Flip-flopping in political time

If Ross Perot's recent change of heart can be classified as one of the largest flip-flops in Presidential political history, it certainly wasn't the first. Reversals of policy and opinion have defined the executive branch since its inception: 1800

1803

Thomas Jefferson expands executive authority with the Louisiana Purchase after ominous warnings of Presidential abuses. 1900

1912

Theodore Roosevelt runs for office as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party after pledging not to seek a third presidential term. 1960

1964-65

Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law major civil rights legislation that sharply contrasts his weak support of civil rights during his days on the Senate floor. 1970

1977

Jimmy Carter backs down on the $50 tax credit he had proposes during his successful 1976 campaign, angering Congressional Democrats who had fought an uphill battle for the bill's passage. 1980

1987

In the course of a single interview, President Ronald Reagan says his administration had not been involved in an arms for hostages trade, admits that such a trade might have appeared to have happened and finally denies that any exchange ever took place. 1990

1992

President Bush, once an advocate of abortion right, runs for a second term under a platform that calls for a ban on the procedure.

Source: Crimson research