History of The United States Republican Party

History Of The United States Republican Party

The United States Republican Party is the second oldest existing political party in the US after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous modernization of the economy. It had almost no presence in the South, but by 1858 in the North it had enlisted former Whigs and former Free Soil Democrats to form majorities in nearly every Northern state.

With its election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and its success in guiding the Union to victory and abolishing slavery, it came to dominate the national scene until 1932. The Republican Party was based on northern white Protestants, businessmen, professionals, factory workers, farmers, and African-Americans. It was pro-business, supporting banks, the gold standard, railroads, and tariffs to protect industrial workers and industry.

Under William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, it emphasized an expansive foreign policy. The GOP ("Grand Old Party"), as it is often called, lost its majorities during the Great Depression (1929-40). Instead the Democrats under Franklin D. Roosevelt formed a winning "New Deal" coalition that was dominant 1932-64. That coalition collapsed in the middle 1960s largely due to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Republicans resurged, winning seven of the 10 presidential elections 1968 to 2004, with Ronald Reagan their iconic conservative hero.

The GOP expanded its base throughout the South after 1968 (except for 1976), largely due to its strength among socially conservative white Evangelical Protestants angered by desegregation. The Republican Party's central leader by 1980 was Ronald Reagan, whose conservative policies called for reduced government spending and regulation, lower taxes, and a strong anti-Soviet foreign policy.