Comments by "Sam Aronow" (@SamAronow) on "Roosevelt Family Tree" video.

I think it's worth saying that Teddy Roosevelt arguably started the partisan shift that FDR presided over. Prior to 1912, both parties had left and right wings of about equal strength– the main division between the parties was over whether US dollars should be backed by gold or silver. But after the 1912 election, most members of the Progressive Party were gradually absorbed into the Democrats. Other progressive Republicans soon followed, and this was the root of Democrats' dominance from the 1930s to the 1990s. In the 1960s, Southern Democrats began defecting to the Republicans, so by the 1990s the party switch was complete.
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