--- ---  # Lincoln Chafee Has A Lot of Nice Things to Say About Republicans  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:36 AM UTCPublished: Jul 28, 2015 3:23 PM UTC  Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee speaks in Washington, D.C. on July 28, 2015. Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee speaks in Washington, D.C. on July 28, 2015.Michael Bonfigli—The Christian Science Monitor  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:36 AM UTCPublished: Jul 28, 2015 3:23 PM UTC For someone running for the Democratic nomination for President, Lincoln Chafee has a lot of nice things to say about Republicans. That may be because he used to be one: Chafee was a Republican Senator from Rhode Island from 1999 to 2007, then an Independent for the beginning of his tenure as Governor of the state from 2011 to 2015, finally switching his party affiliation to Democrat in 2013. But even as he seeks the Democratic nomination against political juggernaut Hillary Clinton and populist wunderkind Bernie Sanders, Chafee still has plenty of kind words for his former party. Speaking at a breakfast in Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning, Chafee cited two Republicans as his favorite modern Presidents. “Theodore Roosevelt, certainly I think I compare favorably to him saying ‘speak softly and carry a big stick,'” Chafee said, citing his quiet courage as similar to the trust-busting Republican’s. When asked to name a more recent President, Chafee went with another Republican, George H. W. Bush. “I do admire courage in politics, and guts and backbone,” he said. “\[George\] H. W. Bush \[addressed\] the real issue of deficits … He knew the political sacrifice that was going to come.” He mentioned a Democratic President as well: Bill Clinton, who happens to be the husband of his most formidable primary opponent. “Bill Clinton putting in his deficit reduction plan, that took guts,” he said. Chafee also spoke fondly of another Bush: Jeb, his potential 2016 rival and a high school classmate from Andover boarding school in Massachusetts in the 1960s. “We were in a small dorm… so we knew each other well and played ping pong in the basement,” Chafee said. “Our dads talked politics, and \[it was 1968 and 1969\] so a lot of changes were happening in the country in those years, so just naturally politics was very much in many students minds. … We tended naturally to support our fathers.” Bush’s father was George H.W. Bush, who would go on to be elected President in 1989; Chafee’s father was John Chafee, the Governor of Rhode Island who became a Republican Senator from the state in 1976. But Chafee wasn’t entirely complimentary of the GOP, returning to his main talking point in the primaries: the fact that most members of his former party in Congress (as well as Hillary Clinton) voted for the Iraq war in 2002, while he voted against. “I think it’s important for the Democratic party to make this chaos in the Middle East a Republican chaos,” he said. “They were the ones that created Iraq and created all the problems now… ISIS, Boko Haram in Nigeria, it all started with the invasion of Iraq. Politically speaking, the Democratic party needs to show that’s a Republican mistake.” Chafee is polling within the margin of error in most national polls: a [recent Monmouth University poll](http://time.com/3958783/lincoln-chafee-poll-zero-support/) had him at 0%, with a 5.2% margin of error. **Read Next:** [_Lincoln Chafee Is Trying to Re-Run Obama’s 2008 Playbook_](http://time.com/3851723/lincoln-chafee-hillary-clinton-iraq/) ### See the 2016 Candidates' Campaign Launches  Sen. Ted Cruz kicked off his campaign for 2016 Republican presidential nomination at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on March 23. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul launched his bid for the Republican nomination at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville on April 7\. Supporters held signs with the slogan "Defeat the Washington Machine / Unleash the American Dream." Amy Harris—Corbis  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her campaign in a YouTube video posted April 12 that has been seen nearly 4.5 million times. One boy featured in the video boasted about playing a fish in a school play. Hillary For America  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced his campaign for the Republican nomination during a rally at the Freedom Tower in Miami on April 13\. He took a drink of water during the speech, a callback to his State of the Union response in 2013. Wilfredo Lee—AP  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his bid for the Democratic nomination across the street from the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2015\. The backdrop was unusual, since most candidates rail against Washington. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced his bid for the Republican nomination at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts May 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. The launch featured a gospel choir covering Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Bill Pugliano—Getty Images  Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her campaign for the Republican nomination in a conference call on May 4, then went on "Good Morning America" to talk to George Stephanopoulos. Lou Rocco—Getty Images  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his campaign at a community college in his hometown of Hope, Ark., on May 5\. Singer Tony Orlando (right) performed. Left: Danny Johnston; Right: Matt Sullivan—Getty Images  Republican presidential candidate and former New York Governor George Pataki (C) greets supporters after formally announcing his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Exeter, N.H. on May 28, 2015. Dominick Reuter—Reuters  Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee announces his candidacy for the democratic presidential nomination at George Mason University in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announces his 2016 presidential candidacy in Central, S.C. on June 1, 2015. Erik S. Lesser—EPA  Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is joined by his wife Katie O'Malley (R) as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore on May 30, 2015. Jim Bourg—Reuters  Former Texas governor Rick Perry announces his candidacy for Republican presidential nominee at an event held at Addison Airport in Addison, Texas on Thursday, June 4, 2015. Louis DeLuca—Dallas Morning News/Corbis  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush waves on stage as he announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at Miami-Dade College - Kendall Campus in Miami on June 15 , 2015. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  Donald Trump holds up his financial statement showing his net worth as he formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during an event at Trump Tower in New York City on June 16, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters  Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Kenner, La. on June 24, 2015. Jonathan Bachman—Reuters  Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally at Livingston High School in Livingston, N.J. on June 30, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker greets supporters after announcing that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in Waukesha, Wis. on July 13, 2015 . Scott Olson—Getty Images  Ohio Governor John Kasich arrives on stage to formally announce his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally in Columbus, Ohio on July 21, 2015. Aaron P. Bernstein—Reuters Lincoln Chafee Has A Lot of Nice Things to Say About Republicans ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3974755/lincoln-chafee-2016-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3974755/lincoln-chafee-2016-republicans/"},"headline":"Lincoln Chafee Has A Lot of Nice Things to Say About Republicans","datePublished":"2015-07-28T15:23:19.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T03:36:52.000Z","description":"Running for the Democratic nomination, Lincoln Chafee cited two Republicans as his favorite modern Presidents.","url":"https://time.com/3974755/lincoln-chafee-2016-republicans/","keywords":["Lincoln Chafee","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15cc6bc8085f502b/69885cc12dce016d1a9e4d0b/img_9373web.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15cc6bc8085f502b/69885cc12dce016d1a9e4d0b/img_9373web.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"IMG_9373web","caption":"Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee speaks in Washington, D.C. on July 28, 2015.","creditText":"Michael Bonfigli—The Christian Science Monitor","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lincoln-chafee/","name":"Lincoln Chafee"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3974755/lincoln-chafee-2016-republicans/","name":"Lincoln Chafee Has A Lot of Nice Things to Say About Republicans"}}]}] ```