by Ian Tartt
Yep, not all politicians are authoritarian sellouts. Everyone knows about Ron Paul, but not everyone is familiar with the great libertarians who came before him. Although the following men are in the minority of both presidents and politicians, they all deserve a shout out for conforming much more closely to the Constitution than almost all the rest. Any of them would make a much better president than anyone we’ve had in over half a century.
1. John Tyler
Despite being largely forgotten today, and considered to be one of the worst presidents by modern political historians, tenth president John Tyler stuck to the Constitution more closely than nearly any other president. Tyler was the first vice president to become president due to the inability of the president to fulfill his responsibilities, in this case the death of William Henry Harrison a month into his term. Due to his vetoing two bills intended to reestablish a central bank several years after Andrew Jackson helped eliminate the Second Bank of the United States, Tyler was kicked out of the Whig Party while still in office. Imagine that happening to a politician today. Still, he refused to abuse his powers or give in to the unconstitutional platform of the Whig Party, a move that lead to charges of impeachment. Unlike in the attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon, Tyler’s only “crime” was obeying the Constitution. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a man in the White House once again?
2. Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland is an important president for several reasons. Perhaps most notably, he issued more vetoes, 584, than all his predecessors put together. Although not a strict constitutionalist, as seen by his signing of the Interstate Commerce Act (which established federal control of railroads and restricted competition in true monopolistic fashion), Cleveland can still certainly be considered a classical liberal for his general theory of government and impressive executive restraint, particularly in economic affairs. His second term was plagued by the Panic of 1893, largely caused by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 and the McKinley Tariff of 1890. These two acts lead to rampant inflation and bad investments that eventually resulted in an economic crisis almost as severe as the Great Depression. Cleveland’s response was to ask Congress to repeal the Sherman Act, which it eventually did through a bill he later signed. This, along with his refusal to create “public works programs” or engage in other attempts to provide relief from the depression as Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt would later do, resulted in the crisis ending in 1895. Such fiscal responsibility and respect for the Constitution should be celebrated by all lovers of liberty.
3. Calvin Coolidge
Like John Tyler, Calvin Coolidge ascended to the presidency upon the death of the sitting president, this time Warren G. Harding. As president, Coolidge was one of, if not the last, fiscally responsible presidents. He cut taxes several times during his six years in office, and the simultaneous reduced government spending allowed the debt to be reduced from more $22 billion when he first took office to approximately $17 billion by the time he left. Millions of people were relieved from the burden of the income tax entirely, and only the richest of the rich paid any income tax at all by 1927. This all occurred years after both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson had treated the presidential office as more of a platform for their own agendas than as a constitutionally limited position with strict responsibilities; Coolidge’s resistance to follow suit is thus doubly impressive. Similarly to Cleveland, who strongly influenced Coolidge, he made great use of the veto power to kill unconstitutional bills. While he did make some concessions, such as generally supporting “protective” tariffs and providing federal aid to victims of a severe Mississippi flood, Coolidge respected both limited government and a general “hands-off” executive policy to a much greater degree than any of his successors.
4. Barry Goldwater
Senator Barry Goldwater ran for president in the Republican Party in the 1964 election on a platform of limited government and fiscal responsibility. Sound familiar, Ron Paul fans? Although he lost by a landslide to incumbent President Lyndon Johnson, he gathered a lot of support and brought the libertarian approach he espoused in the Senate to the masses. Some modern libertarian activists got their start through Goldwater, whether it was through his presidential run or his book, The Conscience of a Conservative. Additionally, he ran at a time when Republicans openly championed their support of big government instead of trying to hide it as they do now, making his work all the more impressive. Later in life, he grew increasingly frustrated with Republicans kowtowing to theocratic and socially conservative ideas, eventually denouncing the party altogether. Talk about a man who put principle over party.
5. Harry Browne
Last but certainly not least, Harry Browne was the first two-time Libertarian Party presidential nominee in the elections of 1996 and 2000. A former investment advisor, Browne is best known for his book How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World and his extremely smooth and effective communicating style. He ran a series of ads in which he explained how he would handle the income tax, Social Security, the War on Drugs, and other major issues as president. Further, Browne practiced what he preached by refusing to accept federal matching funds in either of his runs, a practice he had previously criticized. In addition to providing him greater exposure and praise, this showed that he was a man of substance over style and could be trusted to do as he said he would do. This is one of many great things that set Browne apart from nearly every other politician in both his time and ours.