# Who is the most libertarian US President since Coolidge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 21, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638 "2014-04-21T22:26:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/1 "2014-04-21T22:26:12Z")
I choose Coolidge as a starting point because the Modern Era of government intervention began with the Great Depression. It is not worth debating if Millard Fillmore were the most, for instance. That said, I put forward that Jimmy Carter is the most libertarian by far. He deregulated entire swaths of the American economy including even craft beer production (I hope I don’t need to go into the rest), he pretty much adhered to the libertarian NAP (non aggression principle), he did not raise income taxes, he appointed a US Dollar hawk to tame inflation he inherited (Volcker) and he prohibited collective bargaining by federal employees. Yet when I present this evidence to so-called other “libertarians” they recoil in horror. I suspect that is because of the (D) by his name. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/2 "2014-04-21T22:33:40Z")
Clinton OK, never mind. Carter wins. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/3 "2014-04-21T23:29:16Z")
Opposition to income taxes is a libertarian principle? I know that minarchism calls for fewer governmental functions but wasn’t aware of how the government raised money was an issue. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/4 "2014-04-21T23:48:54Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > I choose Coolidge as a starting point because the Modern Era of government intervention began with the Great Depression. Some (nutcases, but many of them exist) would put it at 1913, with the enactment of the 16th Amendment and the creation of the Federal Reserve. And some (bigger nutcases, but, again) would date it from the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/5 "2014-04-22T03:40:31Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > . . . but wasn’t aware of how the government raised money was an issue. Hint: by not stealing it. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/6 "2014-04-22T08:05:30Z")
Right. Taxation is theft. But is the income tax seen as specifically anti-freedom? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/7 "2014-04-22T09:02:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Some (nutcases, but many of them exist) would put it at 1913, with the enactment of the 16th Amendment and the creation of the Federal Reserve. And some (bigger nutcases, but, again) would date it from the Civil War. Others would date it all the way to the adoption of the US Constitution… [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Probability\_Broach](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Probability_Broach) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/8 "2014-04-22T11:29:33Z")
I vote none of them. Being the head of a government that works, or at least tries to, is the polar opposite of libertarianism. Since there have been no libertarian presidents and the most libertarian candidate, Ron Paul, was at best a minor fringe candidate, I think it’s safe to say that Americans have rejected this philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/9 "2014-04-22T14:20:44Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Right. Taxation is theft. But is the income tax seen as specifically anti-freedom? Well, it puts an end to privacy. The government taxing your land or your purchases is a simple matter, but to tax your income it needs to know a lot about how much you earn and how. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/10 "2014-04-25T11:02:35Z")
I think a case can be made for Carter, although I’d have to lean towards Clinton. He was just as much a deregulator and he cut spending and reduced the federal work force. he also signed free trade deals and reformed welfare. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/11 "2014-04-25T11:03:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I vote none of them. Being the head of a government that works, or at least tries to, is the polar opposite of libertarianism. Since there have been no libertarian presidents and the most libertarian candidate, Ron Paul, was at best a minor fringe candidate, I think it’s safe to say that Americans have rejected this philosophy. What you’re thinking of is anarchy. Libertarians want a small, efficient, government. Americans have rejected pure libertarianism, to be sure, but the “small-l” libertarianism that runs through our electorate has been a source of frustration to central planners for a very long time. Why won’t Americans be good little Europeans and accept more control over their lives? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-libertarian-us-president-since-coolidge/686638/12 "2014-04-25T12:21:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What you’re thinking of is anarchy. Libertarians want a small, efficient, government. No, what they want is to say “I got mine, you’re on your own, motherfucker!” An industrial society simply cannot survive without a safety net for its people. When libertarians get that through their thick skulls, then maybe we can let them sit at the table with the adults.