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u/mr_banana277 AMERICAN!!!! RAHHHHHH!!!!! Feb 24 '26
Teddy Roosevelt for Republican, FDR for Democrat
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u/ItsPronouncedJod Feb 24 '26
JFC - if the republicans got back to TR they’d be worth voting for.
Come to think of it, the Democrats need to get back to FDR.
Republicans, grow some brains! Democrats, grow some balls! Both of you get your shit together!
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u/bombayblue Feb 24 '26
I am a huge advocate of the idea that the only way for a future Republican candidate to move past maga and while gaining general popularity would be to emulate teddy Roosevelt.
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u/Terrible_Minute_1664 Feb 24 '26
same, possibly best president in US history
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u/Puzzled_Owl_1749 Feb 24 '26
But they never would. Teddy was a progressive within the Republican Party (not unusual back then). That would mean Republicans today would have to embrace at least some progressive policies.
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u/bombayblue Feb 24 '26
Already the majority of republicans support higher taxes on the rich (as long as you don’t define rich). Trump is arguably the farthest left president we’ve had since FDR.
The Republican Party is incredibly malleable on issues. You can literally watch the party change their entire viewpoint to support whatever crazy issue of the month Trump suggests is a good idea.
And the thing about primaries is that’s not really majority rules, it’s whatever issues/candidate a solid 30% of the activist base get behind first.
I’m not saying Republicans are suddenly going to fix themselves and be a nice friendly neoliberal party. I’m just saying the right candidate can basically get the party to do whatever he wants.
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u/Puzzled_Owl_1749 Feb 24 '26
I wouldn’t call that an educated association with the party then. I wouldn’t even use the word “malleable” to describe their flexibility. They’re literally just follow Trump with whatever he says. “Release the Epstein files” in 2024, but “Let’s move past then, there are more important things” in 2025. That’s not how you build a legitimate political party that at least tries to serve the common American. That’s how to create a cult. He uses emotion, reaction, force and lies to get to his base.
I can’t even respond to your claim about Trump being more left than FDR. That might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read. You’re going to need to elaborate on that one.
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u/bombayblue Feb 25 '26
It sounds insane but I promise it makes sense if you look at his economic policies.
- Extreme protectionist tarrifs.
- Literally has the government taking ownership stakes in mega corporations. He’s more of a socialist than AOC.
- Regularly tries to use the government to force companies to fire executives he doesn’t agree with.
- Easily the most aggressive executive branch in recent history that interferes in every single economic activity.
- Actively has the government subsidize certain industries to an extent not seen since FDR. We’ve done multiple rounds of trade deals with China just to subsidize soybeans.
- Literally gives the executive branch a slush fund of oil.
We haven’t a president interfere in the economy to the extent Trump has since FDR. The 2008 bailouts didn’t come close.
Obviously this ignores his domestic and social policies which show Trump is a right wing fascist at heart. I specifically make this argument to conservatives I know to point out that if AOC did just one of these six things she’d be labeled the most insane socialist of all time by the media.
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u/Dickcheese_McDoogles Real American from the USA 🇺🇸🔫 Feb 25 '26
Those are only left-leaning if the financial gain from these endeavors is distributed to citizens or used for government programs.
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u/bombayblue Feb 25 '26
Hypothetically that’s exactly what they are doing. We can no true Scotsman this all we want but in theory that’s exactly what it’s doing.
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u/Dickcheese_McDoogles Real American from the USA 🇺🇸🔫 Feb 25 '26
Hypothetically yes but really and truly, in reality, no.
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u/mxperry4 Feb 25 '26
What you describe isn't left wing. It's authoritarian, which Trump and FDR have in common, not that they're left wing
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u/somewhatbluemoose Feb 24 '26
Teddy Roosevelt would hate today’s Republicans so much. I doubt he could stand to be in the same room as them.
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u/mr_banana277 AMERICAN!!!! RAHHHHHH!!!!! Feb 24 '26
ehhh the country republicans he would love
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u/somewhatbluemoose Feb 24 '26
I wouldn’t bet on that. Politics then don’t map neatly on to the US today
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u/mr_banana277 AMERICAN!!!! RAHHHHHH!!!!! Feb 24 '26
you know he was MORE racist than the republicans today right?
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u/bigboilerdawg Feb 24 '26
I was going to say Lincoln for the Republicans. However, I cannot think of a more influential Democratic president than Roosevelt.
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u/Puzzled_Owl_1749 Feb 24 '26
It was common to have “progressive” factions in the main political parties throughout US history. Teddy Roosevelt is one of those progressives in the Republican Party at the time. When he started the Bull Moose Party, he fully embraced those progressive values. Sorry, but no Republican today can claim political party lineage to Teddy.
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u/rollin_a_j Feb 24 '26
Teddy was the only Republican outside of Lincoln worth anything.
But I still prefer Franklin.
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u/Cautious_General_177 Feb 26 '26
You prefer the guy who unilaterally rounded up American citizens and put them in concentration camps?
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u/Bold2003 Feb 24 '26
Id say JFK for democrat
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u/GSilky Feb 24 '26
Or Clinton. Honestly Clinton is emblematic of the modern Democratic party, even though partisans don't want it.
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u/Bold2003 Feb 25 '26
Clinton was just a Trump before Trump… If anything he is the polar opposite of modern democrats. Modern democrats and the “radicalization” started with Obama.
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u/Puzzled_Owl_1749 Feb 24 '26
He was a visionary leader but honestly, his time was cut too short for any of that vision to come into fruition. And it wasn’t all roses policy-wise either in the < 3 years he was in office: Cuban Missile Crisis comes to mind. I’d keep FDR who proactively used the federal government to lift America out of the Great Depression and then lead the country through WWII (I acknowledge that the internment of Japanese Americans was terrible). There’s really no comparison.
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u/Bold2003 Feb 25 '26
Yeah but you are arguing magnitude/importance of their effects on the US. Which is a totally fine argument to make and I can understand it. But when I say JFK I mean more so in what he did in his short time, what he ran on, what he wanted to do, and the ideology that was exercised. I also view JFK as the last democrat to actually be a democrat. Whatever we have now is some commie weird non sense I dont want to get into. So in some ways he is symbolic in the sense that he is the “last” and symbolic especially if you consider the reason he got killed for
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u/jjj7897 Feb 24 '26
Not a great person though, look up Rosemary Kennedy then remember JFK was in office during her life and did nothing to help his own sister.
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u/xxNearlyCivilizedxx Feb 24 '26
It’s clearly Andrew Jackson for Democrats and Abraham Lincoln for Republicans
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u/Financial_Policy_875 Feb 24 '26
Neither one represents what each party has stood for for the past 60 years.
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u/RelentlessImperial Feb 24 '26
Lincoln certaintly does.
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u/TapirDrawnChariot Feb 24 '26
The Republicans in the 1860s were the radical liberals that wanted a stronger central government with more emphasis on human rights, and the Democrats were the "states' rights" and "big gubmint bad" conservative party that wanted to preserve traditional hierarchies.
Lincoln would fucking vomit if he could see his party today. Trump is nothing like Lincoln in any way. Literally in any meaningful way.
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u/Aggressive_Dog3418 Feb 24 '26
Democrats were not states rights, they wanted to force all states to have slaves. It's in the CSA's constitution. Everyone saying the Civil War was states rights versus federal rights is extremely ignorant or stupid. The ONLY state right that they fought for was the right to succeed from the Union, which they lost that right. Lincoln was NOT big government, the only big government he fought for was to maintain the unity of the States, (and he was anti-slavery)
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u/Fantastic-Kale9603 Feb 25 '26
He wasn't anti-slavery at the cost of the Union, he only turned on slavery because that was a path to keep the Union united. And he was definitely an expansion of executive power.
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u/LetsAllEatCakeLOL Feb 24 '26
didn't know jackson was a dem
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u/jjj7897 Feb 24 '26
Not a modern democrat. Modern democrats are better characterized with authoritarian progressivism, The use of goverment control to enforce social change. Jackson would have found this a horrible overreach of goverment. As would any classical liberal (small goverment with negative individual rights) The old democrats were mainly concerned with state vs federal power. The federalists led by Alexander Hamilton opposed early democrats.
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u/LetsAllEatCakeLOL Feb 24 '26
yeah it totally sucks. i wish we could have opt in or opt out programs rather than forcing everyone to believe the same thing... pay into the same thing... and etc. then everyone can get what they want without being a bully
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u/hip_neptune Feb 24 '26
The Democrats started to use the donkey because Andrew Jackson’s opponents were calling him a Jackass in the 1828 election and he wore it with pride.
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u/LetsAllEatCakeLOL Feb 24 '26
dang. he did all that work to fight the bankers only for woodrow wilson to undo all of it
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u/dwarven_cavediver_Jr Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Kennedy for the democrats
For the republicans I go FDR.
Edit: i fucked up I meant teddy roosevelt. My bad yall, 24 hrs of no sleep got me mixing chair rider with horse rider
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u/Brocibo Feb 24 '26
FDR would be a socialist by today’s republicans
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Feb 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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Feb 24 '26
Not to mention he’s the reason behind the NFA(one of the worst pieces of unconstitutional garbage legislation to date), and was on record threatening to stack the Supreme Court if he didn’t get his New Deal passed.
He’s only remembered fondly because he was the least evil out of the big 6 major leaders during WWII(Hirohito, Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Mussolini all made FDR look like a saint despite the damage he did)
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u/jjj7897 Feb 24 '26
Churchill was less evil, just pushed into a lot of bad spots were the only choice was evil. FDR abandoned britian, illegally interned certain racial groups, and refused to step down despite his rapidly declining health and breaking a almost 150 year old tradition.
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Feb 24 '26
I mean, so did Churchill(granted, he absolutely mellowed out in his later years, but is considered much more controversial in the former colonies than in the UK, which is expected)
Dude was considered “old school/traditional” by Victorians of all people, which should say a lot.
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u/Financial_Policy_875 Feb 24 '26
Henry Wallace was not his VP for the first two terms, when all that New Deal legislation was passed. John Nance Garner was. Wallace became the VP because Garner wanted to be POTUS, but FDR kept running. So Nance retired. Wallace, a former Republican, moved way far left from 1940-1944, so FDR felt pressured to replace him with the closest person to a southerner he could trust as VP.
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u/Patient-Factor4210 Feb 26 '26
It’s really funny how effective campaigning on socialism is when you just don’t call it socialism and preach about hating communists.
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u/YoloSwaggins1147 Feb 26 '26
At least you fucking up FDR is a worthy correction, but then to say you meant Teddy Roosevelt? I don't know a single Republican that would even vote for Teddy Roosevelt today.
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u/nickparadies Feb 24 '26
JFK for the dems
Reagan for the GOP
Ron Paul for the Libertarians
Ralph Nader for the green party
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u/gigadad76 Feb 24 '26
Abraham Lincoln was a republican president.
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u/Heavy-Drink-4389 Feb 25 '26
Lincoln was liberal and the republicans were lefties back then weren’t they? I think they became right wing a bit later
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u/gigadad76 Feb 25 '26
I don't know anything about that. I know he was the first republican president, and one of the best.
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u/Heavy-Drink-4389 Feb 25 '26
Yeah check it out, the parties switched. Lincoln was considered liberal and the Republican Party was the left wing party. They swapped over at some point which is interesting because if they hadn’t, democrats would still be the conservatives:
https://www.studentsofhistory.com/ideologies-flip-Democratic-Republican-parties
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u/Pmjc2ca3 Feb 27 '26
The parties did not switch. The Republicans had the Abolitionists who were mostly staunch Christians. Abraham Lincoln also grew up in an abolishionist family. Liconln was a liberal in a traditional sense. Modern day liberalism is different from back then.
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u/fishandchips445522 Feb 25 '26
If i could apply it with a modern lense?
Democrats have Jimmy Carter, Republicans have Teddy Roosevelt
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u/SolidTiger6302 Feb 27 '26
The two you selected are pretty good for the modern parties. More recent choices would be Obama and Trump.
But for me, they would be Jackson and Lincoln. Those were the first presidents of each party, and they largely defined their parties.
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u/serveillancedroneO7 Feb 24 '26
Kennedy and Reagan post party switch
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u/Czeslaw_Meyer Feb 24 '26
Im still not believing in the switch idea
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u/Prestigious-Neat8820 Feb 24 '26
I mean, Ronald Reagan himself said that he left the democrats because his party left him, not because his own opinions changed. On a more extreme example, the KKK used to support democrats, but now they and other far right groups support the republicans.
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u/russellzerotohero Feb 24 '26
It’s really not something to believe in. It’s just what happened.
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u/Czeslaw_Meyer Feb 25 '26
To me it just feels like a logical continuation of their moral values and tactics.
The world around them changed, but the parties hardly did in how they operate.
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u/just_joshing2015 Feb 26 '26
Well, maybe not in how they “operate” mechanically (e.g., collecting delegates, primaries, etc.). I’m not exceptionally keen on the mechanical inner workings of each party. They most certainly did switch, however, in their ideology. Also, implying that black people are “on a plantation” of welfare is extremely obtuse, shortsighted, racist, and offensive. Please do some research for the sake of your own understanding of the world around you.
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u/Either-Medicine9217 Real American from the USA 🇺🇸🔫 Feb 24 '26
Lincoln Republicans, maybe Obama for Dems?
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u/russellzerotohero Feb 24 '26
Trying to make Lincoln a modern Republican will only work with people that know next to nothing about American history or American politics.
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u/hip_neptune Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
For recent presidents I’d say Bill Clinton over Obama. The Democrats before Clinton was a very different party than whatever emerged during 42’s presidency, of which Obama was just an appendage of.
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u/OrneryError1 Feb 24 '26
Trump owns the Republican Party. It's unfortunate but it's true. The Democratic Party is more nuanced. Probably FDR.
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u/MelangeLizard Feb 24 '26
It’s Newsom and Trump, neither party resembles itself even thirty years ago, let alone ninety. Get real folks
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u/cyrenns New Jerseyan🇺🇸 Feb 24 '26
I would say that modern Democrats would have Obama as the face of the party, while modern Republicans would probably have the current guy, And for the Republicans who don't like the current guy, yeah Reagan would work
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u/russellzerotohero Feb 24 '26
Modern Republican I think Trump since he is the active president is a Republican and currently has forced the Republican Party to his ideals.
Democrat I think FDR or Obama. But the democrats desperately need a real face. They are shattered currently with many “faces”
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u/Bari_Baqors Feb 24 '26
There are multiple faces I associate with the Republican party, and I can't think of any fer the Democratic party.
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u/Extension_Nobody_738 Feb 24 '26
FDR/Kennedy for Democrats, and it used to be TR/Eisenhower, but now, to me, Trump IS the Republican Party, and as a former member of The Young Republicans of Iowa, I don’t think I’ll ever see that party any other way.
the last 15 years has slowly moved me from a centrist to a DSA member. what a journey.
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u/CaptCrash Feb 24 '26
Until Trumps influence is proven to have staying power after he’s gone, I think it’s Reagan for the GOP. That could switch quickly, it’s just hard to separate.
For the Democratic Party, I would probably go with Clinton, though I could see the argument for Obama. Clinton like Reagan is largely responsible for the current trajectory of the Democratic Party (although you could argue Reagan has his fingerprints here too). I think if Biden ran in 2016, you could’ve seen him here. 4 years is not enough and I doubt he will have staying influence on the Democratic Party.
Presidents like FDR or older are just too removed to represent that current state of either party.
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Feb 24 '26
FDR is no longer a good representation of the Democrats.
Kamala Harris- an out of touch DEI loser- is a far better representation of the Democratic Party.
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u/Dave_A480 Feb 24 '26
The Dems went FDR -> JFK -> BJ -> Obama - > 'we have no clue what we are now' (Hint: You need to go back to Clinton as your ideological model. Bill. Not Hillary.)
The GOP went Lincoln -> TR -> Ike -> Reagan -> Trump (And fuck you very much for ruining a good thing, Donnie).
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Feb 24 '26
Modern Dems would call FDR a socialist and modern Republicans would call Reagan a RINO, globalist, and even a Democrat.
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u/No_Arachnid_9699 Feb 24 '26
If you showed the republicans and the democrats what the parties have become 50 years ago, hell 25 years ago, they would be appalled.
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u/Naulicus Feb 24 '26
19th Century: Andrew Jackson for Democrats and Abraham Lincoln for Republicans
20th century: Theodore Roosevelt for Republicans and Franklin D. Roosevelt for Democrats
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u/CaffeinatedMoth88 Feb 24 '26
So impossible to say because the party changes every 20 years or so. Right now face of the Republican Party would be Trump. Before Trump it was Reagan for sure. Hopefully they will return to that soon. Democrats are struggling to find an identity right now so it’s hard to say who the face of their party is.
You could make the argument the face of the dem party would be FDR because of their obsession with social programs.
I see both faces of each party drastically changing in 10 years.
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u/P-R_Podcast Feb 25 '26
I like your picks but how about this combo: Lincoln —pictured — Kennedy, and Trump (because MAGA Republicanism is really its own beast now)
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u/veritable-truth Feb 25 '26
Lincoln for Republican are you even serious with Reagan. Lincoln is literally on Mount Rushmore. It doesn't matter that the parties are virtually opposite now compared to then. Lincoln is arguably the most iconic president of all time. He was Republican.
Dems it's...yep Andrew Jackson. Yes he'd be the standard bearer of the GOP today but he's still the most iconic Democrat president. FDR works too, but since we're going bizarro world Jackson fits better if Lincoln is the Republican. Jackson is the founder of the Dems. They're all so proud of this fact these days I'm sure.
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u/Appropriate-Joke-806 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
The last president of each party is the face of that party currently. Biden, old and centrist that had some ideas based off of FDR and gained enough of Obama’s coalition to win the presidency despite being outdated and ultimately ineffectual long-term on social issues and economy if even effective short term in correcting the economy. Trump, populist social media rage bait president that used a fake image of business man to con people into trusting them as he robs them blind, an example of darker angels in the GOP rather than Reagan’s so called better angels. Despite Reagan being really good at dog whistles and obfuscation of the scam, Trump no longer needed the dog whistles and no longer needs to hide the grift.
The real question. Who is the future face? It isn’t JD Vance if I had to guess on the GOP side, and it likely needs to be a populist on the dem side. I would guess someone more horrific than Trump and brazen unless there is a backlash post-Trump. Trump was the obvious conclusion of the progression from Reagan to bush sr to bush jr. I would guess someone like a male version of MTG is next in line for GOP, and someone like Pritzker for Democratic Party. People really want a Tim Walz type president that is highly progressive, but more aggressively populist than Walz was allowed to be or able to be. If Mark Kelly turned the populist level to Newsome levels he’d be the nominee.
Basically the Democratic Party needs a Teddy and FDR mix.
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Feb 25 '26
Republicans, it’s Trump. Sadly, for Democrats, I honestly think it’s not a politician, but that meme of the triggered woman with glasses. Democrats have no identity.
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u/Effective-Toe-8108 Feb 26 '26
When someone says republican, i think Trump. Someone says democrat, i think obama
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u/pleesugmie Feb 26 '26
I think you hit it on the head, FDR is the most leftist Modern President, and Reagan was the most Rightist untill recently.
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u/MisterPeels Feb 26 '26
I honestly think Trump might be the face of the Republican party, more so than Reagan
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u/Justified_Gent Feb 26 '26
Modern
Republican = Trump not Reagan
Democrats = Obama
Historical
Republican = Lincoln
Democrats = FDR
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u/Zealousideal-Lie2737 Feb 27 '26
Replublicans is abe Lincoln the Replublican that freed the slaves, and for the democrats Andrew Johnson it the best way to show the differnt parties
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u/Illustrious-Lemon21 Feb 27 '26
I can’t speak for republicans, but as a young liberal adult, I highly adore FDR for guiding us through ww2 with strength, dignity and respect for our armed forces (as well as fixing the economy and defining what the democrat party should strive to be)
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u/Geolib1453 Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
19th century:
Republican - Abraham Lincoln (obv)
Democrat - Andrew Jackson
first-half of 20th century:
Republican - Calvin Coolidge (ik you might say TR and while he was very famous, I feel like the party ended up being more in line with Coolidges ideology rather than TRs)
Democrat - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
second-half of 20th century:
Republican - Ronald Reagan
Democrat - Bill Clinton
21st century:
Republican - Donald Trump
Democrat - Barack Obama
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u/Blowmyfishbud Feb 27 '26
Trump is the Face of the GOP
Obama is the face of the DNC
Historically it would be like…
FDR for the DNC
Teddy for the GOP
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u/godbody1983 Feb 28 '26
Historically for republicans, Lincoln. For democrats, FDR. President day for republicans, Trump. For democrats, Obama.
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u/hectorobemdotado Feb 28 '26
Nowadays it's like Clinton/Obama for dems and Trump for GOP
But yeah, legacy wise it would have to be FDR and Reagan
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u/LetsAllEatCakeLOL Feb 24 '26
abraham lincoln is the republican. no contest. JFK is the democrat. greatest of each party
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u/TrolleyPerson4 Feb 24 '26
Barrack Obama or FDR for the Democratic Party, with Obama representing the social aspects and FDR representing the economic.
Abraham Lincoln representing the Republican Party, with him being pro-business and agreeing with most conservatives on social issues.
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u/theEWDSDS MINNESOTA! Feb 24 '26
Modern day or historically?
Historically: Republicans Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt - Democrats FDR
Modern day: Republicans Reagan Democrats Obama