Why did the
historian Godfrey Hodgson refer to the
postwar interaction of Republicans and
Democrats as a "liberal consensus"?

After World War II, America was in an economic position that, although recovering from the Great Depression and the effects of the war, needed much social help for both workers and war heroes returned to the civil life. For this reason, American society continued to need some measures of socioeconomic containment, such as those established in the New Deal, to avoid a contraction that could once again harm the quality of life of Americans. These programs were subsequently taken up in programs like Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which in turn adopted various ideas raised by President Kennedy.

The truth is that not only the Democrats defended these ideas: the Republicans, aware of the need for society, took a surprising turn towards moderation and accepted these measures, giving a "liberal consensus" to guarantee a full economic recovery and avoid a relapse in the middle of the Cold War.