Republican Party (United States)

Republican Party
AbbreviationGOP, R
ChairpersonMichael Whatley
Governing bodyRepublican National Committee
Speaker of the HouseMike Johnson
Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell
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 ofFree Soil Party[3]
Anti-Nebraska movement[4]
Preceded byWhig Party (de facto)[a]
Headquarters310 First Street SE,
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Student wingCollege Republicans
Youth wing
Women's wingNational Federation of Republican Women
Overseas wingRepublicans Overseas
Membership (2023)Decrease 35,739,952[6]
Ideology Factions:
Regional affiliationAsia Pacific Democrat Union
European affiliationEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party (global partner)
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union[16]
Colors  Red
Seats in the Senate
49 / 100
Seats in the House of Representatives
218 / 435
State governorships
27 / 50
Seats in state upper chambers
1,110 / 1,973
Seats in state lower chambers
2,948 / 5,413
Territorial governorships
0 / 5
Seats in territorial upper chambers
12 / 97
Seats in territorial lower chambers
9 / 91
Website
gop.com Edit this at Wikidata

The Republican Party, also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main political rival of the Democratic Party in the mid-1850s.

The party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, an act which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories of Kansas and Nebraska.[17] It supported classical liberalism and economic reform[18] while opposing the expansion of slavery into the free territories. The party initially had a very limited presence in the South, but was successful in the North. By 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in nearly every northern state. White Southerners became alarmed at the threat to slavery. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, the deep 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, preserving the Union and abolishing slavery. Afterward, the party largely dominated the national political scene 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 was a rare break in between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II. His former vice president Richard Nixon carried 49 states in 1972 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.[19] Since 2008, Republicans have faced increased factionalism within the party's ranks.[20][8] As of 2024, Trumpists are the dominant faction within the GOP.[b]

In the 21st century, the party receives its strongest support from rural voters, evangelical Christians, men, senior citizens, veterans, white voters, and those who did not attend college. On social issues, it advocates for restricting the legality of abortion, prohibiting recreational drug use, loosening gun restrictions, overturning the legality of same-sex marriage and opposing the transgender rights movement. On economic issues, the party supports tax cuts and deregulation while opposing labor unions and universal health care. In foreign policy, the party includes both those who promote tough stances against China, Russia, Iran and North Korea and those who promote non-interventionism and isolationism.

  1. ^ The Origin of the Republican Party 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. ^ 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.
  4. ^ James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire: Volume I. The Coming of War, second edition (ISBN 0-07045837-5) p. 94.
  5. ^ McGovern, George S. (2009). "Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861–1865". New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-8050-8345-3.
  6. ^ Winger, Richard (December 29, 2023). "December 2023 Ballot Access News Print Edition". Ballot Access News. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Cohn2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Davis, Susan (August 23, 2019). "Meltdown On Main Street: Inside The Breakdown Of The GOP's Moderate Wing". NPR. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  10. ^ Gannon, Thomas M. (July–September 1981). "The New Christian Right in America as a Social and Political Force". Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions. 26 (52–1). Paris: Éditions de l'EHESS: 69–83. doi:10.3406/assr.1981.2226. ISSN 0335-5985. JSTOR 30125411.
  11. ^ Davis, Susan (April 6, 2022). "The Growing Religious Fervor in the American Right: 'This Is a Jesus Movement'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rathburn 2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Biebricher-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Arhin-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ball 2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Members". IDU. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015.
  17. ^ Brownstein, Ronald (November 22, 2017). "Where the Republican Party Began". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on December 29, 2021.
  18. ^ Fornieri, Joseph R.; Gabbard, Sara Vaughn (2008). Lincoln's America: 1809–1865. SIU Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0809387137. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  19. ^ Devine, Donald (April 4, 2014). "Reagan's Philosophical Fusionism". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  20. ^ Broadwater, Luke (October 23, 2023). "'5 Families' and Factions Within Factions: Why the House G.O.P. Can't Unite". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ward 08-26-22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Punchbowl Old GOP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kight Feb142024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aratani2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Politico 2024-02-25 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).