A History of the Republican Party

Sometimes referred to as The Grand Old Party (or GOP), the Republican party is the younger of the United States' two major political parties (the other is the Democratic Party). It is the second oldest active political party in the United States.

The GOP was founded by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers in 1854. The first Republican to be elected president was Abraham Lincoln in 1860. The Republicans presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction, but toward the end of the 19^th century the party was mired down in internal struggle and scandals. When Theodore Roosevelt was elected president in 1900, and during his time in office the GOP came to mean progressivism. But by the time the 1920s dawned, the party was developing into what it still is today: An organization with a pro-business foundation and strong ties to social conservatism, nationalism and economic libertarianism.

Republican presidents have included Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, Woodrow Wilson, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George Walker Bush.

Voter base

Industries such as manufacturing and oil are traditionally a place where the GOP gets much support. There is less support for the party from the high-technology sector. Traditionally, more men that women in the U.S. register to vote as Republicans.

The GOP has had weak representation among African-American since the mid-1960s. African-American senator and governor candidates have been nominated in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, but none have won elections. Blacks began voting more predominantly for Democrats in the 1930s, when patronage and welfare were offered to them as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

The greatest number of Republicans in America are white, married and have children living in the home. The poorer voters tend to cast ballots for Democrats.

For a long time, people with higher education traditionally voted Republican, but that trend seems to be turning. In the last presidential election, the majority of voters with post-graduate degrees voted Democrat. Age-wise, Republican candidates seem to be more popular with older voters.

Republican campaign activities are overseen by the Republican National Committee. The committee's duties include development and promotion of the GOP political platform, as well as fundraising and election strategy. Currently, Mike Duncan is the chairman of the RNC. The RNC chair is selected by the president when the GOP is in charge of the White House; otherwise, he or she is chosen by the party's state committees.

Social stance

A great number of the Republican Party's national and state candidates are opposed to abortion (on religious or moral grounds). They don't want same-sex marriage to be legalized, and want faith-based programs. They are split on the issue of affirmative action for minorities and women.

The majority of the GOP's membership favors capital punishment and lowering crime rates by instituting harsher punishments for offenders. Generally, Republicans also back the gun ownership rights (which are protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

The party has made greater accountability for public schools a major issue, most notably through passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. There is a religious wing of the party that supports organized prayer in public schools, as well as the teaching of creationism along with evolution.

Fiscal policy

The Republican Party consists of a large percentage of members who are fiscal and social conservatives, neoconservatives. Libertarians and the Religious right. Compared with the Democratic Party, the GOP is the more socially conservative and economically libertarian of the two. In general, the Republican Party backs lower taxes and limited government influence in the area of economics, while supporting government involvement in others.

Republicans want laws to be made by the legislature, preferring that judges, in particular in the Supreme Court, should not make legislation. The majority of Republicans cite the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which legalized abortion in the 1970s, as an instance where the judiciary branch overstepped its bounds (the ruling came down after the court overturned the better part of all laws on the books that restricted abortion, maintaining they violated the rights of privacy Americans are entitled to under the Bill of Rights and the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution).

Over the course of the last 10 years, the Republican Party has supported a number of bills that would take away the ability of some or all federal courts to hear certain kinds of cases in an effort to limit judicial review.

Republicans believe economic prosperity is achieved through free-market policies. Their theories have come under attack by opponents recently, as the 2006 federal deficit came in higher than it has ever been in U.S. history.

Republican President Ronald Reagan's economic theory, dubbed Reaganomics, is still an idea the party adheres to. The idea behind Reaganomics is that reduced income taxes increase growth of the GDP, which in turn means more revenue for the government through taxes on the extra growth. Tax cuts have been a major thrust of the Republican platform since the 1920s, and the majority of Republicans believe that various income tax cuts that have been implemented since 2001 have boosted the economy.

It is a belief of many Republicans that the U.S. income tax system does not work well. They do not want graduated taxes instituted, maintaining they would penalize those responsible for the creation of jobs and wealth. Their theory is that private spending has better fiscal effects than government spending.

Republicans tend to support the idea that assisting the poor is more the job of the private sector than of the government. Rather than spending money on welfare programs, the Republican Party would like to see government grants be given to faith-based and other charitable organizations that help the less fortunate. The welfare reform of 1996, which revamped welfare and limited the ability of individuals to be eligible for it, was strongly supported by the Republican Party.

Single-payer, universal health care systems (like those available in Canada and through the majority of Europe) are not supported by the Republican Party. The GOP originally opposed Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Congressional Republicans, along with the Bush administration, voted to reduce the growth rate of Medicaid, but in 2006 instituted a new drug plan for senior citizens via a Medicare expansion.

In general, Republicans do not support labor unions. They have put their endorsements behind various pieces of legislation dealing with the right of workers to not join unions. The party does not usually support any increase in minimum wage, reasoning that upping it can lead to increased unemployment and a decrease in new business.

National security

On the issue of national security, the Republican party favors unilateralism -- the right and ability of the U.S. to act in its own interest without the benefit of any international or external support.

As of May 2007, President George W. Bush is in office, and is the 18^th Republican to hold the presidency. Currently, Republicans are the minority in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Republicans are also in the minority as far as state governorships and legislatures.

The GOP party chairman is Mel Martinez. Senate leader is Mitch McConnell; John Boehner is the House leader. The mailing address of the U.S. Republican Party Headquarters is 310 First St. SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. More information about the GOP can be found online at www.gop.com.