[wideawake]

No, all of them believed in the American system of protective tariffs.

"Believed"? All of them, as politicians, realized how effective tariffs can be as a political strategy.

It was TR who declaimed, "Thank God I am not a free trader."

Often quoted, but never placed in its original context. I wonder why that is?

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

Putting words in someone else's mouth is so much nicer than actually going through the difficult task of coming up with a coherent argument on one's own, isn't it?

[Thorin]

>>>>>>>"Believed"? All of them, as politicians, realized how effective tariffs can be as a political strategy.

Read what they wrote. They believed in tariffs because they saw them as protecting American workers and our standard of living and preserving America's political independence.

>>>>>>Putting words in someone else's mouth is so much nicer than actually going through the difficult task of coming up with a coherent argument on one's own, isn't it?

No, you're the one who attacked Buchanan's "socialism," which you based on his protectionism. A lazy smear, typical of the neocons, and reflective of an ignorance of American history.