Who was the last non "centrist" Democrat to be elected president?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I put "centrist" in scare quotes because a "centrist" to many posters here is synonymous for a candidate they don't like.

[Kaleva]

2. Jackson? Right winger.

[honest.abe]

3. LOL

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Was Old Hickory a right winger for his time?

Most of his contemporaries were as nativist af.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich were to the left of PBO.

[el_bryanto]

5. I agree with the person above on Teddy Roosevelt

But it'd also be interesting to consider how many candidates there are in each primary when we are out of power - it feels like that is increasing.

Bryant
http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. TR was a Republican

[bluewater]

10. yeah, I misread the question, so self-deleted.

[Kaleva]

16. Iit was a great answer till I thought "Waaaaaiiit a minute here!".

[in2herbs]

11. TR was not a republican. He started a progressive party which ultimately was named the

Bull Moose Party.

[TwilightZone]

19. Roosevelt was a Republican when he was president.

He didn't start the Progressive Party until 1912. He returned to the GOP in 1916.

[bluescribbler]

9. Teddy was a Republican

Franklin was the Democrat, and he was not a "centrist.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

39. How is this even in dispute?!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[denem]

12. LBJ

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. Not on Vietnam.

[denem]

24. "centrist" generally refers to economic policy

as opposed to "internationalist" / "nationalist" / "interventionist" /"isolationist" on FP

So yeah, LBJ - not a "centrist".

[Clash City Rocker]

30. If you're calling him a conservative, he did pass major civil rights legislation

[denem]

33. The opposite - I'm call him a 'non centrist'

He was a internationalist / interventionist on foreign policy - a liberal or progressive at home.

[wryter2000]

41. LBJ was elected once

But he was the incumbent president at the time. It's not at all clear that he would have won without that.

[question everything]

13. Obama

Yes, we liked to have elected a black. But he was, still is, a centrist. He selected former Clinton - yes, a centrist - staff members to be his staff. As a matter of fact, I remember grumbling on these pages immediately after his nomination because he was not "pure" enough.

Don't we just love "pure" candidates. Here, put this one in quotation marks.

[bluewater]

14. Kennedy was progressive for his day.

Calling it the “New Frontier,” Kennedy’s domestic program promised greater funding for education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural areas, and an end to racial discrimination.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. Adlai Stevenson was to the left of JFK. He was also a cold warrior.

[bluewater]

17. Lyndon Johnson was very progressive on social issues.

That's often forgotten.

Johnson’s “Great Society” program, consisted of social reform legislation protecting civil rights, prohibiting racial discrimination, and expanding programs like Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, and the arts. Johnson is also remembered for his “War on Poverty” program, which created jobs and helped millions of Americans overcome poverty.

[rurallib]

18. yeah - I'd go with Johnson

[marybourg]

35. He wasn't seen that way before he took office.

He was a Texan, a southerner to those of us in the northeast. We were terrified of him. I’d go with FDR, and even he was really only a leftist because of the Depression.

[Voltaire2]

36. exactly right

it was a shame he destroyed his presidency over that stupid awful war.

[jg10003]

21. since 1980 a centrist is anyone slighty left of Reagan

It's time for Democrats to get back to their liberal roots.

[democrattotheend]

23. It depends how you define centrist

I didn't really consider Obama to be that much of a centrist, although he governed as more of a centrist than he ran as in some ways.

IDK if I'd consider Jimmy Carter a centrist either. But he was president before I was born so I don't know where he stood on everything.

[customerserviceguy]

25. FDR

He was considered practically a communist by wealthy Republicans after all those years of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover.

[33taw]

34. Agree.

[bearsfootball516]

26. Probably Obama, honestly.

People forget that in 2008, his platform was considered very progressive. The ACA, bank bailouts were all considered extremely progressive.

He wasn't as far left as Sanders is, but he was further left than candidates such as Biden and Buttigieg are.

[Sapient Donkey]

31. But it's not uncommon to see some groups on the left label Obama as centrist or even conservative

Being as how those folks are the ones usually using the term centrist as a slur, I assume that's what people are probably referring to when they say centrist (often with words like neoliberal thrown in for good measure) Of course I am basing this on social media and I don't know how representative of the country that is. Not to mention who knows how many of those are opposition trolls or trolls from foreign countries trying to sow division.

[thesquanderer]

38. re: "The ACA, bank bailouts were all considered extremely progressive." Not really.

The ACA was a moderate Republican healthcare plan (it had essentially been implemented in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney).

Republicans were also very much in favor of bailing out the banks... in fact they actually based under GW Bush before Obama became president. Maybe you're thinking of the auto industry bailout.

[still_one]

27. George McGovern......

Oops, you mean the “centrists” who gave us SC court justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or that gave us Medicare, Medicaid, fought for women’s rights, workers rights, gave us the Civil Rights act, fought for the environment, etc etc etc

[Nanjeanne]

28. I'd say Obama in 2008 ran as a progressive but governed as a centrist if we are using "

Bill Clinton presented himself as a centrist when he ran.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. Obama.

And he was a damn good president.

[TrunKated]

32. none.

Even FDR was a centrist until he decided to experiment to pull us out of the Depression.

[thesquanderer]

37. OTOH, Dems have often lost when running a centrist. We haven't lost with a liberal since 1972. n/t

[MFM008]

40. actually Bill Clinton

was pretty centrist and sometime the Best President, Obama was to centrist for me.