Shifting power toward the Presidency has been going on far longer than there were neoliberals. It goes back to the early days of the country.

Not really...

There was a short bump after the civil war.

But after that it's all been relatively recent.

Even the stuff FDR was doing was mostly about funding states and projects that helped them.

The consolidation of power in the fed has been about 50 years which is recent on a country's timeline.