Republican Presidents and the Safety Net

Download or read book Republican Presidents and the Safety Net written by Matthew Gritter and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-12-21 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Republican presidents have navigated between popular programs and conservative supporters since the Eisenhower administration, and since the New Deal, Republican presidents have looked for ways to accommodate rather than abolish the federal social safety net. Yet moderation often led to a backlash from their conservative supporters, leading Republican presidents to move from accommodation to opposition. Richard Nixon went from proposing innovative policies to vetoing comprehensive child care legislation. George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism was jettisoned for an attempt at Social Security reform. In From Moderation to Backlash, each Republican president since the New Deal is explored with a particular focus on the third rail of American politics: Social Security.