FDR was a social Democrat:

[applegrove]

For those of you who may be confused, the man on the left is a COMMUNIST, the one on the right is a SOCIAL DEMOCRAT.

They are not remotely the same thing.

— Rick (@rickylongthread.bsky.social) 2026-06-27T23:10:31.580Z

[Lovie777]

1. Stalin...................

WW2. Germany was no friend of Russia nor the USA.

[RandySF]

4. Stalin was his own brand of evil.

[erronis]

6. Stalin was not a communist. Just like trump is not a president of the people.

They were/are both tyrants interested only in their own personal gratification.

[ColoringFool]

21. Hence, the WWII term "Allies" (US and USSR) and not "Friends."

[RandySF]

2. Because Rick said so.

FDR saved capitalism.

[wnylib]

10. Yes, he did. He was a mainstream Dem who implemented

some programs that socialists wanted. He signed the law to allow collectuve bargaining for unions and signed Social Security into law. He also got Congress to pass anti trust regulations on businesses to prevent monopolies and regulations on Wall Street practices to prevent severe crashes from speculation and from overleveraged banks.

Since the Reagan years, Republicans have consistently chipped away at those regulations. Obama got some reinstated after the 2008 housing market fiasco, but Rs have succeeded in deregulating the market as much as they can so that now we have corporate conglomerate monopolies and violations of insider trading in Congress and the WH without accountability.

[Beartracks]

12. Capitalism needs regulation to maximize benefit the same way nuclear reactors do.

Vastly powerful engine, but needs control and containment so as not to melt down and endanger everything.

===============

[wnylib]

18. Totally agree.

[betsuni]

17. The absurd myth that FDR wasn't a capitalist isn't going away.

The democratic socialist establishment leadership that started the whole myth is talking about more Independent or other third party runs against Democrats to replace them, and I predict third party candidates to harm Democrats in the next presidential election. Their message is to hate Democrats. The BS attacks will be constant, and no matter how often debunked, will keep coming. Sigh. Social media will be flooded with crap. Happy Days Are Here Again. Not.

None of this division and lies are necessary, none of it. Democrats aren't "terrified" or "threatened" by socialists, they don't want to be attacked all the time and slandered as corrupt and immoral "ideologically bankrupt" and standing for nothing and being Republican lite. And they want to win.

[J_William_Ryan]

3. This 'democratic socialist' nonsense is getting ridiculous.

Once again Democrats are needlessly fighting amongst themselves to the benefit of the fascist right.

Once again Democrats are allowing the fascist right to vilify and demonize Democrats with disinformation and lies about ‘socialism’ – just as they have with ‘liberal’ and ‘woke.’

[dem4decades]

5. From what Heather Cox Richardson says, Ike and the 1956 Republicans were too.

[RandySF]

7. I guarantee you nobody on DU hates social democrats or democratic socialists

but some were flagged for conduct issues.

[Lovie777]

8. Liberal Democrat here.................

Fond of Mamdani, Cooper, Newsom, Brown, Clinton, Biden, Obama, Talarico, et al.,

I've always enjoyed the Big Tent, what the USA is all about.

[Boo1]

9. What's a social democrat?

Just somebody that likes parties?

[calimary]

13. That's actually pretty good!

But then one has to figure out “Whaddya mean ‘parties’? Social? Political? Something else?

[Boo1]

16. Party parties.

[SocialDemocrat61]

14. I love parties!

[betsuni]

15. A famous establishment democratic socialist said Democrats "go to nice cocktail parties and walk out

with a hundred thousand dollars ... That's your world." FDR loved cocktails and smoked clams at the end of the day.

Democrats are social party animals!

[johnp3907]

11. Stalin was a communist in the same way Trump is a Christian.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Of course no President is perfect, but FDR is someone who found moral redemption from his battle with polio,

and used his hard earned wisdom to become one of our greatest Presidents.

FDR's struggle forced him out of his bubble.

Thanks for the thread applegrove.

[applegrove]

20. De rien Oncle Joe.

[ColoringFool]

22. The Intended Audience? Democrats Need No "Lesson," And.....

Republicans will loathe FDR if you call him a Social Democrat, a Democrat, or a kumquat!

REPUBLICANS ARE FIRST, FOREMOST, and FOREVER PRO-CAPITAL and PRO-OWNERSHIP OF CAPITAL, and thus ANTI-TAXATION and ANTI-SOCIAL-PROGRAMS.

Their attachment of Christianity to the above is the Great Cognitive Dissonance---or CYNICISM---of the last hundred years, if not of all human history.

[Emile]

23. FDR realized capitalism needed a sprinkle of socialism to keep it in check.

That made him a man with compassion, and common sense.

A social democrat is an adherent of a political ideology that seeks to reform capitalism through democratic means, establishing a balance between a free-market economy and a comprehensive welfare state. The goal is to reduce inequality and provide universal social programs like public education, healthcare, and pensions.Core Philosophy Social democrats do not seek to abolish capitalism, but rather to heavily regulate it and tax it to ensure that wealth is distributed fairly. They champion "positive liberty"—the idea that people need basic material security and opportunity (such as healthcare and housing) to truly be free.

He never called himself a socialist, but he was willing to adopt socially democratic reforms. That in itself made him one of the greatest presidents in our history.