If Every President Took The Political Compass Test

Mr. Beat takes a political compass test for every President in American history.

Shout out to @EmperorTigerstar for inspiring me to make this video.

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If you regularly watch this channel, it is almost certain that you know about and have probably taken the Political Compass Test.

Despite it definitely having many flaws, it remains one of the most popular websites to quickly see where one’s values and beliefs fit on a political spectrum. The spectrum is based on two axes, a social one, and an economic one. The social one ranges from authoritarianism/fascism to anarchy. The economic one ranges from collectivism/communism to libertarianism/liberalism.

Two of my biggest criticisms of the test is
1) that every issue doesn’t fall neatly onto the two spectrums, and you need a lot of different spectrums. The 8values and 9axes test do a better job simply because they offer more spectrums.
And 2) the questions are just not the best

They are often loaded and you can’t just give a neutral response- it lumps you into a box pretty quickly.

And I get it, you gotta draw the line somewhere, but that’s one reason why every time I take the quiz I get different results.

It’s also a mysterious test- no one knows who exactly runs it, but apparently created by a New Zealand political journalist named Wayne Brittenden. Some even speculate that it’s designed to make everyone think they lean libertarian.

Ok, so yeah, it’s far from a perfect test, but screw it. Let’s have some fun with it anyway. Since I’m the American President History guy on YouTube, let’s pretend that every President in American history was actually able to take the Political Compass Test. Based on my knowledge of all the American Presidents, I just might be able to pull this off.

#politicalcompasstest #ushistory #politicalhistory

[iammrbeat]

Which ones do you disagree with? Which ones do you agree with?

[ihavetowaitdaystochangem]

This is definitely not 100% correct, but the fact that he answered more than 2700 questions in a span of 2 weeks earns my respect for this guy

[aurumjust]

I think this video just shows how insanely inaccurate the political compass is.

[alex]

political compass: "should we feed people and not let them starve on the streets?"
me: *yes*
political compass: hello stalin

[jacobnestle]

Honestly, I'd love to see this redone as a series - each one its own video, with an explanation of each question.

[JJMcCullough]

One takeaway is that presidents got more ideological as time went on. Almost all of the most extreme presidents are from the 20th century.

[invinciblemic]

Lincoln and JFK: Stalinists
Trump: Somehow literally Hitler

WHUT

[jarogniewtheconqueror]

'Should we feed people and not let them starve on the streets?'
Everyone: yes
Stalin: no

[BC-otev]

Are you proud of your country?
(Answers yes)
Test: Good morning Adolf

[EthanSimmons]

Harry Truman: Starts Cold War against communism
Also Truman: *Far in the Auth-Left square*

[josephnixon]

Dude, seriously, MAD freaking respect for putting yourself through that quiz so many times. I do have a few follow up comments
1) Thank you for acknowledging your own bias. Answering questions based on how YOU think OTHERS would answer a question is a tough task. It's not easy and we just don't know how many would answer. I obviously don't agree with where every president ended up but I trust you did your best!
2) I'm in no way surprised more presidents leaned Authoritarian over Libertarian. Everyone likes checks and balances until its their power being checked. Thomas Jefferson is a great example. He would have lit himself on fire over a president having enough power to enact the Louisiana Purchase singlehandedly, plus all the military action he took as commander in chief on his own... It's human nature to throw out process when your hand is on the lever of power.
3) Woodrow Wilson being "all the way up here" was no surprise. Dude was a train-wreck-authoritarian of a president.
4) Legalized Marijuana I don't consider to be a left leaning position. The Left Right spectrum here is Economic. Marijuana is a Libertarian issue (i.e. up-down)
5) Finally, I think there needs to be a caveat for most of the Presidents; it being this: How you govern is not necessarily what your ideology/political compass is. As mentioned above, Jefferson's Ideology went out the window at times for pragmatic purposes. This could also be said about Bill Clinton in large part. What people WANT to do as President and what they ACTUALLY do as President are often, if not always, two very different things. Clinton's first two years in office were very far to the left. After the elephant stampede of '94 his remaining years were remarkably moderate. Same is true of Obama who had a Republican House for 6 of his 8 years in office. Just food for thought...

Great Job Mr. Beat! Loved the video. Keep up the great work!

[TheMToThe]

Every other president: Arguing policies and where they are on the compass
George Bush and Chester Arthur: I just wanna grill for god's sake

[kerriekupar]

Lincoln: Auth left
Republicans: *confused screaming*

[aawagga]

No offense but this dude looks like he had a bucket of water just poured on him at all times

[helpfultips]

"'America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we lose our freedoms it will be because we have destroyed ourselves from within.' — Abraham Lincoln"

[oopdi]

Missed a big opportunity to say "I'm beat" as in...tired and fatigued

[BoxRadishScissors]

Fun fact: President Garfield's biggest contribution to the world wasn't being a US President, but instead it was being the great great grandfather of the guy that made the MTG card game.

[indefdef]

The real political test. Hold up two fingers. What does this mean?

"Peace" => Left Libertarian
"Victory" => Right Authoritarian
"I lost three fingers to frostbite last winter, but I'd gladly sacrifice the remaining two for our Dear Leader" => Left Authoritarian
"Bartender! Two more liters of your homemade mash liquor!" => Right Libertarian

[yngwievanhalen]

I was honestly surprised by just how accurate most of the placements seemed. Even post-Hoover. Good job, man!

[lukasg]

"A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system."

This the dumbest question on the test. Yes that's an advantage of the one-party state, I think you have to admit that. However admitting that doesn't mean that you like 1 party states.