On FDR and Progressivity in the Tax Code

Yes, he did make the income tax more progressive, much more (dude actually wanted a top rate of 100%). But it also should be pointed out here that a) prior to the late 1930s only a small fraction of American families paid any income tax at all, b) FDR had relied heavily upon excise taxes, a tax that disproportionately falls upon the poor and working class, and c) by the time that FDR had gotten done with the country pretty much everybody was paying income tax via withholding.......Loose translation, everybody eventually got pinched, not just the rich.