Republican Party (United States)

Historically, Republicans have had a strong belief in individualism, smaller government, and corporate entrepreneurship. In his 1981 inaugural address, Republican President Ronald Reagan summed up his belief in limited government when he said, "In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."^[2]

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. They consider the income tax to be inherently inefficient, and unfair to the people they say create the wealth and the jobs. They believe private spending is usually more efficient than public spending.

The Republicans believe there should be a "safety net" to assist the less fortunate, but tend to favor a smaller size and expense, stricter requirements for eligibility, and greater degree of private funding for the net compared to their opponents. The predominant economic theory held by modern Republicans is Reaganomics. Popularized by Ronald Reagan, this theory holds that reduced income tax rates lead to more growth and prosperity for a society and generate more revenue for the government.

The party staunchly opposes a single-payer universal health care system, such as that found in Canada or in most of Europe, sometimes referring to it as "socialized medicine." Republicans have generally opposed proposals to change the current employer-based system of insurance in the United States. However, Republican Governor Mitt Romney pushed through a state insurance plan in 2006 that won bipartisan support in Massachusetts. Today, Republicans support the popular Medicare and Medicaid programs that provide medical care for people over 65 and the poor respectively, and they added a drug benefits plan for seniors that took effect in 2006.

Internationally, the party has recently supported neoconservative policies, especially the War on Terror, the military effort in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and the proliferation of democracy, especially in the Middle East. The Republican Party has advocated reforms in the UN and opposes the Kyoto Protocol because of the Protocol's alleged uneven application to countries around the world, arguing that it is likely to slow economic growth and the reduction of poverty, and disputing the science behind it. The GOP broadly supports free trade, most notably NAFTA and CAFTA.

In domestic policy the party boasts that a series of across-the-board tax cuts since 2001 has bolstered the economy. It has sought business deregulation, free-enterprise zones (low taxes for investing in poverty areas), and reduction of environmental regulations that restrict what they consider fair use of land and property. It supports policies favoring economic liberalism and capitalism. It supports gun ownership rights — often a major campaign issue in suburban and rural areas.

On social issues the majority of its national and state candidates usually favor capital punishment, call for stronger state-level control on access to abortion, oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage, and favor faith-based initiatives. They support welfare benefit reductions and oppose racial quotas, but are split regarding the desirability of affirmative action for women and minorities. Many Republicans have denounced teacher unions and the performance of the public school systems, supporting school choice through charter schools and sometimes through education vouchers. Since 2001 the party has demanded much stronger accountability in the public schools, especially through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The religious wing of the party supports organized prayer in public schools, and (in some cases) advocates the teaching of creationism or Intelligent Design as a counterpoint to evolution. 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, often pointing to adult stem cell research as an alternative.

Recently in 2006 the party has been split on the key issues of illegal immigration and deficit spending.

Business community. As of the year 2006, the Republican Party has broad support from business at all levels, from "Main Street" (locally owned business) to "Wall Street" (national corporations).

Gender. Since 1980 a "gender gap" has seen stronger support for the Republican party among men and stronger support for the Democratic party among women.

Race. 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, the party has nominated African American candidates for Senator and Governor in states such as Illinois and Ohio. President George W. Bush has pushed for Hispanic votes, winning 35% in 2000 and 44% in 2004. In 2004 44% of Asian Americans voted for Bush.^[3]

Income. The differences in voting among income groups are 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 twenty percent, and 53% of those in between.

Education. In terms of education, the GOP is slipping from its traditional position of dominance 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 the elder Bush in 1988 won 62% of voters with a bachelor's degree (but no higher degree) and in 2004 the younger Bush only got 52%, a drop of 10 points. Among voters with a Masters' degree or higher, in 1988 the elder Bush won 50% while in 2004 the younger Bush only received 42%, a drop of 8%. Compensating for this drop were the gains George W. Bush made among voters with 12 to 15 years of school.^[4] Bush had a slim advantage with college graduates at 52%, those with some college (54%) and high school graduates (52%). Democrats have majorities among those with post-graduate study (44% for Bush).

Age. 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.

Sexual Orientation. Exit polls conducted in 2000 and 2004 indicate that 23-25% of gay and lesbian Americans voted for Bush.

Religion has always played a major role for both parties, but in the course of a century the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before 1960, with Catholics, Jews, and Southern white evangelical Protestants heavily Democratic and Northern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away in the Sixth Party System after 1968. Today, however, a different dimension of religion — religiosity — has become important at the voting booth. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of their 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 (even though his opponent, Kerry, was Catholic). Since 1980 large majorities of white evangelicals have voted Republican; 70-80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004.Although American Jews have traditionally voted Democratic, a larger percentage of more observant, Orthodox Jews have been voting Republican since the 1980's. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the Baptists, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 50-50. Mainline Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Disciples) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968).

Region. Since 1980 geographically the Republican "base" (the so-called "red states") is strongest in the South and West, and weakest in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. The Northeast is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections, but in state contests the GOP holds its own. The Midwest has been roughly balanced since 1854, with Illinois becoming more Democratic and Minnesota more Republican since 1990. Since the 1930s the Democrats have dominated most central cities, the Republicans dominate rural areas, and the suburbs are split.

The South has become solidly Republican in national elections since 1980, and has been trending Republican at the state level since then. In 2004 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.^[5]

Conservatives and Moderates. The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and numerous factions compete to frame platforms and select candidates. The "conservatives" are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The "moderates" tend to dominate the party in New England, and used to be well-represented in all states. From the 1940s to the 1970s under such leaders as Thomas Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, and Richard Nixon, they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since the 1970s they have been less powerful, though they are always represented in the cabinets of Republican presidents. As of 2006, the very early polls of voters evaluating 2008 candidates show that three candidates are dominant: Rudy Giuliani, Condoleezza Rice and John McCain, chiefly because of their appeal to independents[7]. However, more conservative Republicans like Sam Brownback and George Allen are popular among conservative spokesmen.

Since the 1980s, talk radio hosts and audiences have tended to be conservative, and usually favor the Republicans. The best-known include Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Sean Hannity,and Howie Carr.

Moderate Republicans such as Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Arlen Specter and Lincoln Chafee have sometimes not been regarded as "loyal" by conservatives who want to remake the party in their own image. The term "RINO" -- Republican In Name Only -- has recently come into use to denote moderate Republicans disagreeing with the policies of the more conservative right wing.

The Democrats have been around longer by 25 years or so, but the term Grand Old Party is a traditional nickname for the Republicans, and the acronym G.O.P. is commonly used 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 common symbol of the Republican party is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on 7 November 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol.^[6] In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic donkey. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots.

For more detailed history (to 1980) and bibliography, see History of the United States Republican Party.

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," echoing 1776, to indicate it was the carrier of "republican" values regarding 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.

John C. Frémont ran as the first Republican nominee for President, using the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont." Although Frémont lost, his party showed a strong base. It dominated in New England, New York, and the northern Midwest, and had a strong presence in the rest of the North. It had almost no support in the South, where it was roundly denounced in 1856-1860 as a divisive force that threatened civil war. The election of Abraham Lincoln 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."

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 toward the South. In Congress the party passed major legislation to promote rapid modernization, including a national banking system, high 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, railroads and agriculture. The Republicans denounced the peace-oriented Democrats as disloyal Copperheads and won enough War Democrats to maintain their majority in 1862, and reelect Lincoln by a landslide in 1864. During Reconstruction, 1865-1877, 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 Grant 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-war 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 tariffs, 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. Foreign affairs seldom became partisan issues (except for the annexation of Hawaii, which Republicans favored and Democrats opposed). Much more salient were cultural issues. The GOP supported the pietistic Protestants (especially the Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Scandinavian Lutherans) who demanded Prohibition. That angered wet Republicans, especially German Americans, who broke ranks in 1890-1892, 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 mostly Democrats, and outnumbered the British and Scandinavian Republicans. During the 1880s electionswere remarkably close. The Democrats usually lost but won in 1884 and 1892). In the 1894 Congressional elections, the GOP scored the biggest landslide in its history, as Democrats were blamed for the severe economic depression 1893-1897 and the violent coal and railroad strikes of 1894. See also American election campaigns in the 19th Century

The election of William McKinley in 1896 marked the a new era of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a realigning election. He relied heavily on finance, railroads, 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.

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. 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 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.

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. Richard 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 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 by Lyndon Johnson in a landslide that brought down many senior Republican Congressmen across the country. Goldwater blamed the magnitude of his defeat on the assassination of John F. Kennedy a year before the election, and on Johnson running a campaign of smears. 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 C. 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.

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 Democratic 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 [8], 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, blue-collar, 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 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 were resolved for the next 25 years.

In foreign affairs, bipartisanship was not in evidence. Most Democrats doggedly opposed Reagan's efforts to support the Contra guerrillas against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, and to support the dictatorial governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador against Communist guerrilla movements. He took a hard line against the Soviet Union, alarming Democrats who wanted a nuclear freeze, but he succeeded in increasing the military budget and launching the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - labeled "Star Wars" by its opponents - that the Soviets could not match. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow, many conservative Republicans were dubious of the growing 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. President George H. W. Bush, Reagan's successor, tried to temper 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." [Sleepwalking Through History (1989) p 28] Yet the restoration of faith in the government was an ironic twist for the man who personally distrusted government so much. The tension between strong government and distrust in government re-emerged during President George W. Bush's administration, pulling party activists in opposite directions.

After the election of Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1992, the Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich campaigning on a Contract With America elected majorities to both houses of Congress in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994. 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 limits 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.

With the victory of George W. Bush in the close 2000 election against the Democratic candidate, Vice President 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, Bush pursued the War on Terrorism that included the invasion of Afghanistan, USA PATRIOT Act, and the invasion of Iraq. 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 with a coalition of allied countries after a lengthy diplomatic effort through the United Nations. In May 2003, after Saddam Hussein's regime had been toppled, Bush made a dramatic appearance and speech aboard a returning aircraft carrier displaying a large "Mission Accomplished" banner. Photos of Bush giving his speech with the banner visible in the background have been disparaged by opponents of the war as violence in Iraq has continued.

The Republican Party fared well in the 2002 midterm elections, solidifying its hold on the House and regaining control of the Senate, in the run-up to the war in Iraq. This marked just the third time since the Civil War that the party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress in a midterm election (others were 1902 and 1934). Bush was renominated without opposition for the 2004 election and titled his political platform "A Safer World and a More Hopeful America". It expressed Bush's commitment to winning the War on Terror, ushering in an Ownership Era, and building an innovative economy to compete in the world.

On 2 November 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 accounts to the Social Security system failed, and major revisions of the tax code were postponed. He succeeded in selecting conservatives to head four of the 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 very unpopular. 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 11 September 2001.

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 widely viewed as inadequate. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael D. Brown, a political appointee with no emergency-management expertise, was forced to resign. House Majority Leader Tom 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.

In November 2005 off-year elections, Democrats retained the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 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 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.

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, moderates, fiscal conservatives, Log Cabin Republicans, and libertarians.

In his book, What's the Matter With Kansas?, Thomas Frank describes two primary factions, the economic conservatives and the social conservatives. Frank says that the economic conservatives stay in the coalition due to the pro-business economic policies of the party, such as reducing taxes across the board for all Americans. The social conservatives remain part of the coalition because of the use of "explosive" social issues like gay marriage and abortion by the party leaders.

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, President Bush would have gained six electoral votes just from the intervening redistricting due to the 2000 census.) 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 exurbs 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. [9]

Democratic commentators Ruy Teixeira and John Judis [10], 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 Hispanic vote will continue is a matter of debate. In the recent New Jersey Gubernatorial Election, 2005, Democrat Jon Corzine captured a sweeping 77% of the Latino vote, reducing the Republican party's share of the Latino vote to little more than half its share in the Presidential election the year before.[11]

Skeptics ask whether a majority party can simultaneously contain both anti-government libertarians and social conservatives, with a populist view of government as a tool to impose "morals" laws which libertarians oppose; or whether it can contain both elements that want to remove illegal immigrants and a business community that uses them as necessary employees, while Republican optimists point to the success of Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, which held together even more disparate elements.

• George Allen, Senator from Virginia, possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi and former chair of the Republican National Committee.
• Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City
• Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), House Majority Whip (#3 role)
• John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) House Majority Leader (#2 role)
• Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida.
• Elizabeth Dole, Senator from North Carolina, former cabinet member and presidential candidate in 2000
• Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader (#1 role), from Tennessee, possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, from Georgia.
• Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York, possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Mike Pence, (R-IN) Congressman and chairman of the Republican Study Committee, national voice of conservatism
• Dennis Hastert, (R-IL) Speaker of the House (#1 role)
• Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas and Chairman of the National Governors Association
• Trent Lott, Senator from Mississippi; former Majority Leader
• John McCain, Senator from Arizona; presidential candidate in 2000; possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Mitch McConnell Senator from Kentucky; GOP Whip (#2 role)
• Ken Mehlman chair of the Republican National Committee.
• George Pataki, Governor of New York, possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota.
• Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
• Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State; possible candidate in 2008.
• Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts, possible presidential candidate in 2008
• Karl Rove, president Bush's chief political strategist and deputy chief of staff.
• Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense.
• Rick Santorum, Senator from Pennsylvania and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California.
• Arlen Specter, Senator from Pennsylvania, Judiciary Committee Chairman
• Ted Stevens, president pro tempore of the Senate (an honorific position), Senator from Alaska

• Howard Baker, Senate Majority Leader, Senator from Tennessee, husband of Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker.
• John Danforth, former Senator from Missouri.
• Al D'Amato, former Senator from New York.
• Steve Forbes, Flat Tax activist and presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000.
• Phil Gramm, former Senator from Texas.
• Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State; primary presidential candidate in 1988.
• Mark Hatfield, former Senator from Oregon.
• Jesse Helms, former Senator from North Carolina.
• Henry Hyde, Congressman from Illinois, former Chairman of House Judiciary Committee.
• Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, former Senator from Kansas and wife of Howard Baker.
• Jeane Kirkpatrick, U.S. Ambassasor to the United Nations under Ronald Reagan.
• Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford.
• Bob Livingston, former Congressman from Louisiana.
• Colin Powell, former Secretary of State.
• Dan Quayle, former Vice President.
• Alan K. Simpson, former U.S. Senator from Wyoming and Senate Republican Whip.
• George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State, Treasury and Labor.
• J.C. Watts, former Congressman from Oklahoma.
• Pete Wilson, former Governor of California.
• Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

• William B. Allison (1829-1908), Senator from Iowa and co-author of Bland-Allison Act of 1878
• John M. Ashbrook (1928-1982), Congressman from Ohio, conservative primary presidential candidate against Richard Nixon in 1972
• James G. Blaine (1830-1893), Senator from Maine and presidential candidate
• John W. Bricker (1893-1986), Senator from Ohio
• Styles Bridges (1898-1961), Senator from New Hampshire
• Joseph Gurney Cannon (1836-1926), Speaker of the House
• Charles Curtis (1860-1936), Vice President and first official Senate Majority Leader, a Native American
• Charles G. Dawes (1865-1951), Vice President
• Thomas E. Dewey (1902-1971), Governor of New York and GOP presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948
• Everett Dirksen, (1896-1969), Senator from Illinois; minority leader in US Senate
• Mark Hanna (1837-1904), Senator from Ohio; manager of 1896 campaign
• George Frisbie Hoar (1826-1904), Senator from Massachusetts
• Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948), governor of New York, nominee for president in 1916, Secretary of State, Chief Justice of the United States
• Barry Morris Goldwater (1909–1998), Senator from Arizona, nominee for president in 1964.
• William F. Knowland (1908-1974), Senator from California and Senate Majority Leader
• Robert M. La Follette, Sr. (1855-1925), Senator from Wisconsin; Progressive Party's candidate for president in 1924
• Hiram Fong (1906-2004), Senator from Hawaii; first Asian American elected to U.S. Senate
• Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882-1947), Congressman from New York and Mayor of New York City
• Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924), Senator from Massachusetts
• Clare Booth Luce (1903-1987), Congresswoman from Connecticut, Ambassador to Italy, and noted author
• Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957), Senator from Wisconsin and noted anti-communist
• Joseph W. Martin (1884-1968), Congressman from Massachusetts and last Republican Speaker of the House until Newt Gingrich
• George William Norris (1861-1944), Senator from Nebraska (left GOP in 1936)
• P.B.S. Pinchback (1837-1921), Governor of Louisiana; first African American to serve as Governor of a U.S. state
• Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973), Congresswoman from Montana; first woman elected to Congress; only member to vote against entry into World War II
• Thomas Brackett Reed (1839-1902), Speaker of the House
• Hiram Revels (1827-1901), Senator from Mississippi; first African American to serve in U.S. Senate
• Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), Vice President, Governor of New York, repeatedly defeated for presidential nomination
• George W. Romney (1907-1995), Governor of Michigan; primary candidate for presidential nomination in 1968
• Elihu Root (1845-1937), Secretary of War under McKinley; Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt; Senator from New York; President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), Senator from Maine
• Harold Stassen (1907-2001), Governor of Minnesota; frequent candidate for other offices (notably for president in 1948)
• Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), (R-PA) leader of Radicals in Civil War and Reconstruction
• Charles Sumner (1811-1874), Senator from Massachusetts; leader of Radicals in Civil War and Reconstruction
• Henry Stimson (1867-1950), Secretary of War for Taft and FDR; Secretary of State for Hoover
• Robert Alphonso Taft (1889-1953), Senator and presidential hopeful
• Strom Thurmond (1902-2003), the oldest serving Senator in history (from South Carolina)
• Arthur H. Vandenberg (1884-1951), Senator from Michigan
• James E. Watson (1864-1948), Senator from Indiana and Senate Majority Leader
• Earl Warren (1891-1974), Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States

• List of African American Republicans
• List of Latino Republicans
• List of state Republican Parties in the U.S.
• List of Republican National Conventions

• Democratic Party (United States)
• History of the United States Republican Party
• History of the United States Democratic Party
• International Democrat Union, of which the Republican Party is a member
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• Gould, Lewis. Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans (2003)
• Jensen, Richard. Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854-1983 (1983)
• Kleppner, Paul, et al. The Evolution of American Electoral Systems (1983), applies party systems model
• Mayer, George H. The Republican Party, 1854-1966. 2d ed. (1967)
• Rutland, Robert Allen. The Republicans: From Lincoln to Bush (1996)
• Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2000 (various multivolume editions, latest is 2001).
• Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775-2000 (2001), long essays by specialists on each time period:
  • includes: "'To One or Another of These Parties Every Man Belongs;": 1820–1865 by Joel H. Silbey; "Change and Continuity in the Party Period: 1835–1885" by Michael F. Holt; "The Transformation of American Politics: 1865–1910" by Peter H. Argersinger; "Democracy, Republicanism, and Efficiency: 1885–1930" by Richard Jensen; "The Limits of Federal Power and Social Policy: 1910–1955" by Anthony J. Badger; "The Rise of Rights and Rights Consciousness: 1930–1980" by James T. Patterson; and "Economic Growth, Issue Evolution, and Divided Government: 1955–2000" by Byron E. Shafer
• Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2000 (various multivolume editions, latest is 2001). Essays on the most important election are reprinted in Schlesinger, The Coming to Power: Critical presidential elections in American history (1972)

• Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 2006: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (2005).
• Aistrup, Joseph A. The Southern Strategy Revisited: Republican Top-Down Advancement in the South (1996)
• Black, Earl and Merle Black. The Rise of Southern Republicans (2002)
• Ehrman, John, The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan (2005)
• Frank, Thomas. What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (2005)
• Frum, David. What's Right: The New Conservative Majority and the Remaking of America (1996)
• Judis, John B. and Ruy Teixeira. The Emerging Democratic Majority (2004) two Democrats project social trends
  • "Movement Interruptus: September 11 Slowed the Democratic Trend That We Predicted, but the Coalition We Foresaw Is Still Taking Shape" The American Prospect Vol 16. Issue: 1. January 2005
• Lamis, Alexander P. ed. Southern Politics in the 1990s (1999)
• Sabato, Larry J. Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election (2005)
• Sabato, Larry J. and Bruce Larson. The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future (2001) textbook.
• Shafer, Byron and Richard Johnston. The End of Southern Exceptionalism (2006), uses statistical election data & polls to argue GOP growth was primarily a response to economic change
• Shelley II, Mack C. The Permanent Majority: The Conservative Coalition in the United States Congress (1983)
• Mel Steely. The Gentleman from Georgia: The Biography of Newt Gingrich Mercer University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-86554-671-1.
• Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (2004).

• Republicans for Choice
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• National Federation of Republican Women
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• GOPinion, conservative news from around the web
• Young Republican National Federation
• "Grand Old Party" acronym