Even when he was a Republican, Knox wasn’t all that conservative and neither was his running mate Alf Landon. And by the way, I’m no fan of FDR, who made the Depression great again.
I imagine once you get on the side of things where individual liberty is a threat to the power you could hold as a high-ranking public servant, the system weeds out a lot of conservatives.
Not that I am making excuses; it’s just that there must be an incredible draw to growing government when you personally benefit from the power. That would explain how conservatives and libertarians get weeded out — think Justin Amash — and should make us appreciate the relative handful of politicians that make it to the top and hold true to their principles.