# Are there any notable American politicians who switched from liberal to conservative or vice versa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369 "2018-03-11T01:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/41 "2018-03-12T19:14:37Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I agree with the last sentence, but I think the endposts have shifted to the left a lot, not to the right. Take, for example, the actual policies (not who opposed who, just what was written in the legislation) when Eisenhower was president. The majority of the Republican party today would never vote for Eisenhower-style bills. Republican policy at that time was to the left of even where Democratic policy is today. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/42 "2018-03-12T19:24:51Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Take, for example, the actual policies (not who opposed who, just what was written in the legislation) when Eisenhower was president. The majority of the Republican party today would never vote for Eisenhower-style bills. Republican policy at that time was to the left of even where Democratic policy is today. I don’t think this is correct. I think it’s only true if you look at direction and not actual policy. So if you say “Eisenhower expanded civil rights and the Republicans today are not in favor of expanding civil rights” or similar, then it’s true. But if you look at “the actual policies” that Eisenhower enacted in the course of expanding civil rights, they’re things that would be taken for granted by Republicans of all stripes nowadays (e.g. desegregating schools). ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/43 "2018-03-12T19:34:54Z")
Mark Warner of VA was Republican and is now Democrat. Moderate both. [Mark Warner - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Warner) ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/44 "2018-03-12T19:37:52Z")
Where do you see that Mark Warner was once a Republican? (Are you sure you’re not confusing him with John Warner?) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/45 "2018-03-12T20:09:28Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I don’t think this is correct. > > I think it’s only true if you look at direction and not actual policy. So if you say “Eisenhower expanded civil rights and the Republicans today are not in favor of expanding civil rights” or similar, then it’s true. But if you look at “the actual policies” that Eisenhower enacted in the course of expanding civil rights, they’re things that would be taken for granted by Republicans of all stripes nowadays (e.g. desegregating schools). That makes sense, and it seems to me to open the question of which is more important in a politician - their immediate situation, or the direction that they’re trying to influence their situation. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/46 "2018-03-12T21:06:58Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by “important”, and more significantly, whether someone is taking a stance on a given issue because he believes in that specific position on that specific issue versus trying to influence things in that general direction seems to be highly speculative for the most part. But at any rate, in the context of this specific discussion I would think the actual stance on specific issues is what counts. Suppose you have someone who was strongly in favor of integration but strongly opposed to all immigration and affirmative action back in the 50s, and he maintained those exact stances over the ensuing 6 decades. That guy would move from being a liberal to being a conservative on race without having changed his position on a single issue, by virtue of the country having moved to the left while he stayed in position. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/47 "2018-03-12T21:20:05Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > There is one wild-eyed theory out there that most politicians are just blank pages which their donors write on, so that these “changes of heart” are merely the changing economic winds of their donors. There’s another wholly reasonable theory that most politicians are blank pages that will adapt themselves to their constituency and base. Some politicos are fairly explicit about this if in the mood. I once combed through 1980s voting records to discover the rep that best matched my views: I even had a spreadsheet. I then figured out that what I liked was… high tech urban districts. Pro-choice, pro free trade, technocratic. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/48 "2018-03-12T21:46:50Z")
Do political pundits count? If so, Arianna Huffington and Ed Schultz both made a meaningful change on their views. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/49 "2018-03-13T14:47:34Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Take, for example, the actual policies (not who opposed who, just what was written in the legislation) when Eisenhower was president. The majority of the Republican party today would never vote for Eisenhower-style bills. Republican policy at that time was to the left of even where Democratic policy is today. There is almost no truth to this at all. Eisenhower believed in a very interventionist foreign policy, much more so than any party today. On Spending he was a deficit hawk and spending as percentage of GDP went down 2% in his presidency. On immigration he launched Operation Wetback to round up and deport illegal Mexican immigrants. The biggest policy difference with todays Republicans would be taxes since Ike wanted balanced budgets before tax cuts. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/50 "2018-03-13T15:21:01Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Where do you see that Mark Warner was once a Republican? (Are you sure you’re not confusing him with John Warner?) :smack: I think you’re right. He was a “Virginia Democrat” governor, he really seemed like a Republican but apparently was always a Democrat. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/51 "2018-03-13T15:32:04Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And George H.W. Bush was President in the early 90s, someone who would not be considered a conservative today. He wasn’t considered a conservative while he was President, either. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/52 "2018-03-13T15:49:01Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Do political pundits count? Only if they’re sincere. > [@](#): > > If so, Arianna Huffington and Ed Schultz both made a meaningful change on their views. Their \*stated \*views. Both looked more like examples of target marketing. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/53 "2018-03-13T17:53:53Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Don’t forget Earl Warren, who as attorney general and then governor of California urged the internment of Japanese-Americans, and was Thomas Dewey’s running mate in 1948. As Chief Justice he presided over the Supreme Court’s most liberal era. I remember when he died and a bunch of us in the college dorm were watching the news. Our resident [SDS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_a_Democratic_Society) member gushed how he was one of the bestest liberals ever then, I said, “You mean the guy who as Governor of California advocated throwing the Japanese into internment camps at the outbreak of WWII?” He didn’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/54 "2018-03-13T18:30:54Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > He wasn’t considered a conservative while he was President, either. Yes he was. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/55 "2018-03-13T18:50:26Z")
In 2007, Barack Obama was (his claim) a religious social conservative who opposed gay marriage, and a fiscal conservative who campaigned on getting rid of the deficit and cutting taxes. He was also a trade protectionist who campaigned against NAFTA and promised to reform it to protect workers. He also wanted to streamline Washington and reform lobbying. Four years later, and he was fully supportive of gay marriage and free trade, while running record deficits and presiding over a huge expansion of government in DC. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/56 "2018-03-15T05:18:55Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In 2007, Barack Obama was (his claim) a religious social conservative who opposed gay marriage, and a fiscal conservative who campaigned on getting rid of the deficit and cutting taxes. He was also a trade protectionist who campaigned against NAFTA and promised to reform it to protect workers. He also wanted to streamline Washington and reform lobbying. > > Four years later, and he was fully supportive of gay marriage and free trade, while running record deficits and presiding over a huge expansion of government in DC. Mainstream macro economics prescribes larger deficits during recession and smaller deficits during economic expansion. For example, central bank chief (and registered Republican) Ben Bernanke called for additional fiscal stimulus for years after the first one passed in 2009, without success because of Republican congressional opposition. So in economic policy, I don’t see evidence for inconsistency. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/57 "2018-03-15T05:39:33Z")
Let’s look at gay marriage. Polling shows that public attitudes have changed dramatically: in 2009 40% supported it, while 4 years later it was up to 54%. Republicans alone had a shift of about 10 percentage points during that era. Cite: [http://news.gallup.com/poll/210566/support-gay-marriage-edges-new-high.aspx](http://news.gallup.com/poll/210566/support-gay-marriage-edges-new-high.aspx) Surely, we’re discussing those who shifted their politics relative to their colleagues, right? I mean I doubt whether a liberal southerner’s positions on civil rights in 1955 would be considered particularly forward thinking today. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/58 "2018-03-15T10:53:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes he was. Not really. He had been a center right Republican his entire career, he had staked out a position in 1980 against Reaganomics/supply side, which he called “voodoo economics”, he was constantly fighting off people like Pat Buchanan, and because conservativea didn’t trust him, he had to make that anti-tax pledge when he was campaigning, which he later broke, and thereby confirmed conservative fears that he was a vascular in opportunist who couldn’t be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/59 "2018-03-15T12:20:10Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > In 2007, Barack Obama was (his claim) a religious social conservative who opposed gay marriage, and a fiscal conservative who campaigned on getting rid of the deficit and cutting taxes. He was also a trade protectionist who campaigned against NAFTA and promised to reform it to protect workers. He also wanted to streamline Washington and reform lobbying. > > Four years later, and he was fully supportive of gay marriage and free trade, while running record deficits and presiding over a huge expansion of government in DC. Record deficits? That’ll be the same Barack Obama who cut the deficit by 1/3 by the end of his term? Early on he had large deficits driven by the two wars and worse recession since the Great Depression he inherited, but as the economy improved the deficits dropped significantly, even despite the tax cuts. The idea that Obama was a profligate spender, particularly compared to the presidents that bookend him, is not borne out by even cursory scrutiny. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369/60 "2018-03-15T13:47:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Republicans who were essentially wiped off the map by Gringrich-led neocons in the mid- ‘Nineties. The Republican party used to stand for civil rights, respect for the value of science and education, and pragmatism in government finance and economics. Even abortion rights, now a highly devisive party-line issue, was not previously a defining position. HUH?? Are you saying abortion wasn’t a divisive partly-line issue prior to the 90s?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-notable-american-politicians-who-switched-from-liberal-to-conservative-or-vice-versa/810369.md?page=4)