I appreciate the info. You're totally right, and this further proves my point. People deride "the founding fathers" for the racist, capitalist state they created, but the reality is that what they created was absolutely radical for their time. The idea that white people of common birth could have power was incredibly radical in the late 18th century.

Since the US was founded, it's been a steady march to increase rights, first to white landowning men, then to poor white mean, then to white women, and then to black, brown, and indigenous people. Many will say "well we haven't gone far enough," and that's true, but that doesn't discount the progress that's been made since we were literally beholden to the whims of a king

He is a symbol of social Democrats, though, but he's also a realistic product of his time. I heard an interview with a historian awhile back I wish I could find again. They basically described how if you try to judge a historical figure through today's moral lens, you'll always be disappointed, because history is rife with racism, dehumanization, slavery, and genocide. The most ardent leftists will point to the handful of white people who were actively fighting racism in the 1930s and say "See? Roosevelt didn't have to implement racist policies!!" But the reality is that the majority culture was racist. The concept of not being racist just didn't exist to 95%+ of white people at the time. Abraham Lincoln didn't believe in racial equality, but I don't use that to discount his positive contributions