And, that still doesnt' change the fact they were liberal during their time. Just because certain ideologies change as society matures doesn't make it less liberal or that person less liberal during their time frame of life. Nearly all of our founding fathers were liberals especially when they became President. They did things, many things outside of the Constitution and some of the time it was for the better, others not so much.
The Murray-Blessing 1982 survey would be the one I'm referring to, roughly 1,997 requests were sent out to all of the then current Ph.D Historians in the US.
On top of this:
Lincoln was the first President to pass an income tax into law. He ended slavery. He also signed the Homestead Act in 1862, making millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for purchase at very low cost. The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, also signed in 1862, provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States’ First Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed in 1869. He also modernized America’s economic, communications, and financial infrastructure.
I could go on and on, but you should get the idea by now.
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