A History Of The Republican Party

This highly readable narrative history of the Republican Party profiles the G.O.P. from its emergence as an antislavery party during the 1850s to its current place as champion of political conservatism.

When Abraham Lincoln helped create the Republican Party on the eve of the Civil War, his goal was to promote economic opportunity for all Americans, not just the slaveholding Southern planters who steered national politics. Yet, despite the egalitarian dream at the heart of its founding, the Republican Party quickly became mired in a fundamental identity crisis. Would it be the party of democratic ideals? Or would it be the party of moneyed interests? In the century and a half since, Republicans have vacillated between these two poles, with dire economic, political, and moral repercussions for the entire nation. In To Make Men Free, celebrated historian Heather Cox Richardson traces the shifting ideology of the Grand Old Party from the antebellum era to the Great Recession, revealing the insidious cycle of boom and bust that has characterized the Party since its inception. While in office, progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower revived Lincoln's vision of economic freedom and expanded the government, attacking the concentration of wealth and nurturing upward mobility. But they and others like them have been continually thwarted by powerful business interests in the Party. Their opponents appealed to Americans' latent racism and xenophobia to regain political power, linking taxation and regulation to redistribution and socialism. The results of the Party's wholesale embrace of big business are all too familiar: financial collapses like the Panic of 1893, the Great Depression in 1929, and the Great Recession in 2008. With each passing decade, with each missed opportunity and political misstep, the schism within the Republican Party has grown wider, pulling the GOP ever further from its founding principles. Expansive and authoritative, To Make Men Free is a sweeping history of the Party that was once America's greatest political hope -- and, time and time again, has proved its greatest disappointment.

Despite Florida’s current reputation as a swing state, there was a time when its Republicans were the underdogs against a Democratic powerhouse. This book tells the story of how the Republican Party of Florida became the influential force it is today. Republicans briefly came to power in Florida after the Civil War but were called “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” by residents who resented pro-Union leadership. They were so unpopular that they didn’t earn official party status in the state until 1928. Peter Dunbar and Mike Haridopolos show how, due largely to a population boom in the state and a schism in the Democratic Party, Republicans slowly started to see their ranks swell. This book chronicles the paths that led to a Republican majority in both the state Senate and House in the second half of the twentieth century and highlights successful campaigns of Florida Republicans for national positions. It explores the platforms and impact of Republican governors from Claude Kirk to Ron DeSantis. It also looks at how a robust two-party system opened up political opportunities for women and minorities and how Republicans affected pressing issues such as public education, environmental preservation, and criminal justice. As the Sunshine State enters its third decade under GOP control and partisan tensions continue to mount across the country, this book provides a timely history of the modern political era in Florida and a careful analysis of challenges the Republican Party faces in a state situated at the epicenter of the nation’s politics.

The 1850s saw in America the breakdown of the Jacksonian party system in the North and the emergence of a new sectional party--the Republicans--that succeeded the Whigs in the nation's two-party system. This monumental work uses demographic, voting, and other statistical analysis as well as the more traditional methods and sources of political history to trace the realignment of American politics in the 1850s and the birth of the Republican party. Gienapp powerfully demonstrates that the organization of the Republican party was a difficult, complex, and lengthy process and explains why, even after an inauspicious beginning, it ultimately became a potent political force. The study also reveals the crucial role of ethnocultural factors in the collapse of the second party system and thoroughly analyzes the struggle between nativism and antislavery for political dominance in the North. The volume concludes with the decisive triumph of the Republican party over the rival American party in the 1856 presidential election. Far-reaching in scope yet detailed in analysis, this is the definitive work on the formation of the Republican party in antebellum America.

Since it was formed in 1854, the Republican Party has had a tremendous impact on American history and politics. Over the years, Republicans have supported voting rights and civil rights. They have been concerned about health care and the environment. They have tried to break up big businesses and lower taxes. In this book, you’ll find some of the party’s memorable moments. You’ll read about successes and failures, heroes and scoundrels, and decisions that changed the history of the world.

Since it was formed in 1854, the Republican Party has had a tremendous impact on American History and politics. Over the years, Republicans have supported voting rights and civil rights. They have been concerned about health care and the environment. They have tried to break up big businesses and lower taxes. In this book, you'll find some of the party's memorable moments. You'll read about successes and failures, heroes and scoundrels, and decisions that changed the History of the world.