Republican Party (United States)

Republican Party
AbbreviationGOP
ChairpersonMichael Whatley
Governing bodyRepublican National Committee
U.S. PresidentDonald Trump
U.S. Vice PresidentJD Vance
Senate Majority LeaderJohn Thune
Speaker of the HouseMike Johnson
House Majority LeaderSteve Scalise
FoundersAlvan E. Bovay[1]
Henry J. Raymond[2]
... and others
FoundedMarch 20, 1854 (1854-03-20)
Ripon, Wisconsin, U.S.
Merger ofWhig Party[3][4][5][6]
Free Soil Party[7]
Anti-Nebraska movement[8]
Headquarters310 First Street SE,
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Student wingCollege Republicans
High School Republican National Federation
Youth wing
Women's wingNational Federation of Republican Women
Overseas wingRepublicans Overseas
Ideology Factions:
Political positionRight-wing[13]
International affiliation
CaucusesRepublican Governance Group
Republican Main Street Caucus
Republican Study Committee
Freedom Caucus
Colors  Red
Senate
53 / 100
House of Representatives
220 / 435
State governors
27 / 50
State upper chambers
1,121 / 1,973
State lower chambers
2,985 / 5,413
Territorial governors
3 / 5
Territorial upper chambers
15 / 97
Territorial lower chambers
9 / 91
Election symbol
Website
gop.com Edit this at Wikidata

^ A: Includes Trumpism.[17][18][19]

The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then.

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories.[20] The party supported economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners of the planter class became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War, thereby preserving the Union and abolishing slavery.

After the war, the party largely dominated national politics until the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it lost its congressional majorities and the Democrats' New Deal programs proved popular. Dwight D. Eisenhower's election in 1952 was a rare break between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II. Following the 1960s era of civil rights legislation, enacted by Democrats, the South became more reliably Republican, and Richard Nixon carried 49 states in the 1972 election, with what he touted as his "silent majority". The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics, bringing together advocates of free-market economics, social conservatives, and Cold War foreign policy hawks under the Republican banner.[21] Since 2009,[27] the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and shifted towards right-wing populism,[28] which ultimately became its dominant faction.[9] Following the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, the party has pivoted towards Trumpism. Trump has been the defining figure for the party since 2016.[17][18][19][29]In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from rural voters,[30] White Southerners,[31] evangelical Christians, men, senior citizens, and voters without college degrees.[32][33][34]

On economic issues, the party has maintained a pro-business attitude since its inception. It currently supports Trump's mercantilist policies,[35][36] while opposing globalization,[37] free trade,[38] and neoliberalism.[39] It supports economic protectionism and enacting tariffs[a] on imports on all countries at the highest rates in the world,[43][44][45] for purposes including reducing trade deficits,[46] generating tax revenue,[47][40] and promoting American manufacturing.[48] It also supports low income taxes and deregulation while opposing socialism, labor unions, and single-payer healthcare.[49]

On social issues, it advocates for restricting abortion,[50] supports tough on crime policies, such as capital punishment[51][52] and the prohibition of recreational drug use,[53] promotes gun ownership and easing gun restrictions,[54] and opposes transgender rights.[55] The party favors limited legal immigration but strongly opposes illegal immigration and favors the deportation of those without permanent legal status, such as undocumented immigrants and those with temporary protected status.[56] In foreign policy, the party supports U.S. aid to Israel but is divided on aid to Ukraine[57] and improving relations with Russia,[58][59][60][61] with Trump's ascent empowering an isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda.[62][63][64][65]

  1. ^ The Origin of the Republican Party Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine by Prof. A. F. Gilman, Ripon College, WI, 1914.
  2. ^ Widmer, Ted (March 19, 2011). "A Very Mad-Man". Opinionator. The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "Political Parties". Northern Illinois University Digital Library. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  4. ^ Howe, Daniel Walker (Winter 1995). "Why Abraham Lincoln Was a Whig". Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. 16 (1): 27–38. doi:10.5406/19457987.16.1.05. hdl:2027/spo.2629860.0016.105. ISSN 1945-7987.
  5. ^ "Historical Context: The Breakdown of the Party System | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  6. ^ "Major American Political Parties of the 19th Century". Norwich University Resource Library. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  7. ^ McPherson, James (2003) [1988]. The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-19-974390-2.
  8. ^ James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire: Volume I. The Coming of War, second edition (ISBN 0-07045837-5) p. 94.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Dominant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Smith, Robert C. (2021). "Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and the Future of the Republican Party and Conservatism in America". American Political Thought. 10 (2): 283–289. doi:10.1086/713662. S2CID 233401184. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  11. ^
  12. ^ Wilbur, Miller (2012). "Libertarianism". The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. pp. 1006–1007. ISBN 978-1-4129-8876-6. While right-libertarianism has been equated with libertarianism in general in the United States, left-libertarianism has become a more predominant aspect of politics in western European democracies over the past three decades. ... Since the 1950s, libertarianism in the United States has been associated almost exclusively with right-libertarianism ... As such, right-libertarianism in the United States remains a fruitful discourse with which to articulate conservative claims, even as it lacks political efficacy as a separate ideology. However, even without its own movement, libertarian sensibility informs numerous social movements in the United States, including the U.S. patriot movement, the gun-rights movement, and the incipient Tea Party movement.
  13. ^
  14. ^ "Members". IDU. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015.
  15. ^ "Regional Unions". International Democracy Union. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  16. ^ "About – ECR Party". European Conservatives and Reformists Party. August 4, 2022. Archived from the original on July 1, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ball 2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ a b Martin, Jonathan (March 1, 2021). "Trumpism Grips a Post-Policy G.O.P. as Traditional Conservatism Fades". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  19. ^ a b Peoples, Steve (February 14, 2021). "Trump remains dominant force in GOP following acquittal". AP News. Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  20. ^ Brownstein, Ronald (November 22, 2017). "Where the Republican Party Began". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on December 29, 2021.
  21. ^ Devine, Donald (April 4, 2014). "Reagan's Philosophical Fusionism". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference McCarthy 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Not Coming to Milwaukee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Price of Power was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Punchbowl Old GOP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ [22][23][24][25][26]
  28. ^
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trump era was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference The World Trump Wants was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference White Voters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Polarization by education was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference cambridge.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cliffe 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ Fleming, Sam; Strauss, Delphine (April 4, 2025). "Trump's aggressive push to roll back globalisation". Financial Times. Retrieved April 4, 2025. The US president wants to unwind decades of economic integration. The risk of a 1930s-style global trade war is causing markets to panic.
  36. ^ Helleiner, Eric (January 5, 2021). "The Return of National Self-Sufficiency. Excavating Autarkic Thought in a De-Globalizing Era". International Studies Review. 23 (3): 933–957. doi:10.1093/isr/viaa092. ISSN 1521-9488. PMC 7928914. The election of Donald Trump as American president in 2016 encouraged further interest in ideas of national self-sufficiency. ... Trump's worldview was much closer to a neomercantilist one than an autarkist one, but some of his supporters on the far right are more clearly in the latter camp.14 For example, in a 2020 publication from the Claremont Institute, Curtis Yarvin called for the promotion of an "isolationist" policy of "neo-Sakoku". Like some other past autarkists, he argued that a world of autarkic states would be more peaceful because the reasons for conflict would diminish (Yarvin 2020). The Trump administration also indirectly encouraged new interest in greater national self-sufficiency in other countries because of its protectionism and its broader "weaponization" of America's international economic relations (Farrell and Newman 2019).
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference Maga mindset was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ "Trump takes America's trade policies back to the 19th century". The Economist. April 3, 2025. Retrieved April 3, 2025. The president jacks up tariffs on all countries, with particularly sharp rises for much of Asia
  39. ^ Gerstle, Gary (2022). The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197519646. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2024. The most sweeping account of how neoliberalism came to dominate American politics for nearly a half century before crashing against the forces of Trumpism on the right and a new progressivism on the left.
  40. ^ a b Lotz, Avery (March 6, 2025). "Republicans favor Trump tariffs despite anticipated price hikes: poll". Axios. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  41. ^ Cite error: The named reference Buckle Up was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  42. ^ Cite error: The named reference President McKinley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Donnan, Shawn (March 31, 2025). "Trump's Tariffs Set to Make History and Break a System MAGA Loathes". Bloomberg.
  44. ^ Lawder, David; Hunnicutt, Trevor (April 5, 2025). "US starts collecting Trump's new 10% tariff, smashing global trade norms". Reuters. Retrieved April 5, 2025. U.S. customs agents began collecting President Donald Trump's unilateral 10% tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week.
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gilded Age vision was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Schwartz, Brian; Ip, Greg (April 3, 2025). "A Market-Rattling Attempt to Make the American Economy Trump Always Wanted". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 3, 2025. The president dreams of factories reopened and towns revitalized by tariffs, but stocks plunged on fears economic growth will suffer
  47. ^ Duehren, Andrew (April 5, 2025). "Republicans Like to Cut Taxes. With Tariffs, Trump Is Raising Them". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2025. President Trump's tariffs are scrambling the Republican plan for the economy, long centered on tax cuts and growth.
  48. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Goldmacher, Shane; Swan, Jonathan (July 8, 2024). "Trump Presses G.O.P. for New Platform That Softens Stance on Abortion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 9, 2024. The platform is even more nationalistic, more protectionist and less socially conservative than the 2016 Republican platform that was duplicated in the 2020 election.
  49. ^ Cite error: The named reference New Fusionism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  50. ^ Pell, Stephanie K. (September 19, 2024). "Clear contrasts between the Democratic and Republican Parties' positions on reproductive rights and health care". Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  51. ^ Lancaster, Joe (July 17, 2024). "Republicans Have Completely Abandoned Criminal Justice Reform". Reason. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  52. ^ "Political Party Platforms and the Death Penalty". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
  53. ^ Lassiter, Matthew (December 7, 2023). "America's War on Drugs Has Always Been Bipartisan—and Unwinnable". Retrieved February 25, 2025.
  54. ^ Russell, George Fabe (October 4, 2024). "What is the Republican Party's stance on guns? Here's what GOP politicians are saying". USA Today. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  55. ^ Harmon, Amy (January 24, 2025). "In State Capitals, Republicans Propose New Limits on Transgender Identity". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  56. ^ McCann, Allison; Sun, Albert; Sullivan, Eileen (January 24, 2025). "Who Are the Millions of Immigrants Trump Wants to Deport?". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  57. ^ Cite error: The named reference Riccardi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  58. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lillis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  59. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ball was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  60. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jonathan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  61. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jimison was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  62. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lange was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference New York Times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ Cite error: The named reference Baker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  65. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cohn2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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