coalition which dominated the
Congress in the pre-
Civil Rights era . As the Democrats under President Johnson began to support civil rights, the formerly
Solid South , meaning solidly Democratic, became solidly Republican, except in districts with a large number of African-American voters. Since the 1960s, the
Democratic Party has been considered liberal and the
Republican Party has been considered conservative. As a group, liberals are referred to as the left and conservatives as the right. Starting in the 21st century, there has also been a sharp division between liberals who tend to live in denser, more heterogeneous communities and conservatives who tend to live in less dense, more homogeneous communities.
[3]
[4]
Politicians
Senator
Benjamin Wade (1800-1878), Republican Senator from Ohio
Governor
John C. Frémont (1813-1890), Republican Presidential Candidate in 1856
Representative
Henry Winter Davis (1817-1865), Republican Representative from Maryland
Secretary
William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), Democratic Presidential Candidate in 1896, 1900, and 1908.
President
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), Democratic president from 1913 to 1921
Governor and Senator
Robert M. La Follette from Wisconsin (1855–1925), Republican and Progressive (1924 presidential nominee)
Senator
George W. Norris (1861–1944), Republican and independent from Nebraska
Governor and Senator
Hiram Johnson (1866–1945), Republican and Progressive from California
Senator
Robert F. Wagner (1877–1953), Democrat from New York
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), Democratic president from 1933 to 1945
Mayor
Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882–1947), Republican Mayor of New York City
[5]
President
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), Democratic president from 1945 to 1953
Vice President
Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965), Democratic vice president from 1941 to 1945 and 1948
Progressive Party presidential nominee
[6]
Harry Hopkins (1890–1946), Democratic adviser of President Franklin Roosevelt
Governor and Chief Justice
Earl Warren (1891–1974), Republican from California
Governor
Adlai E. Stevenson (1900–1965), Democratic Governor of Illinois and 1952 and 1956 Democratic presidential nominee
Mayor
Richard J. Daley , Chicago (1902–1976), Democrat
Governor
Thomas E. Dewey , New York (1902-1971, Republican Presidential Candidate in 1944 and 1948.
Senator
Ralph Yarborough , Texas (1903–1996), Democrat
[7]
Senator
Jacob K. Javits , New York (1904–1986), Republican
[8]
President
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973), Democratic president from 1963 to 1969
Vice President
Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979), Republican vice president from 1974 to 1977
Representative
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1908–1972), Democrat from New York
[9]
Vice President
Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978), Democratic vice president from 1965 to 1969 and 1968 Democratic presidential nominee
[10]
Speaker
Thomas "Tip" O'Neill (1912–1994), Democrat from Massachusetts
[11]
President
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), Democratic president from 1961 to 1963
Mayor
Tom Bradley , Los Angeles (1917–1998), Democratic mayor from 1973 to 1993
Representative
Bella Abzug (1920–1998), Democrat from New York and one of the founders of the
National Women's Political Caucus
[12]
Mayor
John Lindsay , New York City (1921–2000), Republican and who switched to the Democratic Party
[13]
Senator
George McGovern , South Dakota (1922–2012), 1972 Democratic presidential nominee
President
Jimmy Carter (born 1924), Democratic president from 1977 to 1981
Senator
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968), Democrat from New York
[14]
Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927–2003), Democrat from New York
Senator
Arlen Specter (1930–2012), Republican, later Democrat from Pennsylvania
Vice President
Walter Mondale (1928–2021), Democratic vice president from 1977 to 1981 and 1984 Democratic presidential nominee
Supervisor and Councilman
Zev Yaroslavsky (born 1948), Democrat from California, member of the
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1994 to 2014, member of the
Los Angeles City Council from 1975 to 1994
Representative
John Conyers (1929–2019), Democrat from Michigan
[15]
Senator
Ted Kennedy , Massachusetts (1932–2009), Democrat
[16]
Governor
Mario Cuomo , New York (1932–2015), Democrat
[17]
Representative
Barbara Jordan , Texas (1936–1996), Democrat
[18]
Governor
Jerry Brown (born 1938), Democrat from California
Representative
John Lewis (1940–2020), Democrat from Georgia
[19]
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (born 1940), Democrat from California
[20]
Representative
Barney Frank (born 1940), Democrat from Massachusetts
[21]
[22]
Senator
Bernie Sanders (born 1941), independent,
self-described democratic socialist from Vermont
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26] [
better source needed ] [
dubious –
discuss ]
President
Joe Biden (born 1942), Democratic president since 2021, Democratic vice president from 2009 to 2017,
[27] Democratic senator from Delaware
Senator
Paul Wellstone (1944–2002), Democrat from Minnesota
[28]
Representative
Dennis Kucinich (born 1946), Democrat from Ohio
President
Bill Clinton (born 1946), Democratic president from 1993 to 2001
Secretary
Hillary Clinton (born 1947), first lady from 1993 to 2001, Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee
Governor
Howard Dean (born 1948), Democrat from Vermont
[29]
Vice President
Al Gore (born 1948), Democrat from Tennessee
Senator
Elizabeth Warren (born 1949), Democrat from Massachusetts
Senator
Al Franken (born 1951), Democrat from Minnesota
Senator
Russ Feingold (born 1953), Democrat from Wisconsin
Cornel West (born 1953), 2024
Green Party presidential candidate and activist
Senator
Amy Klobuchar (born 1960), Democrat from Minnesota
President
Barack Obama (born 1961), Democratic president from 2009 to 2017
Vice President
Kamala Harris (born 1964), Democrat from California
Congressman
Beto O'Rourke (born 1972), Democrat from Texas
Mayor and Secretary
Pete Buttigieg (born 1982), Democrat from Indiana
Intellectuals
Lester Frank Ward (1841–1913), sociologist
Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), economist
John Dewey (1859–1952), philosopher
Herbert Croly (1869–1930), political scientist
Vernon Louis Parrington (1871–1929), historian
Charles A. Beard (1874–1948), historian
Alvin Hansen (1887–1975), economist
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971), theologian
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998), historian
[30]
Lionel Trilling (1905–1975), literary critic
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006), economist
C. Vann Woodward (1908–1999), historian
Alfred Kazin (1915–1998), literary critic and writer
[31]
Richard Hofstadter (1916–1970), historian
Eric F. Goldman (1916–1989), historian
Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1917–2007), historian
John Rawls (1921–2002), philosopher
William Appleman Williams (1921–1990), historian
Richard Rorty (1931–2007), philosopher
Garry Wills (born 1934), historian
Robert Reich (born 1946), economist
Roberto Unger (born 1947), philosopher
Amy Gutmann (born 1949), political scientist
Henry Louis Gates (born 1950), historian
Paul Krugman (born 1953), economist
Melissa Harris-Perry (born 1972), African-American scholar
Jurists and the law
Writers, activists and commentators
Samuel Gompers (1850–1924), labor leader, founder and first president of the
American Federation of Labor
Jane Addams (1860–1935), social worker and activist
W.E.B. DuBois (1868–1963), Black leader
[36] [
better source needed ] [
dubious –
discuss ]
William Monroe Trotter (1872–1934), civil rights leader and founder of the
Boston Guardian
[37]
Edith Abbott (1876–1957), economist and social worker
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), writer, Democratic leader, First Lady from 1933 to 1945 and wife of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
A. Philip Randolph (1889–1979), notable leader in
American labor movement and
civil rights movement
[38]
Rachel Carson (1907–1964), environmentalist
Walter Reuther (1907–1970), leader in
American labor movement and
civil rights movement
[39]
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977),
voting and
civil rights activist
[40]
Betty Friedan (1921–2006), feminist and first president of the
National Organization for Women
[41]
Gore Vidal (1925–2012), author
Coretta Scott King (1927–2006), Black leader
Cesar Chávez (1927–1993), Chicano leader
Harvey Milk (1930–1978), gay rights activist
[42]
Betty Ford (1918–2011), First Lady from 1974 to 1977, feminist and women's rights activist
[43]
George Soros (born 1930), financier and philanthropist
Susan Sontag (1933–2004), writer
[44]
Gloria Steinem (born 1934), feminist
[45]
Bill Moyers (born 1934), journalist and political commentator
Bill Press (born 1940), journalist and political commentator
Jim Hightower (born 1943), columnist, author and activist
Faye Wattleton (born 1943), feminist
James Carville (born 1944), political commentator
Patricia Ireland (born 1945), feminist
[46]
Arianna Huffington (born 1950), political commentator
Lawrence O'Donnell (born 1951), political commentator
Michael Moore (born 1954), filmmaker
[47]
Bill Maher (born 1956), comedian and political commentator
Keith Olbermann (born 1959), journalist and political commentator
Katrina vanden Heuvel (born 1959), journalist and political commentator
Tavis Smiley (born 1964), political commentator
Cenk Uygur (born 1970), radio host and political commentator
Markos Moulitsas (born 1971), blogger and activist
Rachel Maddow (born 1973), political commentator
[48]
Stacey Abrams (born 1973), civil rights activist
Shaun King (born 1979), civil rights activist
Linda Sarsour (born 1980), civil rights activist
Matthew Yglesias (born 1981), blogger and journalist
Dena Takruri (born 1983), journalist and reporter
Ezra Klein (born 1984), columnist and blogger
Ana Kasparian (born 1986), political commentator
Religious leaders
Anna Pauline Murray (1910–1985), minister, lawyer and civil rights activist
[49]
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) minister and civil rights activist
[50] [
better source needed ] [
dubious –
discuss ]
Arthur Waskow (born 1933), rabbi, political activist and author
Jesse Jackson (born 1941), minister and civil rights activist
Michael Lerner (born 1943), rabbi and political activist
[51]
David Saperstein (born 1947) rabbi and political activist
Jim Wallis (born 1948), evangelical pastor, founder and editor of
Sojourners
Al Sharpton (born 1954), minister and civil rights activist
[52]
William Barber (born 1963), minister and activist
Lennox Yearwood (born 1969), minister and activist
Welton Gaddy , minister, religious commentator and radio host
Harold Schulweis (1925–2014), rabbi and author
Blogs
Magazines and publications
Think tanks
See also
References
^ Adams, Ian (2001).
Political Ideology Today . Manchester University Press. p. 32.
ISBN
0719060206 . Ideologically, all US parties are liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism.
^
"The 2016 Democratic Platform" . Democratic National Committee. Archived from
the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018 .
^ Graham, David A. (February 2, 2017).
"Red State, Blue City" . Theatlantic.com . Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
^
"Similarities and differences between urban, suburban and rural communities in America" . Pewsocialtrends.org . May 22, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
^
"Fiorello La Guardia: Ultimate American" . Rough Diplomacy. 2 December 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
^
"Henry Wallace, America's Forgotten Visionary" . February 3, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2018 .
^ Labaton, Stephen (January 28, 1996).
"Ralph Yarborough Dies at 92; Cast Historic Civil Rights Vote" .
The New York Times . Retrieved March 11, 2018 .
^ Pearson, Richard (March 3, 1986).
"Former Senator Jacob Javits Is Dead at 81" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
^
"Remembering Adam Clayton Powell Jr" .
The New York Times . November 28, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2018 .
^ Perlstein, Rick (May 26, 2011).
"America's Forgotten Liberal" .
The New York Times . Retrieved March 24, 2018 .
^ Cuomo, Mario (March 11, 2001).
"The Last Liberal" . The New York Times . Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
^
"Bella Abzug" . National Women's Hall of Fame . Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^ Osnos, Peter (May 25, 2010).
"New York Mayor John Lindsay. Remember Him?" . The Atlantic . Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
^ Michael Cohen (June 5, 2016).
"RFK and the Dems who revere him: 48 years after Robert Kennedy's assassination, we should remember him in all his complexity" .
New York Daily News . Retrieved March 2, 2018 .
^
"John Conyers Biography" . Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
^
"Ted Kennedy on the Issues" . Ontheissues.org . Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
^
"Cuomo Vetoes Death Penalty Seventh Time" .
The New York Times . March 21, 1989. Retrieved March 6, 2018 .
^ Clines, Francis X. (January 18, 1996).
"Barbara Jordan Dies at 59; Her Voice Stirred the Nation" .
The New York Times . Retrieved March 10, 2018 .
^
"John Lewis: U.S. Representative, Civil Rights Activist" . Biography.com . Retrieved March 10, 2018 .
^
"Nancy Pelosi" . Biography.com . Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
^
"Barney Frank" . Biography.com . Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
^
"Barney Frank On the Issues" . Ontheissues.org . Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
^
"Senator Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism in the United States – Bernie Sanders" . Berniesanders.com . November 19, 2015. Archived from
the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2018 .
^ Oliphant, J. Baxter (March 9, 2020)
"Most Democrats see Bernie Sanders as liberal"
Pew Research Center .
^ "The New York Times got it right when it said, 'Mr. Sanders, who is hugely popular with liberals, ... made blunt overtures to the party faithful by presenting himself as the heir to the politics and ideals of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dr. Martin Luther King.'", p. 166, "Our Revolution: A Future to Believe in", Bernie Sanders,
ISBN
978-1250132925
^ "Known for his liberal stance, he founded (1991) the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A reliable opponent of Pres. George W. Bush's administration and the Republican Party, he voted against the Iraq War and distinguished himself in particular for his opposition to tax cuts benefiting wealthy individuals and corporations and to cuts in spending for social welfare programs. He was reelected seven times, usually by wide margins. Encyclopædia Britannica online.
^
"20 Years of Change: Joe Biden on the Violence Against Women Act" . Time . 10 September 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2018 .
^ Dreier, Peter (26 October 2015).
"Paul Wellstone's Ordinary Life and Extraordinary Legacy" . The Huffington Post . Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
^
"Is Howard Dean too liberal?" . NBC News. August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 4, 2018 .
^
"In Memoriam: Henry Steele Commager (1902–98)" . American Historical Association. Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
^ Kirsch, Adam (October 26, 2011).
"The Inner Clamor" . The New Republic. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
^
"The 7 Most Liberal Supreme Court Justices in American History" . Thoughtco .
^
"Justice Brandeis and the Birth of Liberal Judicial Activism" . Thepublicdiscourse.com . 28 January 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2018 .
^ Rich, Spencer (January 20, 1980).
"William O. Douglas Dies at 81" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved April 15, 2018 .
^
"Thurgood Marshall's Unique Supreme Court Legacy" . Constitution Daily. Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
^
"W.E.B. DuBois on the Value of Liberal Education" . Keyreporter.org . Archived from
the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2018 .
^
"William Monroe Trotter" . Blackpast.org . 23 January 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2018 .
^
"A. Philip Randolph" .
Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved March 16, 2018 .
^
"Walter Reuther" . AFL-CIO. Retrieved October 29, 2019 .
^
"Fannie Lou Hamer: Civil Rights Activist" . Mississippi History Now. Retrieved March 9, 2018 .
^
"Celebrating Our Presidents" . National Organization for Women. Archived from
the original on January 21, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2018 .
^
"Harvey Milk" . Retrieved March 6, 2018 .
^
"Women: A Fighting First Lady" . Time . Time Magazine. 3 March 1975. Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
^ Haslett, Tobi (December 11, 2017).
"The Other Susan Sontag" .
The New Yorker . Retrieved March 21, 2018 .
^
"Gloria Steinem" . Biography.com . Retrieved March 5, 2018 .
^
"Patricia Ireland" . Biography.yourdictionary.com . Retrieved March 8, 2018 .
^
Gleiberman, Owen (September 23, 2018)
"How Michael Moore Lost His Audience" ,
Variety . Retrieved April 17, 2014.
^
"Rachel Maddow: American Political Commentator" .
Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved April 9, 2018 .
^ Schulz, Kathryn (April 4, 2017).
"The Many Lives of Pauli Murray" .
The New Yorker . Retrieved March 16, 2018 .
^ "Of course, there is one phase of liberalism that I hope to treasure always: its devotion to the search for truth, its insistence on an open and analytical mind, its refusal to abandon the best light of reason.", Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., p.35, "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches", HarperOne,
ISBN
978-0060646912
^
"Biographical Notes on Rabbi Lerner" . Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2018 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link )
^
"Black America doesn't lack leaders: Poll shows 24 percent say Sharpton speaks for them" . The Grio. March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2018 .
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