[wideawake]

Strenuous supporters of protectionism in American history include George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Robert A. Taft.

The only person you named who saw protectionism as a metaphysical necessity, as opposed to a useful policy tactic to employ vis a vis recalcitrant trading partners, is Taft.

Strenuous supporters of free trade include Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and Bill Clinton.

FDR? Be serious.

Attacking protectionism as "socialism" betrays a monumental ignorance of American history, if not an actual hatred of America.

Now I just have to laugh at you. Supporting free enterprise and free trade is "hatred of America"? Hilarious.

[Thorin]

>>>>>>The only person you named who saw protectionism as a metaphysical necessity, as opposed to a useful policy tactic to employ vis a vis recalcitrant trading partners, is Taft.

No, all of them believed in the American system of protective tariffs. It was TR who declaimed, "Thank God I am not a free trader."

But if you want to think of Lincoln and Taft as "socialists," go right ahead.