| Republican Party (united States) |
Article Index for Republican Party |
Website Links For Republican Party |
Information AboutRepublican Party (united States) |
The Republican Party is one of the two major Political Parties in the United States ' Two-party System , the other one being the Democratic Party . The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs , Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of Slavery and held a Hamiltonian vision for modernizing the United States. The party initially had its base in the Northeast and northern Midwest , but that has shifted since 1980 to the South and Southwest . In the modern political era, the Republican Party has been more socially Conservative and economically Neoliberal of the two major parties. Eighteen of the twenty-seven U.S. Presidents since 1861 have been Republicans and a Republican has won twenty-three of the thirty-seven Presidential Elections since that year. The current Party Chairman is Ken Mehlman . Since 2002 , the Republican Party has held a majority in both the Senate and the House Of Representatives . It also holds a majority of governorships, and is tied with Democrats in the number of State Legislature s it controls. IDEOLOGICAL BASE Since the 1960s the Republican Party has been increasingly dominated by conservative politics. In broad terms, Republicans believe the private sector and/or the individual are better suited than the government to control their own lives. In his 1981 Inaugural Address, Republican President Ronald Reagan summed up his qualified belief in limited government when he said, "In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." {Link without Title} One difference between the parties on economic issues is that the Republicans more heavily emphasize the idea that societal health is rooted in personal and corporate decision making. They trust markets to optimize outcomes, rather than government mandates. This mindset is seen most often in the party's push for lower tax rates. This is fought for in an attempt to treat all citizens as the same despite income, Race , Gender , or Religion . They also see taxes as a drag on the economy, and believe private spending is (usually) more efficient than public spending. By contrast Democrats emphasize the duty of society to help the less fortunate through government "safety nets." The parties agree there should be a "safety net" to assist the less fortunate, but debate how big and expensive it should be, who should be eligible and whether it is publicly or privately funded. Republicans say that a system of Progessively Higher Marginal Rate Income Taxes is inherently punitive and discourages entrepreneurship, while Democrats say that high earners got their money from society and therefore owe society a larger share of their income. Ronald Reagan popularized the theory of Supply-side Economics and Trickle-down Economics which became known as Reaganomics and is the predominant economic philosophy held by Republicans today. In a nutshell, Reaganomics was the theory that reduced income tax rates would lead to more spending and growth and provide more revenue for the government as well as stimulate the economy. The party tends to hold both conservative and libertarian stances on social and economic issues respectively. Major policies that the party has recently supported include a Neoconservative foreign policy, including the War On Terror , liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq , and strong support for democracy, especially in the Middle East . The party has been criticized by its Paleoconservatives as being too globalistic. The Republican Party has demanded reforms in the UN and opposes the Kyoto Protocol because of the Protocol's uneven application to countries around the world, because they believe it is likely to slow economic growth and the reduction of poverty, and because of disputes concerning the science behind it. In addition, Republicans usually downplay arguments that man-made Global Warming is a serious threat requiring international action. The GOP ("Grand Old Party") supports Free Trade , including notably NAFTA and CAFTA . In domestic policy the party boasts that a series of across-the-board Tax Cut s since 2001 have bolstered the economy. It has sought business deregulation, free-enterprise zones (low taxes for investing in poverty areas), reduction of environmental regulations that restrict fair use of land and property; it opposes raising the minimum wage, and generally supports policies that are pro- Capitalism . It supports Gun Ownership Rights - often a major campaign issue in rural areas. On social issues the majority of its national and state candidates usually favor the Death Penalty , call for stronger state-level control on access to Abortion , oppose the legalization of Same-sex Marriage , favor Faith-based Initiatives , support School Choice and Homeschooling , support social welfare benefit reform, and oppose Racial Quota s. In recent years the party has called for much stronger accountability in the Public School s, especially through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (which also increased federal funding for schools). The religious wing of the party supports prayer in the public schools, and (in some cases) says Creationism should be taught to children if Evolution is taught. Although the GOP has voted increases in government funding of scientific research, many members actively oppose the federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell Research that involves the Cloning and destruction of human embryos, with many seeing it as unethical to force tens of millions of tax payers who believe this type of research is morally wrong to literally finance it. In 2006 the party is split on issues of Illegal Immigration , deficit spending and States' Rights . Historically, Republicans have had a strong belief in Individualism , limited government, and business entrepreneurship. VOTER BASE As of the year 2006, the Republican Party has strong support from business at all levels, including "Main Street" (locally owned business) and " Wall Street " (national corporations). Since the year 1980 a "gender gap" has appeared to make support for the Republican party stronger among men and support for the Democratic party stronger among women. Since 1964 Republicans have been weakly represented among African-Americans, winning under 15% of the Black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2004). However, President George W. Bush made a big push for Hispanic votes winning 35% in 2000 and 44% in 2004. Around 45% of Asian-Americans also supported President Bush and the Republican Party in 2004. {Link without Title} The differences in voting among income groups is small, though the poorest voters favor the Democratic Party. George W. Bush won 41% of the poorest fifth of voters in 2004, 55% of the richest 20%, and 53% of those in between. In terms of education, the GOP is slipping among the most educated. In 1988 George H.W. Bush got 52% of the total vote, about the same as his son in 2004. But Bush (41) in 1988 won 62% of voters with a bachelor's degree (but no higher degree) and in 2004 Bush (43) only got 52%, a drop of 10 points. Among voters with a Masters' degree or higher, in 1988 Bush (41) won 50% while in 2004 Bush (43) only got 42%, a drop of 8%. Of course, George W. Bush made it up by gaining among people who had from 12-15 years of school. based on exit polls reported in ''New York Times'' Nov 10, 1988 p. 18 and 2004 national exit poll at [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html Bush had a slim advantage with the college educated (bachelor degree) at 52%, those with some college (54%) and high school graduates (52%). Democrats have majorities among those with no high school diploma (49% for Bush) and post graduate study (44% for Bush). The Republicans and Democrats are about equally strong in different age groups with Democrats doing slightly better among younger Americans and Republicans among older Americans. Exit polls conducted in 2000 and 2004 suggest that roughly 70% of gay and lesbian Americans supported the Democrats, while roughly 20% supported Bush and roughly five percent supported an independent candidate. Religion has always played a major role for both parties, but in the course of 50 or 100 years the parties have switched positions somewhat. The issue was a major division line between the parties before 1960, with Catholics heavily Democratic and Northern Protestants heavily Republican. Today, religion has again become important at the voting booth. Currently a large majority of white Evangelicals vote Republican. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the Baptists , while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of the votes to Bush in 2004; those who attend occasionally gave him only 47%, while those who never attend gave him 36%. 59% of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics. Since 1980 geographically the Republican "base" (currently mapped as "red states") is strongest in the South and West, and weakest in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. Until the 1960s, the West leaned Democratic. That has since reversed, only Alaska remains strongly GOP in the coastal West. The Northeast is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections, but in state contests the GOP holds its own. The Midwest has been evenly balanced since 1854, with Illinois becoming more Democratic and Minnesota more Republican. The South has become almost as solidly Republican as it was solidly Democratic before 1964. Today the Democrats dominate in central cities, the Republicans dominate rural areas, and the suburbs are split. In addition to its white middle class base, Republicans attracted strong majorities from the evangelical Christian vote, which had been nonpolitical before 1980. Exit polls in 2004 showed that Bush led Kerry by 70-30% among Southern whites, who comprised 71% of the Southern electorate. Kerry had a 70-30 lead among the 29% of the voters who were black or Hispanic. One-third of these Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20. {Link without Title} The and George Allen are popular among the party's dominant base. GOP AND ELEPHANT Although the Democrats have been around longer, Grand Old Party is a traditional nickname for the Republicans, and the acronym '''G.O.P.''' is commonly used as a shorthand political designation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first known reference to the Republican party as the "grand old party" came in 1876. The first use of the abbreviation G.O.P. is dated 1884. The official symbol of the Republican party is the elephant. A political cartoon by and Ohio was the Eagle , as opposed to the Democratic Rooster . This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots. HISTORY AND TRENDS ''For more history and bibliography, see History Of The United States Republican Party .'' Birth: 1854-1860 The new party was created in 1854 as an act of defiance against what activists denounced as the Slave Power --the powerful class of slaveholders who were conspiring to control the federal government and to spread slavery nationwide. The party founders adopted the name "Republican" to indicate it was the carrier of "republican" beliefs about civic virtue, and opposition to aristocracy and corruption. Besides opposition to slavery, the new party put forward a vision of modernization--emphasizing higher education, banking, railroads, industry and cities, while promising free homesteads to farmers. The Republicans absorbed the previous traditions of its members, most of whom had been Whigs , and some of whom had been Democrats or members of third parties especially the Free Soil Party and American Party . , the 1st Republican to be elected President of the United States ( 1861 – 1865 ).]] in 1860 began a new era of Republican dominance based in the industrial Northeast and agricultural Midwest. Republicans still often refer to their party as the "party of Lincoln" in honor of the first Republican President. Civil War and the Era of Republican Dominance, 1860-1896 Lincoln proved brilliantly successful in uniting all the factions of his party to fight for the Union. However he often disagreed with the Radical Republicans who demanded harsher measures. In Congress the party passed major legislation to promote rapid modernization, including a national banking system, much higher Tariffs , the first (temporary) income tax, many excise taxes, paper money issued without backing ("greenbacks"), a huge national debt, homestead laws, and land grants to aid higher education and agriculture. The Republicans denounced the peace-oriented Democrats as Copperheads and won enough War Democrats to maintain their majority in 1862, and reelect Lincoln easily in 1864. In Reconstruction how to deal with the ex-Confederates and the freed slaves or Freedmen were the major issues. President Andrew Johnson , never a Republican, broke with the Radicals in 1866. The showdown came in the Congressional elections of 1866, in which the Radicals won a sweeping victory and took full control of Reconstruction, passing key laws over Johnson's vetoes. The Radicals imposed Republican rule on the South--a coalition of Freedmen , Scalawags , and Carpetbaggers , who were deeply resented by the conservative ex-Confederates. Elected in 1868, Ulysses S. Grant supported radical reconstruction programs in the South, the Fourteenth Amendment , equal civil and voting rights for the freedmen; most of all he was the hero of the war veterans, who marched to his tune. Reconstruction came to an end when the contested election of 1876 was awarded to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes who promised, through the unofficial Compromise Of 1877 , to withdraw federal troops from control of the last three Southern states. The region then became the Solid South , giving overwhelming majorities of its electoral votes and Congressional seats to the Democrats until 1964. As the Northern post-bellum economy boomed with industry, railroads, mines, and fast-growing cities, as well as prosperous agriculture, the Republicans took credit and promoted policies to keep the fast growth going. The Democratic Party was largely controlled by pro-business Bourbon Democrats until 1896. The GOP supported big business generally, hard money (i.e. the Gold Standard ), high Tariff s, and generous pensions for Union veterans. By 1890 the Republicans had agreed to the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission in response to complaints from owners of small businesses and farmers. Civil Service Reform was a bipartisan program that eliminated most patronage by 1900. In cultural issues it supported the pietistic Protestants (especially the Methodists) who demanded Prohibition . That angered wet Republicans, especially German-Americans , who broke ranks in 1890-92, handing power to the Democrats. From 1860 to 1912 the Republicans took advantage of the association of the Democrats with "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion". Rum stood for the liquor interests and the tavern keepers, in contrast to the GOP, which had a strong dry element. "Romanism" meant Roman Catholicism , especially the Irish, who staffed the Democratic Party in the large cities, and whom the Republicans denounced for political corruption. "Rebellion" stood for the Confederates who tried to break the Union in 1861, and the Copperheads in the North who sympathized with them. Demographic trends aided the Democrats, as the German and Irish Catholic immigrants were Democrats, and outnumbered the English and Scandinavian Republicans. During the 1880s and 1890s, the Republicans struggled against the Democrats' efforts, winning several close elections and losing two to Grover Cleveland (in 1884 and 1892 ). See also American Election Campaigns In The 19th Century Early 20th Century, 1896-1932 The election of William McKinley in 1896 is widely seen as a resurgence of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a Realigning Election . He relied heavily on industry and the middle classes for his support and cemented the Republicans as the party of business; his Campaign Manager , Ohio's Marcus Hanna , developed a detailed plan for getting contributions from the business world, and McKinley outspent his rival William Jennings Bryan by a large margin. McKinley was the first president to promote Pluralism , arguing that prosperity would be shared by all ethnic and religious groups. Theodore Roosevelt was the most dynamic personality of the era; after promising to continue McKinley's policies, he won reelection in 1904 . He then veered left, attacking big business and busting the trusts. Roosevelt anointed William Howard Taft in 1908 , but Taft worked more with the conservatives led by Senator Nelson W. Aldrich , although it should be noted that more trusts were broken up under Taft than Roosevelt. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff angered Midwestern insurgents. The widening division between Progressive and Conservative forces in the party resulted in a third-party candidacy for Roosevelt on the Progressive , or "Bull Moose" ticket in The Election Of 1912 . He finished ahead of Taft, but the split in the Republican vote resulted in a decisive victory for Democrat Woodrow Wilson , temporarily interrupting the Republican era. The party controlled the presidency throughout the 1920s , running on a platform of opposition to the League of Nations, high tariffs, and promotion of business interests. Warren G. Harding , Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were resoundingly elected in 1920 , 1924 , and 1928 respectively. Although the party did very well in large cities and among ethnic Catholics in presidential elections of 1920-24, it was unable to hold those gains in 1928. In October 1929, the stock market crashed, giving rise to the Great Depression . Hoover, by nature an activist, attempted to do what he could to alleviate the widespread suffering caused by the Depression, but his strict adherence to what he believed were Republican principles precluded him from establishing relief directly from the federal government. The Democrats made major gains in the 1930 midterm elections, giving them congressional parity (though not control) for the first time since Woodrow Wilson's presidency. Opposing the New Deal Coalition, 1933-53 In 1932 Hoover was swamped in a landslide defeat to Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal Coalition , which became a dominant fact of American political life for the middle third of the century. Democrats also gained large majorities in both houses of Congress. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress at lightning speed. In the 1934 midterm elections, ten Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving them with only 25 against 71 Democrats. The House of Representatives was also split in a similar ratio. All the incumbent Republican governors save one were also defeated. This monumental victory for the Democrats enabled Roosevelt to embark on what is often called the " Second New Deal ", which was much more liberal and confrontational than the chiefly emergency-relief legislation of the previous two years. The "Second New Deal" was heavily criticized by the Republicans in Congress, who likened it to Class Warfare and Socialism . The volume of legislation, as well as the inability of the Republicans to block it, soon made the opposition to Roosevelt develop into bitterness and sometimes hatred for "that man in the White House." The one Republican governor who managed to win re-election, Alfred Landon of Kansas, became the GOP candidate for president in 1936 . While accepting the most popular parts of the New Deal, such as Social Security , Landon focused on limiting further expansion of government programs. As the campaign progressed and Landon's moderate message was proving ineffective, he began attacking Roosevelt from the right, thereby ceding him the middle ground, which was where the voters were, as Roosevelt rolled up the biggest victory to date, winning all but the eight electoral votes from Maine and Vermont. The Republicans were left with only 16 senators and 88 representatives to oppose the New Deal. From the heights of his election victory, however, Roosevelt made a colossal blunder with his plan to reorganize the Supreme Court, splitting his party. Democratic conservatives joined with most Republicans in Congress to create the Conservative Coalition , which dominated Congress until 1964. Following a sharp recession that hit early in 1938, and major strikes all over the country, the GOP took advantage of the Democrats' disarray and gained 75 House seats in the 1938 midterm elections. In 1939-41 there was a sharp debate within the GOP about support for Britain in World War II . ''Internationalists'', such as Henry Stimson and William Allan White wanted to support and Britain and ''isolationists'', such as Robert Taft and Arthur Vandenberg , strongly opposed these moves as unwise, if not unconstitutional. The America First movement was a bipartisan coalition of isolationists. In 1940 , a total unknown Wendell Willkie at the last minute won over the party and the delegates and was nominated. He campaigned against the inefficiencies of the New Deal and Roosevelt's break with the strong tradition against a third term. After his defeat he became close to Roosevelt. Pearl Harbor ended the isolationist-internationalist debate. The Republicans further cut the Democratic majority in the 1942 midterm elections. With wartime production creating prosperity, the Conservative Coalition terminated most New Deal relief programs. As a minority party the GOP had two wings: "moderates" supported most of the New Deal while promising to run it more efficiently. "Conservatives" opposed the New Deal from the beginning and managed to repeal large parts during the 1940s in cooperation with conservative Southern Democrats in the conservative coalition. Liberals, led by Dewey, dominated the Northeast. Conservatives, led by Taft, dominated the Midwest. The West was split, and the South was still solidly Democratic. Dewey did not reject the New Deal programs, but demanded more efficiency, more support for economic growth, and less corruption. He was more willing than Taft to support Britain in early years of the war. In 1944 , a clearly frail Roosevelt defeated Dewey, who was now governor of New York, for his fourth term, but Dewey made a good showing that would lead to his selection as the candidate in 1948. Roosevelt died in office in 1945, and Harry S Truman became president. With the end of the war, unrest among organized labor led to many strikes in 1946, and the resulting disruptions helped the GOP. With the blunders of the Truman administration in 1945 and 1946, the slogans "Had Enough?" and "To Err is Truman" became Republican rallying cries, and the GOP won control of Congress for the first time since 1928, with Joseph Martin as Speaker Of The House . The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 was designed to balance the rights of management and labor. It was the central issue of many elections in industrial states in the 1940s and 1950s, but the Democrats were never able to repeal it. In 1948, with Democrats split left and right, Truman boldly called Congress into a special session, sent them a load of liberal legislation consistent with the Dewey platform, and dared them to act on it, knowing that the congressional Republicans would not pass anything. Truman attacked the Republican "Do-Nothing Congress" as a whipping boy for all of the nation's problems. Truman stunned Dewey and the Republicans with a plurality of just over two million popular votes (out of nearly 49 million cast), but a decisive 303-189 victory in the Electoral College. Eisenhower and Nixon, 1953-74 After the war the isolationists in the conservative wing opposed the United Nations , and were half-hearted in exercising opposition to the expansion of Communism around the world. Dwight Eisenhower , a NATO commander, defeated Taft in 1952 on foreign policy issues. The two men were not far apart on domestic issues. Nixon was defeated in 1960 in a close election, dooming the liberal wing of the party. The conservatives made a comeback in 1964 as Barry Goldwater who defeated Nelson Rockefeller . Goldwater was strongly opposed to the New Deal and the United Nations, but he rejected isolationism and containment, calling for an aggressive anti-Communist foreign policy. He was defeated in a landslide that brought down many senior Republican Congressmen across the country. The New Deal Coalition collapsed in the mid 1960s in the face of urban riots, the Vietnam war, and the disillusionment that the New Deal could be revived by Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Nixon defeated both Hubert Humphrey and George W. Wallace in 1969. When the Democratic left took over that party in 1972, Nixon won reelection by carrying 49 states. His involvement in Watergate brought disgrace and a forced resignation in 1974. The Democrats made major gains in Congress, and in 1976 defeated Gerald Ford in A Close Race In 1976 . launched the "Reagan Revolution" with his election to the Presidency in 1980 , providing conservative influence that continues to the present day.]] Reagan Era, 1980-1992 Ronald Reagan produced a major Realignment with his 1980 and 1984 landslides. In 1980 the Reagan Coalition was possible because of Democratic losses in most social-economic groups. In 1984 Reagan won nearly 60% of the popular vote and carried every state except his Democrat opponent Walter Mondale's home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia, creating a record 525 electoral vote total (of 538 possible). Even in Minnesota, Mondale won by a mere 3,761 votes {Link without Title} , meaning Reagan came within less than 4,000 votes of winning in all fifty states. Political commentators, trying to explain how Reagan had won by such a large margin, used the term "Reagan Democrat" to describe a Democratic voter who had defected to vote for Reagan. The Reagan Democrats were Democrats before the Reagan years, and afterwards, but who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 (and for George H. W. Bush in 1988), producing their landslide victories. They were mostly white, lived in the Northeast, and were attracted to Reagan's social conservatism on issues such as abortion, and to his hawkish foreign policy. They did not continue to vote Republican in 1992 or 1996, so the term fell into disuse except as a reference to the 1980s. The term is not generally used to describe those southern whites who permanently changed party affiliation from Democratic to Republican during the Reagan administration. Stan Greenberg , a Democratic pollster, analyzed white, largely unionized auto workers in suburban Macomb County , Michigan, just north of Detroit . The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. He concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw Democrats as champions of their middle class aspirations, but instead saw it as being a party working primarily for the benefit of others, especially African Americans and the very poor. Democrat Bill Clinton targeted the Reagan Democrats with considerable success in 1992 and 1996 and was greatly helped by the entrance of Ross Perot into the presidential race. With Perot taking 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992, Clinton was able to become president with the votes of only 43 percent of the electorate. Perot ran again in 1996 and won only 8 percent of the popular vote. Reagan reoriented American politics. He claimed credit in 1984 for an economic renewal--"it's morning in America again!" was the campaign slogan. Income taxes were slashed 25% and the punitive rates abolished. The frustrations of stagflation were resolved, as no longer did soaring inflation and recession pull the country down. Deregulation, handled in bipartisan fashion, removed the last traces of the New Deal, with the exception of Social Security. Working again in bipartisan fashion, the Social Security financial crises was resolved for the next 25 years. In foreign affairs bipartisanship was not in evidence. The Democrats doggedly opposed his efforts to support anti-Communist movements in Latin America (they all crumbled away after 1989). He took a hard line against the Soviet Union, alarming Democrats who wanted a nuclear freeze, but he succeeded in growing the military budget and launching a very high tech "Star Wars" missile defense system that the Soviets could not match. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow many conservative Republicans were dubious of the friendship between him and Reagan. Gorbachev tried to save Communism in Russia first by ending the expensive arms race with America, then (1989) by shedding the East European empire. Communism finally collapsed in Russia in 1991. George W. H. Bush tried to tamper feelings of triumphalism lest there be a backlash in Russia, but the palpable sense of victory in the cold War was a success that validated for Republicans the aggressive foreign policies Reagan had taught them. As Haynes Johnson, one of his harshest critics admitted, "His greatest service was in restoring the respect of Americans for themselves and their own government after the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate, the frustration of the Iran hostage crisis and a succession of seemingly failed presidencies." Through History'' (1989) p 28 Yet the restoration of faith in the government was an ironical twist for the man who personally distrusted government so much. The tension between strong government and distrust in government reemerged in the Bush II administration, pulling party activists in opposite directions. Capture of House and Senate, 1994 House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich -led " Republican Revolution " of 1994 and its '' Contract With America ''. It was the first time since 1952 that the Republicans secured control of both houses of U.S. Congress , which, with the exception of the Senate during 2001-2002, has been retained through the present time. This capture and subsequent holding of Congress represented a major legislative turnaround, as Democrats controlled both houses of Congress for the forty years preceding 1994, with the exception of the 1981-1987 Congresses (in which Republicans controlled the Senate). In 1994, Republican Congressional candidates ran on a platform of major reforms of government with measures such as a Balanced Budget Amendment and Welfare Reform . These measures and others formed the famous Contract with America, which represented the first effort to have a party platform in an off-year election. The Republicans passed some of their proposals, but failed on others such as Term Limits . Democratic President Bill Clinton opposed some of the social agenda initiatives but he co-opted the proposals for Welfare Reform and a balanced federal budget. The result was a major change in the welfare system, which conservatives hailed and liberals bemoaned. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives also failed to muster the two-thirds majority required to pass a Constitutional amendment to impose Term Limit s on members of Congress. In 1995 , a budget battle with Clinton led to the brief shutdown of the federal government, an event which contributed to Clinton's victory in the 1996 Election . That year the Republicans nominated Bob Dole , who was unable to transfer his success in Senate leadership to a viable presidential campaign. Ross Perot ran again (this time on the Reform Party ticket), once again draining away a large percentage of the Republicans' support. 2000 to Present , is the current leader of the Republican party and President of the United States.]] With the victory of George W. Bush in the close 2000 Election against the Democrat candidate Al Gore, the Republican party gained control of the Presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952 , only to lose control of the Senate by one vote when Vermont Senator James Jeffords left the Republican party to become an independent in 2001 and chose to vote with the Democratic Caucus . In the wake of the September 11, 2001 Attacks on the United States, however, Bush pursued a " War On Terrorism " that included the Invasion Of Afghanistan and the USA PATRIOT Act . By early 2002, the radical Islamist Taliban regime was removed from power in Afghanistan , although Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has yet to be captured. In March 2003, Bush chose to invade Iraq , ostensibly to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing Weapons Of Mass Destruction . In May 2003, after Hussein's regime had been toppled, Bush made his dramatic "Mission Accomplished" speech on the flight deck of an Aircraft Carrier anchored near San Diego . However, the Iraq War continued, and became the least popular American war since Vietnam . The Republican Party fared well in the , ushering in an Ownership Era , and building an innovative economy to compete in the world. On November 2 , 2004 , Bush was re-elected, while Republicans gained seats in both houses of Congress. Bush won the election with 62.0 million popular votes to 59.0 million for Senator John F. Kerry . Bush also received 51% of the popular vote, the first popular majority since his father was elected in 1988 , and claimed to have received a mandate from the people. The Senate voted 71-1 to dismiss numerous complaints about alleged Fraud . Bush told reporters "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style." He announced his agenda in January 2005, but as his popularity in the polls waned, his troubles mounted. His campaign to add Personal Savings Account s to the Social Security system failed, and major revisions of the tax code were postponed. He succeeded in selecting conservatives to head four of most important agencies, Condoleezza Rice as Secretary Of State , Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General , John Roberts as Chief Justice Of The United States and Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve . He failed to win conservative approval for Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, replacing her with Samuel Alito , whom the Senate confirmed in January 2006. He secured additional tax cuts and blocked moves to raise taxes. His administration’s response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was not well received. As 2005 ended, Bush strongly defended his policy in Iraq, saying the Coalition was winning, and pushed for the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act , stating that it was no mistake that there has not been another terrorist attack on American soil since September 11, 2001. In Congress, 2005 was a year of troubles for the GOP, though another large tax cut was passed. In the Senate the Democrats held only 44 seats to the GOP's 55, their weakest position in 80 years. The new minority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, threatened to Filibuster Bush's more conservative nominees to the court of appeals. Majority leader Bill Frist threatened the " Nuclear Option " of changing the rules to prevent filibusters on judicial nominees. The Democrats threatened in that case to shut down the Senate and allow no business of any sort to go forward. Senator John McCain found a compromise, whereby 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats agreed to stick together. In the compromise the 7 Democrats rejected the filibuster (in normal circumstances) and allowed a vote on the court nominees (they all were approved). The 7 Republicans promised the "nuclear option" would not be used. In the House, Tom DeLay held tight control of procedure and effectively used his slim 232-203 majority. In September, 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed large sections of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The Bush Administration's response to this crisis was not viewed as being particularly impressive. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency became a scapegoat; Michael D. Brown was a political appointee with no emergency-management expertise. DeLay came under criminal indictment in Texas for campaign funding abuses, and was forced to step down as Majority Leader; on April 4, 2006 when he announced that he was retiring from politics to become a Washington lobbyist (and putting his entire $5 million political campaign fund toward his legal defense). The interim leader, Roy Blunt of Missouri, in early 2006 was replaced by John Boehner of Ohio; Blunt remained in the #3 Whip job. High profile Republican Randy Cunningham of California pleaded guilty to bribery charges in late November, resigned, and was sentenced to a long prison term. In the states, trouble was developing for the GOP in Ohio, where Governor Bob Taft was involved in scandals, and in New York, where Republican Governor George Pataki announced his retirement amidst considerable disarray in the state GOP. Early polls predicted landslides for New York Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton in her Senate re-election race and Eliot Spitzer in his race for governor in 2006. In November 2005 off-year elections, Democrats retained the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarznegger failed in his effort to use the ballot initiative to enact laws the Democrats blocked in the state legislature. In New York City, Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg won a landslide reelection, the fourth straight Republican victory in what is otherwise a Democratic stronghold. The "Republicanism" of the direction in which Bush has taken the Republican Party has been questioned by some Republicans: for example, he has presided over the largest-ever expansion in the federal bureaucracy, and replaced balanced budgets with deficits, which some Republicans do not consider consistent with Republican advocacy of "small government". However much critics may grumble, they have not broken with the President; no major fissure has appeared in the Bush coalition as of early 2006. However, there are signs that the relationship between the White House and Congress is worsening. For instance, Republicans were angered by Bush's handling of the Sale Of Six Major Seaport Terminals To A Dubai-based Company . Strongly negative public reaction forced Bush to cancel the sale. A budget resolution collapsed in the House in early April amidst Republican infighting. The sharpest divisions inside the party occurred as Congress debated the illegal immigration issue in Spring 2006, with Bush pushing for a guest worker program. CURRENT STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION The Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for promoting presidential goals (when the party controls the White House) or articulating Republican policies (when the Democrats have the White House). In presidential elections it supervises the national convention and, under the direction of the presidential candidate, it raises funds and coordinates campaign strategy. There are similar state committees in every state and most large cities, counties, and legislative districts, but they have far less money and influence than the national body. The chairman of the RNC (currently Ken Mehlman ) is chosen by the President when the Republicans have the White House. Otherwise the chairman is chosen by the state committeemen. The Republican Party in House and Senate have powerful fundraising and strategy committees. The National Republican Congressional Committee assists in House races, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee in Senate races. They raise over $100 million per election cycle, and play important roles in recruiting strong candidates. The Republican Governors Association is a discussion group that seldom funds state races. In each instance the Democrats have similar organizations. Factions See Also: Factions in the Republican Party (United States) As a major party the GOP is comprised of Many Informal Factions , which often overlap. For example there are Social Conservatives , Republican In Name Only , Paleoconservatives , Neoconservatives , Moderate s, Fiscal Conservatives , Log Cabin Republicans , and Libertarians . FUTURE TRENDS, REALIGNMENT? Republicans have controlled the White House for 26 of the previous 38 years, and both houses of Congress since 1994 (except for over a year in the Senate). Karl Rove and other commentators have speculated about a permanent political realignment along the lines of the Presidential Election Of 1896 , in which Mark Hanna helped William McKinley construct a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years. However, the reality is that in light of strong partisanship and party polarization the American political sphere is relatively evenly divided. Two approaches to projecting future trends give opposite results. Many see that the Republicans' geographical red map is growing faster than the Democrats' blue map. Geographically favorable indicators include the growth of suburbs, particularly in the Sun Belt where the Republicans dominate politics, and the population decline of the historically liberal Rust Belt inner cities. (Had every state voted in the majority for the same party candidate in 2004 as it did in 2000, the intervening census would have gained President Bush six electoral votes alone.) President Bush's victory in 2004 in ninety-seven of the hundred fastest-growing counties in the country was solid evidence of Republican strength in quickly growing Exurb s and in the booming metropolitan areas of the South. By 2010, the Census projections show that states that voted for President Bush in 2004 will gain six Congressional seats and electoral votes, while states that voted for John Kerry will lose six. {Link without Title} Democratic commentators Ruy Teixeira and John Judis , on the other hand, say non-geographic social indicators show a trend toward Democrats. They point to the rapid increase in college graduates (who are trending Democratic), and the possible decrease in white and rural Republican bases. Whether Bush's gains in the stimulated in 1992 and 1996, although the Democratic party also faces the possibility of an intraparty split. The question remains whether a majority party can simultaneously contain both anti-government libertarians and social conservatives, who generally support "morals" laws which libertarians oppose, and some of whom hold to a more populist view of government; or whether it can contain both elements that support tougher enforcement of immigration laws and a business community that supports using illegal immigrants as low-wage workers. Recent polls have illustrated a large drop in the public image of the party between 2004-2005, with 51% of the public now having an unfavorable view of the party and only 44% having a positive view, compared to 2004 in which only 43% held an unfavorable view and 49% held a favorable one. {Link without Title} Much of the debate over a political realignment has been put on hold awaiting the 2006 U.S. House Elections . Polls so far illustrate a distinct lead for Democrats. An April 2006 poll by Rasmussen shows that the Democratic party has expanded its lead over the GOP among the general population, with 37% calling themselves Democrats and 34% self-identifying as Republicans. (Margin of error: +/- 3%) {Link without Title} PRESIDENTIAL TICKETS See Also: Presidents of the United States#List of Presidents of the United States OTHER NATIONALLY PROMINENT REPUBLICANS Present-day: active
Active in 1970-2000; alive but less active in politics today
Historical
LISTS
SEE ALSO
REFERENCES
1980 to 2006
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|