CMV: Any claim that Joe Biden is "the most liberal president of all time" is either based in ignorance, hyperbole, or bad faith.

Hello. I'd just like to discuss, and perhaps change, your view. If you think that President Biden is "the most liberal president of all time", this post is for you.<br><br>Now, obviously much of American politics exists on a political spectrum, and so calling somebody "the most liberal president of all time" is not in and of itself an unreasonable claim. But when examining the actual historical record, and the claim made today that Biden is the most *far left* president in American history, this assertion quickly unravels.<br><br>Let's consider a few examples. The first president that comes to mind is Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now, objectively, his New Deal policies enacted in the 1930s were a widespread expansion of government. In fact, they were the most widespread expansion of federal power in the history of the United States. He isn't considered a particularly radical figure in today's politics. In fact, he was canonized as the paragon of American presidents, an icon of the Democratic Party, and a man who spearheaded recovery from the Great Depression. His policies included Social Security, Work Progress Administration, and eventually, more radical policies advocated in his Second Bill of Rights. In nearly every case, Biden's policies have not gone as far as Roosevelt's, especially considering how surprisingly conservative Biden's actual policies have proven to be, especially on issues like healthcare and immigration.<br><br>Let's also consider Jimmy Carter and Obama, both of whom ran on the most progressive platforms in their generation but failed to deliver. This is also true of Biden, who has largely failed to deliver on most of his big promises. His recent policy to end the war in Afghanistan was the one big exception to this.<br><br>Lyndon B. Johnson is often cited as a president who went to bat for civil rights, and nearly always comes up in the discussion of "most liberal" presidents. While LBJ was not the main champion of civil rights, he at least made efforts to codify them into law. Biden by contrast has done nothing but fumble on issues of civil rights, including voting rights, abortion, LGBTQ+, and more. <br><br>The final example I'd like to use is Obama, who is very often considered a radical left-wing figure by Republicans. Again, this is a spurious claim. Obama was a "radical leftist" because of the vitriol flung his way by Republican opponents during his presidency. A closer inspection of his actual policies reveals that Obama was a center-left president at best, and in many ways was just as conservative as Biden. He promised a public option and instead delivered the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without one. He delivered "revenge" to Wall Street in the form of a wrist-slap fine and a bunch of regulatory capture. He deported more immigrants than Trump, expanded mass surveillance, and presided over the rapid expansion of the drone program and the destabilization of the Middle East. While he did deliver many important reforms and policies, the notion that Obama was a radical figure is misleading at best, and in any event, Biden is no Obama when it comes to progressive reforms. <br><br><br>Overall, if one examines the historical record, it is just not true that Joe Biden is "the most liberal president of all time". So if you think he is, I'd love to hear why.<br><br><br>Edit: I should clarify that by "radical left-wing figure," I mean the left-wing of the Democratic Party in the United States. This is not meant to demean the progressive left in any way, but rather to clarify that the "left" in the United States is not really "left-wing" in the international sense. If you believe that Biden the most radical left president ever in an international sense, that's just patently false.