History of Keynesian economics
Massive government spending during World War II likely did more to pull the U.S. from the depths of the Great Depression than Keynesian economics generally associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. But it’s been argued that the defense spending was a form of Keynesianism. Either way, a majority of U.S. presidents elected over the past half-century have resorted to some form of Keynesian economics, whether they admitted to it or not.
Richard Nixon, a conservative Republican for his era, attempted in 1971 to curb high inflation and growing unemployment with wage and price controls, as well as tax reform legislation. Nixon described himself to an interviewer as “now a Keynesian, in economics.”