Did you know that the highest tax rate, post any World Wars was 91% in the 1950’s, and it was under a republican administration. Well who was the mysterious being, that today’s conservative republicans would have labeled a socialist, were he president. It was none other than General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Why is it that no one ever reports or mentions this, particularly conservatives or Fox News or any of the pundits that are now attacking New York’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who closed the city’s multibillion—dollar deficit by calling for a 4% tax on the luxury second homes of the wealthiest New Yorkers. Because, no one would dare call Eisenhower, believed to be the greatest general of the 20th century, who led the allied forces that overthrew Hitler, nazism, fascism and ended WWII, a socialist.
Yet, during Eisenhower’s presidency, the highest tax rate in America was 91%, and no one complained about it or called him a socialist. And further, it was John F. Kennedy, his democratic presidential successor, that reduced the highest tax rate from 91% to 70%. So, here’s the question, why is it that the suggestion of raising the highest tax rate of 37% by a few percentage points, to help fund such things as, universal healthcare, medicare, social security, higher education, liquidating student loans, and other programs for the social well being of the nation; why would such a proposal be considered outlandish, and called “socialism,” today.
During Eisenhower’s presidency, an era from 1953—1961, there were several achievements that Ike accomplished that may surprise you. I will list a few:
Infrastructure Investment—Eisenhower championed the Federal Aid Highway Act in 1956 creating the 41,000—mile Interstate highway system. It became one of the largest public works projects in U.S. history.
Balanced Budgets—Unlike his republican successors(all republican presidents since Reagan have added $23 trillion to the cumulative national debt), Eisenhower practiced fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets in three of his eight years as president, (1956—57 and 1960) and significantly reduced the national debt as a percentage of GDP from 71.4% to 60.4%. Today the national debt is 125% of the nation’s GDP, which is more that double what it was during the Eisenhower years.
Social Security Net Expansion—Eisenhower expanded Social Security benefits to an additional 10 million workers, increased the minimum wage, and created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, though he was a fiscal conservative.
Post—War Stability—Eisenhower maintained low inflation and relatively low unemployment for most of his tenure as president, transitioning the country from a wartime to a peacetime economy. He also built a partnership with his neighbor, Canada and completed the St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean for international trade.
During the Eisenhower presidency the middle class boomed, personal income increased by roughly 45% and unemployment generally remained low. Inflation for the most part, remained under 2 percent and only began to rise near the end of his final term. And all of this happened with the highest tax rate of 91%.
It certainly was not a perfect presidency. There were still racial disparities, after all it was still the 1950’s. Brown v Board of Education was decided in 1954, so separate but equal was still the order of the day. But the economic understanding of social responsibility and everyone making a contribution to the social safety net as a shared duty was not in dispute. Unlike today, no one saw contributing to the good of society as socialism but patriotism. It was seen as everyone’s civic duty to pay your fair share. No one was defending the wealthy at the expense of the working class.
So, what lessons can today’s conservatives and those that claim to want to “Make America ‘Great’ Again,” learn from one of their most successful republican two term President’s, Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is consistently ranked as the 5th best president in American history, behind Lincoln, Washington, FDR and Theodore Roosevelt. Interesting that while he is ranked so high, you never hear him mentioned by conservatives or republicans as a president to be modeled after or emulated. You only hear the names of Reagan or Teddy Roosevelt, but never Eisenhower, why the omission. Perhaps they need to look more closely at Eisenhower’s presidency and learn some lessons from Ike, and stop suggesting that raising taxes on billionaires is socialism. Because if it was good enough for Eisenhower yesterday, it should be good enough for America today.
I have a new slogan for democrats to use when conservatives begin to criticize them for suggesting that they should increase the highest tax rate and make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes. The next time someone calls them a “socialist” for making such a suggestion they should respond, “I LIKE IKE!!!” And when someone asks them what does that mean, they should explain why they do…
timothypnixon 