In 1952, the American people elected a Republican president, bringing an end to 20 years of democratic rule. The era of Dwight David Eisenhower had begun. Political rhetoric notwithstanding, there was far more continuity than conflict between the programs of the Roosevelt–Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In fact, the goal of Eisenhower's modern Republicanism was to consolidate the economic and social gains of the New Deal and the Fair Deal. Despite differences in emphasis, both the Democratic and the Republican parties, at least their centers, were committed to the “politics of productivity,” to use Charles Maier's phrase. Truman and Roosevelt's language and policies emphasized social welfare but depended on the economic activity of the private sector to generate revenues for existing and envisioned programs. Truman, similar to Eisenhower, viewed the successful businessperson as the quintessential American and saw government as the servant rather than the master of the private sector. Also similar to Eisenhower, both Democratic presidents were deeply suspicious of deficit spending and committed to a balanced budget. There were differences in emphasis. For example, Eisenhower recognized that the Depression had accentuated the natural divisions among labor, management, and capital and that the New Deal and the Fair Deal had grown out of these antagonisms. He and the architects of the New Republicanism were convinced that under normal circumstances capitalism would steadily elevate members of the working class into the middle class; that is, a rising tide would lift all boats.