Eisenhower didn’t get the problem with big, unconstitutional government. He left office with taxes up to 91%. That certainly doesn’t make him a great President.
Nobody paid 91% in taxes, because the deductions were huge enough to drive trains through. All we have done, taxwise, is make the taxes more honest. We haven’t stopped collecting the same amount of revenue, proportionally.
There were somethings that were good about the tax system in the 1950’s, I think. For one, the revenue was structured to give generous tax deductions if you invested in your community, so there was incentive to building up America and not simply send the money overseas. Now, the incentive is to send the money out of the country, so that is what everybody who can send money out of the country is doing.