Republican Party
From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 13 min
| Republican Party | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Political party |
| Top official: | Michael Whatley, Chair |
| Year founded: | 1854 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties of the United States. It is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP. The party's main counterpart is the Democratic Party. The Grand Old Party nickname, which had previously been used by Southern Democrats, was applied to the Republican Party following the 1888 election cycle. At the time, Republicans had regained control of the presidency and Congress for the first time since the Grant administration. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed, "Let us be thankful that under the rule of the Grand Old Party ... these United States will resume the onward and upward march which the election of Grover Cleveland in 1884 partially arrested."[1]
The party's principal governing organization is the Republican National Committee (RNC), which is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention every four years.
The modern GOP supports a conservative platform on the American political spectrum, with foundations in laissez-faire capitalism, low taxes, supply-side fiscal policies and social conservatism.[1][2][3][4][5]
Party members typically but do not always or uniformly favor the following policy positions. All positions are taken from the Republican Party's 2016 platform:[6]
- "Wherever tax rates penalize thrift or discourage investment, they must be lowered. Wherever current provisions of the code are disincentives for economic growth, they must be changed";
- "We envision a worldwide multilateral agreement among nations committed to the principles of open markets";
- "We ... support the appointment of justices and judges who respect the constitutional limits on their power and respect the authority of the states to decide ... fundamental social questions";
- "Lawful gun ownership enables Americans to exercise their God-given right of self-defense for the safety of their homes, their loved ones, and their communities. ... We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle";
- "We support the development of all forms of energy that are marketable in a free economy without subsidies, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and hydropower";
- "To preserve Medicare and Medicaid, the financing of these important programs must be brought under control before they consume most of the federal budget, including national defense";
- "Our highest priority ... must be to secure our borders and all ports of entry and to enforce our immigration laws";
- "[The Affordable Care Act] must be removed and replaced with an approach based on genuine competition, patient choice, excellent care, wellness, and timely access to treatment."
Background[edit]
History[edit]
The Republican Party (GOP) was founded in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin, by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers. The fledgling party quickly surpassed the Whig Party as the principal opposition to the Democratic Party. In 1860, the GOP rose to power upon the election of former President Abraham Lincoln (R). The party maintained strength through the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The party’s official logo, the elephant, is derived from a cartoon by Thomas Nast.[2]
The website for the Republican National Committee (RNC) provides the following history of the GOP:[7]
| “ | Founding of the Republican Party
On July 6, 1854, just after the anniversary of the nation, an anti-slavery state convention was held in Jackson, Michigan. The hot day forced the large crowd outside to a nearby oak grove. At this 'Under the Oaks Convention' the first statewide candidates were selected for what would become the Republican Party. United by desire to abolish slavery, it was in Jackson that the Platform of the Under the Oaks Convention read: '…we will cooperate and be known as REPUBLICANS…' Prior to July, smaller groups had gathered in intimate settings like the schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. However, the meeting in Jackson would be the first ever mass gathering of the Republican Party. The name 'Republican' was chosen, alluding to Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party and conveying a commitment to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Party of Freedom Though popularized in a Thomas Nast cartoon, the GOP’s elephant symbol originated during the 1860 campaign, as a symbol of Republican strength. Republicans envisioned 'free soil, free speech, free labor.' Under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, the GOP became the Party of the Union as well. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but it was the entire Republican Party who freed the slaves. The 1864 Republican National Convention called for the abolition of slavery, and Congressional Republicans passed the 13th Amendment unanimously, with only a few Democrat votes. The early women’s rights movement was solidly Republican, as it was a continuation of abolitionism. They were careful not to be overly partisan, but as did Susan B. Anthony, most suffragists favored the GOP. The 19th Amendment was written by a Republican senator and garnered greater support from Republicans than from Democrats. Party of Prosperity Low taxes, sound money, regulatory restraint: these were among the commonsense economic policies established by the GOP that brought about decades of prosperity after the Civil War. Republicans encouraged innovation and rule of law. Buttressed by Republican control in Congress, the McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and Taft administrations cleared away obstacles to economic growth. President Dwight Eisenhower and congressional Republicans appreciated the fact that the private sector, not government, is the engine of wealth creation. With his bold tax-cutting agenda, President Ronald Reagan revived the economy after years of Democrat malaise. Party of Vision Theodore Roosevelt embodies our Party’s traditional concern for the environment, but the Republican commitment to the environment actually goes back much further than that. For example, the world’s first national park, Yellowstone, was established during the Ulysses Grant administration. President Eisenhower advocated groundbreaking civil rights legislation and vigorously enforced the Brown v Board of Education decision, sending the 101st Airborne to Little Rock when chaos erupted following integration at Central High. Ronald Reagan explained the difference between Democrats and Republicans in a way that cannot be improved upon: “Two visions of the future, two fundamentally different ways of governing – their government of pessimism, fear, and limits, or ours of hope, confidence, and growth. Their government sees people only as members of groups. Ours serves all the people of America as individuals. President George H.W. Bush championed community and volunteer organizations and the tremendous power they have for doing good. He famously described them as “a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.” In the first decade of the 21st century, President George W. Bush made an unprecedented commitment to helping those in need beyond our shores through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an aid program for countries devastated by HIV/AIDS. Since its inception, PEPFAR has saved over a million lives and currently provides over 5 million people with life-saving treatments. Party of Strength President Reagan and President George H.W. Bush led western democracies to victory over Soviet tyranny in the Cold War. The George W. Bush administration maintained the military second-to-none and projected that power in the fight against international terrorism. Party of the Future Drawing inspiration from our Party’s history, today’s Republicans believe individuals, not government, make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home. At the state level, the nation’s thirty Republican governors are making government more effective and efficient, spurring economic growth and striving to put more power in the hands of the people. Nationally, Republicans recognize that the slow, bloated, top-down Washington bureaucracy is out-of-date in the 21st century. Our Party works to give Americans more choices—in healthcare, in education, in energy, and in the economy—and to free individuals and families from the intrusive overreach of federal bureaucrats. The Party’s core principles of freedom and equal opportunity are as relevant today as at our founding, and they are the roadmap for American renewal in a new and interconnected world.[8] |
” |
Leadership[edit]
National Party Leadership[edit]
The following table lists the national leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Republican Party as of April 2024:[9][10][11]
| Title | Officer | State |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Michael Whatley | North Carolina |
| Co-chairwoman | Lara Trump | Florida |
| Treasurer | KC Crosbie | Kentucky |
| Secretary | Vicki Drummond | Alabama |
| Senate Republican leader | Senator Mitch McConnell | Kentucky |
| Senatorial Campaign chairman | Senator Steve Daines | Montana |
| House Republican leader | Mike Johnson | Louisiana |
| Governors Association chairwoman[12] | Governor Kim Reynolds | Iowa |
| Congressional Campaign chairman[13] | Rep. Richard Hudson | North Carolina |
State chairpersons[edit]
The following table lists the state and territory chairpersons of the Republican National Committee (RNC), as of April 2024. Click "show" on the box below to view the full list.[14]
Historical chairpersons[edit]
The following table is a historical list of past and present chairpersons of the Republican National Committee (RNC):[15]
| State Democratic Party chairs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairperson | Term | State | |||
| Edwin D. Morgan | 1856-1864 | New York | |||
| Henry J. Raymond | 1864-1866 | New York | |||
| Marcus L. Ward | 1866-1868 | New Jersey | |||
| William Claflin | 1868-1872 | Massachusetts | |||
| Edwin D. Morgan | 1872-1876 | New York | |||
| Zachariah Chandler | 1876-1879 | Michigan | |||
| J. Donald Cameron | 1879-1880 | Pennsylvania | |||
| Marshall Jewell | 1880-1883 | Connecticut | |||
| Dwight M. Sabin | 1883-1884 | Minnesota | |||
| B. F. Jones | 1887-1888 | New Jersey | |||
| Matthew S. Quay | 1888-1891 | Pennsylvania | |||
| James S. Clarkson | 1891-1892 | Iowa | |||
| Thomas H. Carter | 1892-1896 | Montana | |||
| Marcus A. Hanna | 1896-1904 | Ohio | |||
| Henry Clay Payne | 1904 | Wisconsin | |||
| George Bruce Cortelyou | 1904-1907 | New York | |||
| Harry S. New | 1907-1908 | Indiana | |||
| Frank Harris Hitchcock | 1908-1909 | Ohio | |||
| John Fremont Hill | 1910-1912 | Maine | |||
| Victor Rosewater | 1912 | Nebraska | |||
| Charles D. Hilles | 1912-1916 | New York | |||
| Will H. Hays | 1918-1921 | Indiana | |||
| John T. Adams | 1921-1924 | Iowa | |||
| William M. Butler | 1925 | Massachusetts | |||
| Hubert Work | 1928-1929 | Colorado | |||
| Claudius H. Huston | 1929-1930 | Tennessee | |||
| Simeon D. Fess | 1931 | Ohio | |||
| Everett Sanders | 1932-1934 | Indiana | |||
| Henry P. Fletcher | 1934-1936 | Pennsylvania | |||
| John Hamilton | 1936-1937 | Kansas | |||
| Joseph W. Martin, Jr. | 1940-1942 | Massachusetts | |||
| Bailey Walsh | 1942 | Tennessee | |||
| Harrison E. Spangler | 1942-1944 | Iowa | |||
| Herbert Brownell, Jr. | 1944-1946 | New York | |||
| Carroll Reece | 1946-1948 | Tennessee | |||
| Hugh D. Scott, Jr. | 1948-1949 | Pennsylvania | |||
| Guy G. Gabrielson | 1949-1952 | New Jersey | |||
| Arthur E. Summerfield | 1952-1953 | Michigan | |||
| Wesley Roberts | 1953 | Kansas | |||
| Leonard W. Hall | 1953-1957 | New York | |||
| Meade Alcorn | 1957-1959 | Connecticut | |||
| Thruston B. Morton | 1959-1961 | Kentucky | |||
| William E. Miller | 1961-1964 | New York | |||
| Dean Burch | 1964-1965 | Arizona | |||
| Ray C. Bliss | 1965-1969 | Ohio | |||
| Rogers C. B. Morton | 1969-1971 | Maryland | |||
| Robert Dole | 1971-1973 | Kansas | |||
| George H. W. Bush | 1973-1974 | Texas | |||
| Mary Louise Smith | 1974-1977 | Iowa | |||
| William E. Brock III | 1977-1981 | Tennessee | |||
| Richard Richards | 1981-1983 | Utah | |||
| Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. | 1983-1989 | Nevada | |||
| Lee Atwater | 1989-1991 | South Carolina | |||
| Clayton Keith Yeutter | 1991-1992 | Nebraska | |||
| Richard Bond | 1992-1993 | Missouri | |||
| Haley Barbour | 1993-1997 | Mississippi | |||
| Jim Nicholson | 1997-2001 | Colorado | |||
| Jim Gilmore | 2001-2002 | Virginia | |||
| Marc Racicot | 2002-2003 | Montana | |||
| Ed Gillespie | 2003-2005 | Virginia | |||
| Ken Mehlman | 2005-2007 | Washington, D.C. | |||
| Mike Duncan | 2007-2009 | Kentucky | |||
| Michael Steele | 2009-2011 | Maryland | |||
| Reince Priebus | 2011-2017 | Wisconsin | |||
| Ronna Romney McDaniel | 2017 - 2024 | Michigan | |||
Platform[edit]
The Republican National Committee (RNC) drafts a party platform every four years. The platform outlines the official principles, policy stances, and priorities of the Republican Party. It also serves as a mechanism for helping candidates up-and-down the ballot shape their messages and for holding candidates accountable to the broader party consensus.
The Republican National Committee's Executive Committee voted on June 10, 2020, to adopt the same platform the party used in 2016. The decision accompanied a series of adjustments to the itinerary and location of the Republican National Convention due to the coronavirus pandemic, including reducing the number of in-person delegates attending the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 2,500 to 336, and canceling the meeting of the Platform Committee.[16][17]
Click here to view the complete 2016 Republican Party Platform.
Conventions[edit]
2024 Republican National Convention[edit]
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2024
The 2024 Republican National Convention will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15-18, 2024.[18]
The national nominating convention is the formal ceremony during which the party officially selects its nominee and adopts a party platform. The delegates are individuals chosen to represent their state or territory at the convention.
2020 Republican National Convention[edit]
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2020
The Republican Party held its national convention from August 24-27, 2020.[19]
Limited in-person events took place in Charlotte, North Carolina.[20] On July 23, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that high-profile convention events previously moved to Jacksonville, Florida, including his nomination acceptance speech, had been canceled for public health and safety reasons. Trump formally accepted the party's nomination from the White House.[21][22][23][24]
The convention was originally scheduled to take place entirely in Charlotte but statewide restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic led to the convention's planned relocation to Jacksonville.[25] The Republican National Committee Executive Committee voted to downsize the convention in Charlotte, reducing the number of in-person delegates from 2,500 to 336. The committee also decided to adopt the 2016 platform again since the Platform Committee would not be meeting.[26]
At the convention, party delegates typically select the Republican presidential nominee and vote to adopt a platform outlining the party's policy priorities and values. According to presidential historian Tevi Troy, however, "conventions today remain largely party advertising opportunities rather than fora for real decision-making."[27]
2016 Republican National Convention[edit]
The 2016 Republican National Convention took place in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Quicken Loans Arena from July 18 to July 21, 2016.
In order to win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a candidate must win 1,237 delegates at the national convention. Republicans have three types of delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates and Republican National Committee (RNC) members. There were expected to be a total of 2,472 delegates at the Republican National Convention.
Donald Trump nomination[edit]
Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee on July 19, 2016. He received the support of 89 delegates over the required 1,237 delegates to earn the nomination. Governor of Indiana Mike Pence (R) earned the vice presidential nomination.[28]
Historical Republican National Conventions[edit]
The following table lists the Republican National Conventions organized by the Republican National Committee (RNC):[29]
Recent news[edit]
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Republican National Committee. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also[edit]
- Republican National Committee
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- The Republican Platform and RNC Platform Committee, 2016
- Republican National Convention, 2020
- The Republican Party Platform, 2020
- National Republican Senatorial Committee
- National Republican Congressional Committee
- State Republican parties
- Democratic Party
External links[edit]
- Republican National Committee
- RNC on YouTube
- RNC on Twitter
- RNC on Facebook
- U.S. Senate Republican Conference
- U.S. House Republican Conference
- National Republican Senatorial Committee
- National Republican Congressional Committee
- Republican Governors Association
- Republican State Leadership Committee
- Republican Jewish Coalition
- Republican State Leadership Committee
- National Black Republican Association
- RNC Black Republicans
- RNC Hispanic Republicans
- RNC Women Republicans
- Young Republican National Federation
- College Republican National Committee
- Republican Party Historical Society
- C-SPAN, "A History of the Republican Party"
Additional reading[edit]
- Gould, Lewis (2003). Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans, New York, New York: Random House
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 US History.org, "Origins of the GOP," accessed March 30, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Encyclopedia Britannica, "Republican Party," accessed March 30, 2014
- ↑ History.com, "Republican Party founded," accessed March 20, 2014
- ↑ PBS, "Republican Party," accessed March 30, 2014
- ↑ History Today.com, "The Republican Party Founded," accessed March 30, 2014
- ↑ [1-ben_1468872234.pdf Republican Party, "2016 Platform," accessed November 17, 2017]
- ↑ GOP.com, "Our History," accessed January 5, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Republican National Committee, "National leadership," accessed August 21, 2022
- ↑ Congessional Institute, "Republican Leadership Positions," accessed July 21, 2022
- ↑ Republican Governors Association, "About," accessed August 21, 2022
- ↑ Republican Governors Association, "About," accessed July 21, 2022
- ↑ Republican Party, "National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman," accessed July 21, 2022
- ↑ GOP, "State Leadership," accessed July 24, 2023
- ↑ The Political Graveyard, "A Database of Historic Cemeteries," accessed July 17, 2006
- ↑ CNN, "Republicans vote to significantly scale back official portion of Charlotte convention and make no changes to 2016 platform," June 11, 2020
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP votes to scale back Charlotte convention, move Trump acceptance speech," June 11, 2020
- ↑ WISN, "Dates announced for Republican National Convention in Milwaukee," December 21, 2022
- ↑ Spectrum Local News, "RNC dates set for Aug. 24 - 27, 2020 in Charlotte," October 1, 2018
- ↑ CNN, "In a reversal, Trump says he'll accept GOP nomination in North Carolina," July 28, 2020
- ↑ WSOC, "It’s official: Main event for RNC to be held in Florida instead of Charlotte," June 11, 2020
- ↑ NPR, "President Trump Cancels Jacksonville Portion Of Republican National Convention," July 23, 2020
- ↑ USA Today, "Trump cancels Jacksonville portion of Republican convention planned for August due to COVID-19," July 23, 2020
- ↑ Some, including former Republican National Committee member Curly Haugland, alleged after the 2020 convention that the RNC improperly used Rule 37(e) to proceed with a downsized and invalid national convention in August 2020. Under this interpretation, no rules were adopted for the election of delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention or the party's continued existence in 2020. Ballotpedia, "Email communication with Curly Haugland," September 9, 2020
- ↑ National Review, "Trump to Seek Alternate City to Host RNC after N.C. Gov. Says He Cannot Guarantee 'Full Capacity' Event," June 3, 2020
- ↑ The Hill, "GOP votes to scale back Charlotte convention, move Trump acceptance speech," June 11, 2020
- ↑ National Affairs, "The Evolution of Party Conventions," accessed April 30, 2019
- ↑ CNN, "It's official: Trump is Republican nominee," July 19, 2016
- ↑ About.com American History, "Republican National Conventions," accessed March 30, 2014
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