Every American President On The Political Compass

What if every American president took the political compass test? What is every president's ideology across the history of the United States, and where do they stand in the long history of US politics? From George Washington to Joe Biden, we'll see which U.S presidents are authoritarian, libertarian, right-wing, and left-wing.
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#politicalcompass #americanhistory #americanpolitics

[@MonsieurDean]

Let me know what you think about these placements for the presidents. And if you'd like to support our content, please like and share this video, or go the extra mile and donate to us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/monsieurz/membership

[@crusader2112]

I know the political compass isn’t the best. A much better test is the Isidewith test.

[@droman608]

It would’ve been nice to have the chart numbers more visible (or a Picture in Picture) for a zoomed look and the overall. Well done work though.

[@hudy323]

This is awesome, thank you, even if impossible to perfectly map, what a great visual on our movement and our machinations. As a nation. Umm it's wild that the largest gap in ideologies at present, or so far, is consecutive, 45 & 46, and also very Present, like again This Year. And also then there was a mini coup. Lol that's a good sign right? My favorites are prolly 3 of the 4 lib left, which i WANT to say are the most Christian in values, but then what's bill doing down there lol bill and Reagan are onerous to my palate. So i revise and say maybe the Obama/Truman axis is the place to be. 33 & 44. Also what's Grant about? Gotta check it. Biden, lbj, fdr an astute grouping. 29 & 30 might be the worst place to be? What do people think is the best home base. Anyway Thank you monsieur🎉

[@usleadershipareliars]

Presidents just the face. The ideology is in the Pentagon, and it's never changed. It never will change. REGARDLESS of who the potus is. If the potus mattered, then the executive would carry the purse. Which is why both parties are currently trying to eviscerate the presidency, and have potus by committee. While the 535 bring in a European style govt and ideology.

[@Argonhubert]

@@crusader2112there is no test that is good. isidewith has got some problems too, ( how the political definitions are based off of todays political landscape only).But it would be interesting to see how the different ones compare. I wish there was a metric that measures throughout time in a more universal manner. I think authoritarianism vs libertarianism is pretty universal but left vs right changes throughout time.

[@MrTim2031]

The dots were kinda hard to follow after the first few. If you were to do one of these again, I suggest you have more of a visual cue when the dots pop up, like a contracting circle or a red arrow to draw the eye to.

[@GnosticAtheist]

Agreed, my poor, old eyes struggled. A different color while being talked about would probably have helped.

[@rstous7691]

Yeah, I was gunna make the same comment

[@QED_]

props

[@KB-iv5dz]

Absolutely agree. It was hard to see and follow.

[@KB-iv5dz]

@@MosheGoldbergTheKing I did the same thing.

[@thisguy2720]

What if the Burger King defeated Ronald McDonald in the great battle of the arches?

[@MonsieurDean]

Actually...I am working on something...

[@yates667]

Reminds me of when I tried to pay the Coke and Pepsi delivery drivers $20.00 to fight each other for my business. Sadly they just laughed and went back to stocking the shelves.

[@MonsieurDean]

@@yates667 🤣🤣

[@nekad2000]

More importantly, would the Burger King be considered authoritarian right? King is in his name after all.

[@thisguy2720]

@@nekad2000 I could see Ronald McDonald being more authoritarian and Burger King being a liberator

[@sanestamerican4118]

No way lil bro called Bush Jr. “Libertarian”

[@lightyagami3492]

Thats what I thought to. No way Bush Sr and Reagan are in that column either.

[@saltytunes1883]

He didn't call him libertarian though? And the political compass is meant to be a general framework to illustrate differences, it doesn't mean "oh, he's in bottom right, he's a libertarian." If it was then every president would just be in top blue but in different areas

[@khoa2480]

Right,though that was Bush Jr approach during 2000 election.But he did opposite of what he promised

[@lorenzo2179]

Yeah W and Obama should not have been in the libertarian sections at all. Their policies were much more authoritarian

[@sneakiertech]

Bush Jr definitely should be auth right, skewed a bit closer to the center economically. Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, centralization of agencies under the DHS, creating the Real ID requirements for flights (that we still can’t properly implement today), etc. He was middle of the road economically, not necessarily pushing boundaries on privatization or deregulation but also not undertaking massive new social spending… He was the definition of status quo in that regard. But he was willing to pass some of the largest bailouts in history under the TARP Act. So that ought to immediately disqualify him from lib right if the massive increase in military spending, the ballooning deficits under him (was balanced under Clinton), and the post-9/11 legislation he authorized hasn’t already disqualified him.

[@rileychristensen3824]

how is bush jr liberatarian??? Patriot act?

[@juanmccoy3066]

Ur looking at it from a narrow view. First of all op didn't place him squarely in the libertarian spectrum. Learn to read graphs. There's an x and Y axis. Also, bush wasn't president JUST to enact the patriot act. That happened because of 9/11 and it wasn't his braincells. As a person and politician he definitely has SOME libertarian qualities but I would agree as president specifically he would probably be higher on the authoritarian scale. But to be fair it was everyone's favorite democrats in congress at the time (people like our current president) who pushed and ultimately voted for things like the Iraq War, etc. Judging by your comment you read things very narrowly and flaot towards extremes so don't mistake my comment for endorsement nor admiration of bush. I grew up during the pr3sidency. I'm as anti bush as it gets.

[@dredlord47]

I disagree with the bushes being on the libertarian scale in any capacity.

[@mrconfusion87]

They are a shining example of Deep State Tyrants! 🤣🤣🤣

[@sheshingy]

Two words: Patriot Act. That alone should bump Bush Jr. at the very least off the libertarian side.

[@CivilizedWasteland]

He just looked at rhetoric and not their policies.

[@lucaskyte-tremblay924]

Probably because you have a low iq

[@abcdefg5459]

and reagan

[@paulmcquerry6815]

The one that jumps out as being in the wrong spot is President Obama being in the libertarian quadrant. Him being left is accurate, but he should be higher up on the authoritarian quadrant. He used executive order very often and enacted many regulations.

[@mistersamdi]

agreed, he and both Bush boys should be further north, parallel with Biden (who should himself be up there with Grant), perhaps Reagan a bit more too.

[@paulmcquerry6815]

@@mistersamdi I think Reagan wanted to shrink the government, but really didn't, so I don't know where to move him. Both Bushes grew government, so no argument from your assessment on that front.

[@mistersamdi]

@@paulmcquerry6815i can agree with that, I think Reagan's intentions were to shrink it, it just didn't happen

[@fenix6297]

@@paulmcquerry6815 Intentions and reality don't meet all the time. We have gotten used to Presidents having more power because they have had a sympathetic Congress at least part of their terms. Reagan had a Democratic House his entire time in office - which limited his aspirations. He significantly increased military spending, which was a gamble that paid off and (arguably) something that is well within the federal powers - but, otherwise attempted small government principles. He had to engage in "Congressional horse trading" to meet some of his goals - so I think his placement lines up with his ideology. But, I agree 100% with you on Obama - besides his executive orders, he also ignored federal judge rulings when they told him those orders weren't legal. That is the definition of authoritarianism.

[@AdamTondowsky]

@@fenix6297 Obama never once ignored a federal ruling. That is a lie. The most he did was to ask another court for a pause in the enforcement of a federal court ruling so as to give the government time to adjust. That is actually fairly common. Reagan also had an 'ideological majority' in the U.S House for his first two years as President.

[@richardthomas5362]

I would put Wilson into more of an authoritarian roll. He was the first president to have a secret police and he also imprisoned anti-war protestors.

[@ayushbajaj2360]

Most presidents would do that in war time though

[@SeasideDetective2]

Which, ironically, the right today tries to shame him for. The Republicans were antiwar during World War I, but they were anything but pro-free speech. It was a mostly Republican/conservative Supreme Court that followed Wilson's lead.

[@jefftracy3771]

Thomas Jefferson, overall, I think was the best president. There's no way I would put Bush in the purple or Obama in the green lol. Both were very authoritarian.

[@rsh140.6]

Big fan of Jefferson myself!

[@justingolden21]

I like Ike and Lincoln

[@MrBoboiscool]

What makes you think that? The economic policy that stunted the country for years or the going to bat for the institution of slavers and potential raping of his slaves?

[@rsh140.6]

Jefferson>Adams. Alexander Hamilton approves this message!

[@barrybarlowe5640]

Jefferson started the practice of opposition research, and slandering his opposition. It eventually backfired on him when the man he paid to spread rumors and scandals about political opponents asked for more money, Jefferson refused. Shortly thereafter came the rumor the Thomas Jefferson had been having an affair with a black egress slave, and had several illegitimate children by her.

[@rudyschwab7709]

By our standards today, the Founding Fathers were conservative. By the standards of their day, they were liberal. The Overton Window has shifted quite a bit since those days, and what defines conservative and liberal has changed since then. After a tour of Monticello, I realized Jefferson was some funky far out cat. Ben Franklin must have been a trip too.

[@herroberbesserwisser7331]

In some regards the founding fathers were extreme communists. One considered a universal inheritance financed by an inheritance tax to precent an aristocracy like the one in great britain from getting too much power.

[@michaelmlt]

I watched the documentary on Benjamin Franklin and yeah he was quite the kid in his day.

[@nashzahm]

Exactly, by today's standards Grant, Teddy, Taft, and even JFK would be placed right of center

[@edwardhoover3727]

Hamilton (Washington's intellectual bulldog) thought that the banking system was far too important to leave in the hands of private interests and should be owned by the American people and run by congress--an idea so leftist that it would make AOC blush. Thomas Paine proposed a 100% top marginal tax rate--Rights of Man table three and surrounding text--again AOC proposes a 57% top marginal tax rate--Paine is to the left of AOC here. Guy who made this video is a dope who needs to read some books before he blah, blah, blahs.

[@edwardhoover3727]

@@nashzahm JFK proposed a 57% top marginal tax rate--exactly the same rate that AOC proposes. And where would you place Eisenhower and his 91% top marginal tax rate and massive government funded building programs?

[@tarzon1776]

Dude no way in hell is Biden further left than FDR. Bernie would be more in line with FDR's economic policy.

[@Jeremonkey90]

I wish we could have FDR again…

[@theparadigm8149]

Yeah, and there’s no way Bush Jr. is on the libertarian side!

[@RadioTiberio]

Tbf Biden is likely our, materially, most progressive president so far. Though, if FDR were president today, he would be more left-wing than Biden.

[@belstar1128]

Biden is confusing since he was centre right for most of his career but now he flipped far left because its what his party wants

[@darthobsidian]

Biden is the first president to be on a picket line. Bernie said it himself.

[@jz1528]

So Van Buren, Lincoln, Grant, Eisenhower, and Trump are all the weirdos who don’t get to be in any clubs😂

[@MonsieurDean]

Sounds about right. Eisenhower was the only Republican New Dealer to hold the presidency, Van Buren wasn't really a Jacksonian, Grant was basically just a dictator, Lincoln was basically the only real Whig president, and Trump's ideology is still pretty new.

[@clivestegosaurus4136]

@@MonsieurDean I think the “New Right” will just be a return to a combination of Jacksonianism & Jeffersonianism Aka anti-centralism & pro-new federalism

[@hankwilliam4861]

@@MonsieurDeantrumps policies are basically the exact same as Calvin Coolidge with an emphasis on immigration. Not sure how he’s considered such a new entity when it’s just a return to anti-new deal old Republicanism. Any expansion he seeks to executive power is a direct consequence of the need to draw down new deal policies. You cannot have a reduction in federal power without a federal government having the power to reduce government power

[@octaviusmorlock]

@@MonsieurDean To the best of my knowledge, Grant was mostly happy to sit in the oval office and look pretty, while letting the departments run things. At the risk of getting political, to say "Grant was basically just a dictator" compared to Biden's pandemic restrictions doesn't quite make sense to me.

[@grnarsch5287]

The first few secs of this video. Its not a good tool. Also the main critics are not that he as right authoritarinan politician. Its much more about his person than his politics

[@raymondwatt9773]

I feel like Wilson should be far higher on the authoritarian side

[@HunterGalvius]

The ones who are out on their own genuinely make the most since, given that they were (Eisenhower, Grant, Lincoln, and Trump) were politically very different from any other presidents around their time, yet also were still very impactful. Granted it is yet to be seen if other Presidents will follow in Trump's foot steps or not, granted I see it as likely since his ideology definitely has the appeal to create an energetic political movement. Also Biden being grouped in with the New Dealers is definitely a very accurate fit the more I think on it.

[@MonsieurDean]

Haha, I literally just replied to a comment saying something similar!

[@night6724]

Eisenhower should be more authoritarian given how many dictators he supported. He wasn’t different from Nixon or Truman

[@jameswilkerson4412]

Is it DJT’s *ideology* or personal character that creates his movement, though?

[@KevyNova]

Donald doesn’t have a political ideology. He only cares about himself and will say whatever he thinks will get people to rule up behind him. Don’t forget that he was a democrat with completely opposite “views” until Obama took office in 2009.

[@abyssshriek7631]

@@jameswilkerson4412it’s his isolationist, populist, America-first rhetoric.

[@stevebojo4378]

I wish more politicians were like Calvin Coolidge

[@TheCHECK97]

You want another great depression?

[@stevebojo4378]

@@TheCHECK97 You mean the one caused by Joe Kennedy?

[@joeseibold1471]

​@@TheCHECK97 That was thanks to Hoover (who's fuckery was predicted by Coolidge by the way).

[@Crusader1815]

@@TheCHECK97 Please explain how Calvin Coolidge caused the depression.

[@jefftracy3771]

​@TheCHECK97 The roaring 20s were a direct result of Harding/Coolidge policy. Then Hoover came in, did a complete 180 and the market crashed. Definitely Hoover's fault and then FDR's policies prolonged the Great Depression.

[@shawesome2nasty]

I think Wilson was more authoritarian, the sedition act among his use of the executive branch had him silently trying to be a dictator

[@GarfieldRex]

Could have new dots to be highlighted and have a different color and fade to normal when new one comes in

[@christiansmith4533]

I think the only issue I see is Obama being out in the libertarian sector. It’s possible during his first term but his major ideology shift in his second term makes me disagree w this assessment.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Obama was a 3rd way Clinton style liberal on domestic policy, and had definite neo-con leanings on foreign policy.

[@chrisignacio8422]

This was VERY interesting! Mahalo for posting!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Suggestion: What if Harold Godwinson defeated William at Hastings?

[@MonsieurDean]

It'd be interesting to imagine a world where the Normans never seized control of England, that wipes out a good lot of history afterward.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

@@MonsieurDean yep

[@matthiuskoenig3378]

@@MonsieurDean what if William and the Normans not only conquered England but also the Kingdom of Norway? creating a Norman North Sea empire?

[@crusader2112]

Anglo-Saxon England>>>Norman England

[@lasagner9567]

@@MonsieurDeanNo normans means no impetus for the Hundred Years War, which means no Crécy or Agincourt disrupting the noble houses, and no chevauchées decimating the French interior. This would see France have not only a much stronger heartland but also a more stable elite class, which probably would give them much more power to possibly exercise imperial ambitions well before the time of Napoleon, provided they could recover following the inevitable black death, since it wiped out 50% France in our time

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content man! Keep up the good work

[@MonsieurDean]

The support always means a lot, pal!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

@@MonsieurDean Always

[@JoCE2305]

This shows how truly based Calvin Coolidge was.

[@dontcomply3976]

The Javier Melei of a century ago

[@aaronburdon221]

@@dontcomply3976 LOVED Coolidge. He's my favorite president. He's very unsung because the "System" hated his guts. He also hated using government power if he didn't have to.

[@TheGhostofCarlSchmitt]

suggestion: what if either the Kapp putsch or the Beer Hall Putsch succeeded?

[@duncanharrell5009]

Kapp Putsch or any of the right wing parties winning would be interesting alt hist to explore.

[@LMR909]

Oh boy, this comment section is gonna be fun

[@JoshSullivanHistory]

i now know where grover cleveland lies on the political compass. very cool!

[@MonsieurDean]

He's literally you.

[@jameswilkerson4412]

Also one of the late Robert Novak’s favorites (I cited Coolidge above). Don’t know if you remember him on the right on CNN’s Crossfire

[@domvin3383]

Great concept for a video! You should do it comparing existing governments of different countries. It would be interesting to see where countries sit relative to each other.

[@SeasideDetective2]

You can see this by consulting the 2023 World Values Survey. Roughly speaking - and taking into account the relative positions of the Overton window in other political systems, of course - the Scandinavian countries would be fond of a president like Jimmy Carter (very small-"l" libertarian). North Africans, meanwhile, would prefer certain of our Founding Fathers (Washington and both Adamses, for example) for their traditionalism and (relative) authoritarianism. The Japanese would favor Kennedy and/or Clinton, Latin Americans someone like Van Buren, Buchanan, or (ironically enough) Polk, etc.

[@domvin3383]

Also (now since I know you will see this!) very small accessibility request if you do repeat this concept - please can you make the dot flash a different colour or something when it’s first added. I kept having to pause the video to find the new biggest number

[@darken2417]

I'd recommend Razorfists video on Lincoln, he was quite a lot more authoritarian leaning than you'd think.

[@user-rw6mn1qi9j]

Vlogging through history dismantled that vid lol

[@darken2417]

@@user-rw6mn1qi9j Hope the response is wrong because I'd prefer to view Lincoln as based. And of course Razor as a cringe libertarian would disagree and of course always fills his interpretation with libertarian cope and their version of events. But the core argument I think is solid that the South getting slavery abolished by the federal government was quite the leap in federal authority.

[@MonsieurDean]

Geez. Both of those guys made bad videos.

[@darken2417]

@@MonsieurDean Lol, react to both of them

[@jobloluther]

What the point@@darken2417

[@caseclosed9342]

As someone who both watched you and Mr Beat, it was interesting to compare where you mapped the presidents at.

[@MarkDiSciullo]

It would've been helpful to put the names and numbers under each president. After the first 5-10, It's impossible to follow where the numbers are appearing on the grid.

[@donwayne1357]

Now, just hold on a minute there.

[@MarkDiSciullo]

@@donwayne1357 Trump 2024!

[@MarkDiSciullo]

Rock on!!! 🤘🏼 Trump 2024!

[@BrazenBull001]

Who could have guessed that John Adams would end up being the most based

[@MonsieurDean]

He did say “Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself."

[@BrazenBull001]

@@MonsieurDean again, based

[@gaborholotajr.4427]

@@MonsieurDean, that's actually pretty damn based. Didn't know Am*ricans (or Am*erican presidents, more precisely) could make such obvious and glaring observations about the world, considering that their country was founded on a l*beral revolution and thus a "trad, nationalistic" american typically adheres to the constituation and ideals drawn up back then, which is still just an earlier version of libaralism, opposing itself to based European imperialism, colonialism and monarchy.

[@januarysson5633]

John Adams did sign the Alien and Sedition Acts which made it illegal to criticize him. A blatantly unconstitutional law which was repealed under Jefferson.

[@coloneljackmustard]

He was known as honest John Adams.

[@jossos4876]

I love your videos so much. And their always sooo creative!

[@MonsieurDean]

Thank you, pal!

[@jossos4876]

@@MonsieurDean youre welcome

[@ivanredinger969]

Worth noting that this scale moves left over time, Trump would have been quite liberal if you compare him directly to the founding fathers and other early presidents. But in modern times he is considered to be pretty far to the right simply because the scale has moved to the left probably about 35-50% since Lincoln. Trumps accepting of gay marriage is an obvious sign that he is not the furthest right candidate on this list.

[@General_MacArthur]

Trump completely oppose same sex marriage, he held a speech last year that if he returns would abolish the laws enacted by Obama and Biden that supports gay marriage

[@Edmuresrampantmanhood-dp3jd]

Trump has said on numerous occasions he opposes gay marriage, the most recent time being in 2016 and then the republicans reused his policy platform for 2020. He has also said his personal oppinion is irrelvant and that he wouldn't appoint any supreme court justices who would seek to overturn that precedent. It's a pretty mixed bag espically since he said the same thing about Roe v. Wade in regards to supreme court justices. He is to the left of the founders on slavery but I don't know anyone who would come out and say they support slavery.

[@AdamTondowsky]

Since gay marriage is settled law, there isn't much Trump can do about it. He chipped away as much as he could around the margins. As incoherent and as ignorant as Trump is though, were gay marriage not a protected right, I'm sure Trump would be strongly anti gay marriage if he could be.

[@ivanredinger969]

There are clips of Trump talking about Gay marriage back in the 90s. I encourage you to look them up. He was never against it, he just personally doesn't understand how a man could not be interested in females. Trump was a democrat for many years and only switched to Republican when the Democrats went too far. Trump is a liberal by almost every measure. @@AdamTondowsky

[@AdamTondowsky]

@@ivanredinger969 That's all a load of B.S. Whenever Trump stated his political 'opinions' he was a finger in the wind guy who spouted whatever was popular at the time. So, when W Bush was President for most of his time in office, Trump said he was a Democrat. When Obama was President, Trump said he was a Republican. If he said a few nice things on gay marriage, nice, especially back in the 1990s, but this was also the guy who financed a hate campaign against the Central Park Five. On most things except himself Trump is an ignoramus, but the media lets him off because whenever he says his usual nonsense of this is the 'biggest ever', they don't ask him an obvious follow like 'what was the biggest before that' and show that he doesn't know a damn thing.

[@jek4837]

I can't stand Trump. That being said, I took the quiz based on how he actually is (and not based on what the deranged media/left sees him as, or the what the MAGA crowd sees him as). I've got him at 1.5 on the left/right, and at a -3.18 on the libertarian/authoritarian scale. People (wrongly) scream about him being a fascist or authoritarian, but he's far less authoritarian than the Bushes, Obama, and Biden.

[@freeguy77]

Excellent points! He also somehow avoided either starting a new war or getting into an existing war--his best point along with the Dec. 2017 tax cut (temporary--some provisions expire on Dec. 31, 2024), and cutting some extreme regulations on small business and people. Good for you to also point out how deranged the Mockingbird Media has been as so obnoxious in one-way panting like a rabid dog only for the socialists-communist side!

[@rsh140.6]

Yeah, Trump was going to get us into ww3. However......

[@zaodedong9935]

Okay, let's forget the fact that he literally called for suspending parts of the Constitution to remain in power, he banned bump stocks, he "allegedly" headed a plan to send fake electors to DC in order to maintain power. He believes that he cannot be prosecuted for any criminal activities, even though the Constitution does not state that. He said he believes in taking guns first, then due process. One of his more well-known bills was a complete ban on Muslims entering the country, solely based on their religious beliefs. Every one of those actions drives him further and further into the top right corner. He may not be a fascist, but he sure has emboldened the fascists in this country, and some of them sit in the House of Representatives currently.

[@christoffellner84]

Whats interesting are the change in philosophy that reflect the debates of their days. Should their be a rather strong central government or not, should the government act on the most pending questions or shall it leave the answer to the states? Seen so on slavery, on work issues, the civil rights movement and last not least social policy.

[@martysmaps7411]

Color coding these circles and grouping them based on era and party would give a very interesting insight on how American politics has changed over time

[@MonsieurDean]

Interesting. I decided to try that out, and with the exception of the Jacksonians and Cleveland, every Democratic president following has clustered to the left quadrants, and with the exception of the Libertarians (29, 30) and Neo-Conservatives (40, 41, 43) every Republican has clustered in the authoritarian quadrants.

[@gunsgalore7571]

While this video might be sort of subjective, you do make a good point that it's pretty much impossible to do this by just taking the test - so many of the first 30 presidents would have answered the exact same on many different questions.

[@ConnorCopanas]

This is like a zoomed in version of the authoritarian right quadrant. However, it makes sense within the context of mainstream American politics

[@SeasideDetective2]

Yes, the meaning of political terms has changed dramatically over time. "Conservative" as we understand the word today dates only to the 1950s at the earliest, while "progressive" once had a socioeconomic overtone instead of a sociocultural one. "Liberal" went from meaning libertarian in the 19th century to populist throughout much of the 20th century to semi-libertarian in the last few decades.

[@Mast3r0fTheUniverse]

Graphic became impossible to follow. A pulsing icon while discussing a particular President would help the audience to follow along.

[@gabo1841997]

The problem with the political compass is that the questions are worded from a moral-ethical leftist perspective. So it is not designed to help you answer objectively or neutrally.

[@user-ew6mh3ep5p]

it was pretty much necessary for Grant to become in dictator status. After the civil war and the failures of the Johnson administration, it was probably necessary that we need a strong authority to keep the South in check (by trying to preserve Lincoln's vision of reconstruction) and steer the nation forward

[@SeasideDetective2]

It's still funny that this chart makes him seem to be Josef Stalin or Mao Zedong. And John Adams is made to look not too far removed from Mussolini.

[@johnshep293]

​@@SeasideDetective2Alien and Sedition Acts

[@jakubpociecha8819]

That actually wasn't Lincoln's vision of reconstruction

[@SeasideDetective2]

@@johnshep293 Exactly, though most Americans will still insist that Adams was far from being a fascist.

[@user-ew6mh3ep5p]

@@jakubpociecha8819 oh ok

[@scottstallings5029]

Wow. You are really smart!! WE L0VE YOUR CHANNEL!!❤

[@TheCruiser67]

The president that was closest to my placement on the compass was Zachery Taylor

[@MonsieurDean]

Welcome to the comments, general. 🫡

[@TheCruiser67]

@@MonsieurDeanit makes sense though I'm big on liberty but also a bit authoritarian

[@dontcomply3976]

I bet you don't have a mullet as impressive as his though

[@TheCruiser67]

@@dontcomply3976 i don't have a mullet I used to though not like his but still a mullet

[@garion742]

Pretty fair placements from my read, not too many extremes. I can quibble a couple notches on a few, but nothing much. Definitely interesting to see.

[@eriktroske6405]

Everyone will vehemently disagree with one or two of the characterizations that you made (Carter, that far left? Reagan also should be much further right economically), but as someone who probably has quite different political views from you who enjoys your content, this is on the whole very fair.

[@SeasideDetective2]

On a global scale, this would be even more confusing. North American culture was not always as strongly libertarian as it is now. Most of the early Presidents held ideological attitudes that were closer to those of modern-day sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America than to modern-day Western Europe or Japan. They were still Western, of course, but much of the Third World has moved closer to "primitive" liberalism as it has increasingly embraced republicanism and (to a lesser extent) democracy. On the other hand, the Scandinavian countries have clearly outpaced the USA in pursuing liberal values since the mid-20th century.

[@eneaganh6319]

By american politics this works, but if you compared it to other countries, most on the left would shift to the right

[@mjc8281]

I would agree with you here, being British I would consider myself as centre perhaps centre-left, but without question not on the left of the Labour party the UK's "left" leaning party. When I was living in the US my friends and co-workers considered me not just left but radical left.

[@juanmccoy3066]

Yeah no one's doing that and I'm sick of people pointing that out like we don't know. Trust me we know europe is full of commies. You fuckers have lost all control. We get it. U think it's utopia. Enjoy your call to prayers and kids taking Arabic classes, yall make fun of us for the mass shootings 95% of people will never experience while you get squished by Arabs. Your landmarks have to be reinforced cuz ur afraid terrorist illegal immigrants will blow it up. White women have no go zones. Rich ladies where burquinis to be trendy. Fuck europe. America even in it's current shitty state is the number one global destination for a reason. Even with old man biden at the helm everyone is climbing the southern border, coming from all over the world. Stepping over eqchother and braving deserts to come in. France? France is on fire. Germany is broken. Scandinavia is a capitalist hell hole that everyone thinks is a communist utopia but it's like the polar opposite so of course bougie backpackers love it. Europe's a fucking mess. The only people that want to live there are Muslims because Europe looks more like Morocco now.

[@juanmccoy3066]

​@@mjc8281 that's because europe has been infected by socialism for a long time. It's not us it's you. Karl Marx had a LOT of influence in British labor parties my dude. You know he lived there too right? Even the communist manifesto pretty much opens with "there's a spectre over europe" that never went away. Lol I'm sorry but maybe yall are a little nuts?

[@carsontate01]

Great video I think the placements are pretty accurate. There are a handful I would move a little but I think mostly everyone is at least in their correct quadrant.

[@clintonrice525]

I understood the general placements, but found magnitude difficult to assess. You noted in the beginning that you had to imagine these on your own, which I appreciate, but it may be helpful to include a lengthier sampling of actual competing policy decisions for each to clarify how you decided between numerical values on each axis.

[@rinking88]

Great video and topic. I took this political compass quiz with this chart btw, and I really have huge issues with the wording of some of the questions, because a lot of it is worded in ways that everyone -- from the furthest left to the furthest right -- agrees with _if_ they read the wording carefully. For example, it asks: "An advantage of a one-party state is that it is able to more easily pass legislation without political opposition" and it asks if you Agree/Strongly Agree or Disagree/Strongly Disagree... But I mean, reading the question word-for-word... Obviously I agree. That is just a fact. Everyone agrees with that. That doesn't mean it is _good_ to have a one-party state or that I think we should have a one-party state. But, yes, a one-party state passes legislation without political opposition... ??! That is just an objectively correct statement. The question should really be worded "Do you think a one-party state is a preferable system because it can more easily pass legislation?" There are lots of other examples like this in the questions. You really have to purposely try to not read it very carefully, or try to think "What are they _trying_ to ask?" rather than "What are they literally asking?" Despite the poorly worded questions it did conclude pretty accurately that I fall in the Right/Libertarian square, but barely... Really near the center of the chart. Just south and to the left of Van Buren #8.

[@Ericshadowblade]

The political compass test is generally regard as flawed due to the manner of questions it asks and what youve highlighted above. It also has a bias skew to drag people down and to the left on placement

[@Joker22593]

That's a well known bug of the chart and nobody takes the chart seriously.

[@rinking88]

@@Joker22593 For good reason! lol but for real it would be a fun exercise if they just worded the questions properly. Could be an easy fix

[@Lutefisk_lover]

@@rinking88 The point is that the propositions aren't yes/no. They're value judgements. Consider that China is offering its system as the sane choice over corrupt and venal Western "democracies". Xi Jinping would definitely agree with the one-party state question.

[@mikemustang5488]

I would consider the ability to pass regulations without opposition a disadvantage, not an advantage. Therefore I would disagree with it.

[@Aster-Gastaev]

This is the political compass of American presidents only. If we used other political figures, then all positions would move towards the center.

[@moldybread8313]

Are you a commie?

[@Aster-Gastaev]

@@moldybread8313 yes

[@noracola5285]

*center of the blue square

[@Spiral.Dynamics]

This is cool. Thanks for posting.

[@ethanoppenheim404]

Cool video! I made one of these too and agree with a lot of your placements, but my biggest disagreements would be how authoritarian you’ve placed Grant and Washington. From my perception, they should be much further south on the compass

[@msmith1890]

This will be interesting.

[@MonsieurDean]

Sexcellent, if you will.

[@JXY2019]

Clinton being on the left half is pretty nuts. Dude was all in on Reaganism

[@outerspace7391]

Social policies are taken into account too though

[@tlpineapple1]

@@outerspace7391 This video really exposes the flaws of the 2 axis political compass. Normally, social policy find along the libertarian/authoritarian axis instead of the left/right axis as that reserved almost solely for economic beliefs.

[@juddstjohn1487]

What? Reagan exploded the budget deficit and ushered in the modern era of a rapidly escalating national debt. Clinton was the only President in the last 45 years to actually balance the budget and start paying off debt. Then Bush, Jr. came along and blew that with tax cuts to the rich.

[@NicholasAShaw]

Nicely done!

[@xavierguy773]

When people ask me who my favorite President is I always say Coolidge and I would say 95% of the time they tell me they don’t know who that is. It’s great

[@KuominMessenger129]

Somebody send this to Mr. Beat

[@crazysarge9765]

Coolidge really is the GOAT

[@DeanMonsieur]

What if Washington just made America a full on monarchy?

[@knowledgeegg7295]

How do you define each of these four dimensions? Do you have a document or other video where you share that info?

[@real_nosferatu]

You have a very broad definition of both libertarianism and leftism. Neocon is auth and neolib is RW.

[@MonsieurDean]

How so?

[@Meirstein]

We're dealing with the American Overton window here, not the European one.

[@brandonlouderback4408]

​@@MonsieurDean Neoliberalism emphasizes deregulation & austerity. Both of which are right leaning.

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Trump should be farther "south" in your chart, maybe even in the lower-right quadrant.

[@jefftracy3771]

I agree. I don't think he truly belongs in the purple but pardoning a bunch of prisoners for drug possession, and working towards peace deals while not starting new wars definitely pushes him closer to the south and west. Banning bump stocks was pretty authoritarian though. He's hard to place.

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Was banning bump stocks Trump's doing, or was it one of those things that happened while he was in office? I imagine his attention could not have been on every single thing that went on in the huge bureaucracy.@@jefftracy3771

[@drachefly]

Arguing that he should be allowed to have political opponents assassinated and not get in trouble unless impeached - very libertarian.

[@NigelIncubatorJones]

Did he actually argue for that, or was he joking, or exaggerating to make a point? I'd like to see full unedited transcript, and preferably see the full video. @@drachefly

[@GG-EZPZ55]

​@NigelIncubatorJones People like that never answer. They pull propaganda out of their ass and when called out for it, just disappear.

[@xzcvdfxzc7256]

It would be interesting to add the historical ranking (best to worst) to the final chart as well. You'd need to make it easier to read though. Not just have two sets of numbers.

[@jBar3]

Suggestion: Every presidential candidate and president on the political compass

[@SeasideDetective2]

William Jennings Bryan would be hard to place. I'd put him closest to Eisenhower, since both were socially conscious (liberal/centrist) but not particularly activist (authoritarian). If Bryan were alive today, he'd probably be in the Green party. He wouldn't like today's Democrats, and he'd like today's Republicans even less.

[@hisroyalfatness8430]

The benefit of being a centrist is you realize everyone has their own solutions to the world's problems, many individual acts are great; the problem with being a centrist is synthezing all the good without any of the bad, and keeping your coalition going to prevent the country falling back into ideological extremes.

[@TheKeksadler]

Sitting on many fences allows one to learn which fences are most comfortable to sit on.

[@EuropeanQualifiersHub]

If you think individual acts are great which they are you might end up Libertarian which maximises individual rights

[@YSLRD]

Being center is highly overrated. It's a way of getting more votes but really caves to survival of the fittest.

[@rostdreadnorramus4936]

Might be a weird choice to some since he doesn't get that much attention, but I prefer Calvin Coolidge tbh.

[@090909092135]

In school they go over the roaring 20s, slightly, but leave Coolidge and his policies out of it. Mostly because they were affective. There would be too many people that would agree with him. Our liberal education system can't allow that. Must agree with their authoritarian system.

[@rostdreadnorramus4936]

@@090909092135 And that's why I like him, since sometimes the simple answer to problems is do like King Bumi and do nothing. Things (such as people and the market) can often times sort themselves out without any help or interference from outside parties (especially Government).

[@trevorjamesfox]

Amazing! Thank you so much for doing this. Out of curiosity, where would you put RFK Jr? Or other non-Presidents like Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Al Gore, or John Kerry?

[@Team_schoenhardt]

Cool list. I wasn't too surprised to find Calvin Coolidge the furthest to the lower right.

[@deafleppard1812]

To sum this up, John Tyler and Franklin pierce are based. Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson are cringe

[@aaronburdon221]

FDR and LBJ both were in need of the gallows. Add Woodrow Wilson to that list too.

[@Redacted724]

Idk man to say Theodore Roosevelt was auth left is a stretch. Being a militarist, jingoist, and somewhat of a white nationalist I’d say he falls further into auth-center or auth-right.

[@CountArtha]

The political compass doesn't code those as right-wing, but "authoritarian." The left/right axis has to do with attitudes toward centralization of power and economic planning.

[@SeasideDetective2]

I don't think this test took foreign policy into account. If it had, there would be many more Presidents in the green quadrant. And most white nationalists are libertarians, at least philosophically. They want other ethnicities to leave them alone, and are willing to return the favor.

[@tiredox3788]

To be fair being an Nationalist doesn't make you automatically on right. It's been plenty of left wing who were Nationalist and Racist.

[@SeasideDetective2]

@@tiredox3788 Historically, being a nationalist placed one on the left, because it meant one favored independence ("self-determination") and a sort of "separate but equal" status for all the nations of the world. The Axis dictators of World War II were the ones who perverted nationalism toward anti-democratic and imperialist ends (for example, Hitler annexing Czechoslovakia because he claimed the Bohemians were not truly Czech, but were culturally German).

[@walterengler5709]

What I find very interesting is 39-44 (right after Nixon with 37 and Ford who replaced Agnew at 38) all were on the Libertarian side. I guess you could call it a reaction of the nation overall to Nixon who was on the Authoritarian side (and abused the office). And then suddenly .. Pow we are back to Authoritarian .. strongly so .. for both Trump and Biden. While it would be challenging since they were not in office, It would be interesting to see where the Candidates these men all ran against sat in the spectrum.

[@090909092135]

Obama was not libertarian

[@SeasideDetective2]

But the elder Bush briefly broke the streak.

[@mr19932001]

Kennedy and Truman were closer to New Deal than Neo Liberal. Deregulation aside, Dubya and Reagan, especially the former, were more authoritarian than libertarian. Obamacare was also the biggest social program since the Great Society too, so I'd put him slightly above the libertarian line.

[@garypowell1540]

I don't regard Trump to be ideologically based and therefore would place him right in the middle of the chart or not even on the chart. Trump just does what he thinks is the best thing to do at the time.

[@richardthomas5362]

Trump does share some similarities with Obama - both have people voting for them who assume that their candidate is more right or left than they actually are.

[@Q1ller]

Best for himself... that is. He has forever stained the office.

[@snakedick4753]

⁠@@Q1llerdude you realize that George Bush is a legitimate war criminal The International Court of Justice wants to prosecute George Bush for war crimes Did that not stain the office?

[@JohnPublic-dk7zd]

Hmm, I would group DJT with Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt, men willing to spill the apple cart, let the chips fall where they may...

[@dustincarner6675]

What would a return of classical Jacksonian ideals look like in todays political climate?

[@SeasideDetective2]

Many people have argued that Trump's ideals are the closest we've come so far.

[@MonsieurDean]

That might just polarize the country some more.

[@johnweber4577]

@@SeasideDetective2And I’d say that that’s kind of a stretch. Arguably, if anything, their contemporaneous rival populists the Know Nothings more closely resembled today’s MAGA Republicans than the Jacksonian Democrats did.

[@GG-EZPZ55]

In 1 way we are there. Jackson was famous for ignoring supreme court rulings and just doing whatever he wanted anyways, similar to Biden is. To me that'd automatically make them 2 of most authoritarian on the list. Even worse than a few of my most hated presidents like FDR, Obama and LBJ.

[@teebob21]

All we would hear would be _REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_

[@slycooper2bandofthieves116]

None of them have ever been on the left. At most they were some centrists.

[@pepperVenge]

Interesting analyses. Some of these I don't agree with, but upon reflection, I can see why you made your choices.

[@egs06]

I think Theodore Roosevelt wouldn’t be auth-left but would instead be auth-center or even a tad auth-right. He wasn’t really anti-business; he was fine with monopolies so long as they followed the rules, only going against ones blatantly ignoring laws

[@ryanshinermusic]

He would be considered on the left. Part of the reason for why he ran again was because he didn’t like Taft’s brand of conservatism, which was closer to modern day conservatives/Reagan.

[@mikemustang5488]

Roosevelt was left. It's just that all the presidents now are so far left that we have to look very far in the distance towards the right to see the earlier presidents.

[@JonathanGoedeke]

Herbert Hoover is almost exactly where I am on the compass

[@MonsieurDean]

Are you a corporatist?

[@JonathanGoedeke]

I don't think so, at least as I understand it. I believe in nearly unlimited freedom of enterprise, except for some laws designed to maintain fair business practices. TBH, I thought I would line up with Teddy Roosevelt more, but he ended up to the left of my score. @@MonsieurDean

[@davidmorin7939]

Thanks for this, a bit more content than just left or right..

[@jhfdb3]

This was interesting, but a few suggestions: Have the name of the president and the number as a graphic to help the viewer. Also when a number is added, either make it blink or have it come in as a different color to make it easy to find, then make it the same color as the rest. I spent a lot of time trying to remember the president’s number, then looking for it. I did like the concept though.

[@Paul-jc4xh]

Corners translated: Bottom right: You can't control me, and I don't want your help either. Bottom left: You can't conrol me, but I do want you to support me. Top right: Do as I say, so that I don't have to care about you. Top left: Do as I say, so that I can help you. Dead Center: Half of you are adults, and half of you are forever children. Just the way it is. Regardless, I have a foreign policy to worry about too.

[@acespacerooster]

Damn I guess less authoritarianism runs in my family then. Granted i think Martin Van Buren would be rolling in his grave if he saw what my political ideology is and most likely would frown upon it. Either way though he is a cool relative to have

[@taylorwickham]

I just think that it's important to note that the American Political Spectrum has moved greatly over the years. Someone who was "authoritarian left" 150 years ago moght not necessarily be when compared to today.

[@presterjohn71]

I wish you had the dots flashing for a second or two when they first popped up. I soon lost track.

[@MonsieurDean]

Next time, pal!

[@anthonyconte7858]

Let's be honest. Trump is nowhere near that far right and nowhere near that authoritarian

[@OnlyintheER]

This shows his left wing bias. His voice actually changed when he talked about trump. It's subtle but listen again and you can hear it. He obviously hates trump..

[@rogerroger9960]

Although this is a pretty cool idea, I think placing our first few presidents on a scale of what we used today is a bit off. Line splitting left and right would honestly probably be much more to the left given the constant push that way ever since FDR honestly .

[@Travybear1989]

I took this test and was placed one spot towards the south from JFK. I told my wife and she answered "Thank god you aren't considering running for president or you'd be killed!", gotta' love it.

[@monsieurcharcutier4490]

All the best presidents are in the upper right quadrant

[@mr.roboto209]

That moment when you take the test and align with Andrew Jackson

[@MonsieurDean]

🫡

[@crusader2112]

Very Based. 🫡

[@leandersearle5094]

This sounds like cause to party at the White House.

[@jameswilkerson4412]

I’m from NC, but don’t know if I’m proud of the President who ordered the Trail of Tears

[@leandersearle5094]

@@jameswilkerson4412 He ordered the trail of tears to prevent a genocidal war, so should actually look into the history before you condemn it.

[@stevejohnson3357]

When a random group of people do this test today, what you tend to find is 4 arrows pointing to the corners. For people with strong ideological beliefs, the corners are the places of purity but they can never reach them.

[@jonathansefcik473]

I think Mr. Beat's video on this topic was more accurate. Biden wasn't included in that video since it was made while Trump was still in office, but I feel Biden would score pretty centrist.

[@YSLRD]

Biden shouldn't be included. The idea that he truly had authority was questionable from the start and is now blatantly ridiculous. If you can discover who his boss is, evaluate them.

[@thefarmer6541]

​​@@YSLRDwhat are you gonna say it was Jew running him

[@Krishicher]

So curious which president is represented by the youngish actor on the left of the tease. I’d guess it’s from a Jefferson movie.

[@Frazier16]

Regan wasnt really small goverment. He was only small goverment for the economy.

[@mrconfusion87]

The Moral Majority's rise to prominence in his era basically proves what you say...

[@mikearias2283]

What if Taco Bell introduced Baja blast in 1914? Would WW1 still happen?

[@user-bu3zz2po6n]

Franz would still be assassinated so yes

[@mikearias2283]

But Baja Blast would cause the Serbs to relax due to its refreshing taste.@@user-bu3zz2po6n

[@aardremiz4752]

The dots were hard to follow after the first few, I suggest making the dots you are currently talking about a different color or flashing or some other way to draw attention to it

[@pinochet3698]

Not actually taking the test as each president was a very good idea. Mr. Beat did that and it was horrible. The whole ting was a mess. He put Woodrow Wilson and Donald Trump right next to each other. Ultimately, this once more proves that the framing of the political compass may been fun and useful, but the test itself sucks and exists to push certain views.

[@mark_kline]

0:32 Mr. Beat answered the questions as if he were each president. You punked out

[@ItalianJew]

Lincoln was an American dictator

[@MonsieurDean]

From a Southern perspective.

[@ItalianJew]

i disagree@@MonsieurDean

[@MonsieurDean]

@@ItalianJew Explain.

[@crusader2112]

@@MonsieurDean He was dictatorial. He cracked down on newspapers, jailed figures, and bascially kept Maryland from seceding through his own force of Will. I’m not necessarily criticizing Lincoln, he did what he felt he had to do, but he did set a precedent of Federal over state power. Personally, I prefer state power and regionalism. Razorfist has a good video on Lincoln and his actions.

[@MonsieurDean]

@@crusader2112 I've seen Razorfist's video, and I'm critical of it. Lincoln assumed wartime powers in a time of war, and one's ideology can't be defined by solely by the drastic measures taken in drastic times. A wider evaluation of Lincoln's stances on power, and the restraint he exercised speak to the fact that he was not ideologically dictatorial. Grant, on the other hand, was.

[@whiz910]

It’s interesting to see what ideology each president falls under, and I wonder what the ideologies of each party’s future will be. You should make a compass of recent candidates for the primaries of each party. I would say any major candidate that ran in either the 16, 20, or 24 primaries should be on it. You could also put other popular politicians that have the potential to run in the future.

[@davidcolin6519]

It's an interesting demonstration of how US vocabulary has inverted "Libertarian" and "Liberal". In the UK "Liberal" is quite the opposite of authoritarian/conservative. This causes significant confusion even within the UK, as so many Britons now use the US meanings and end up with a very confusing word salad of what they're trying to say. BTW, the USA idea of "Libertarian" is completely different from what most of the RotW believes.

[@alextaylor9276]

Why are neocons libertarian on the authoritarian-libertarian scale?