View source for Republican Party (United States)

{{redirect|GOP}}{{Infobox political party
| name             = Republican Party
| logo             = [[File:Republican Party Disc (alternate).svg|180px]] <!-- Originally File:Republican Disc.svg is in place -->
| logo_size        = 250px
| colorcode        = {{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}
| abbreviation     = GOP
| chairperson      = [[Michael Whatley]]
| leader1_title    = Co-Chair
| leader1_name     = [[Lara Trump]]
| governing_body   = [[Republican National Committee]]
| leader2_title    = [[President of the United States|U.S. President-elect]]
| leader2_name     = [[Donald Trump]]
| leader3_title    = [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President-elect]]
| leader3_name     = [[JD Vance]]
| leader4_title    = [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Leader]]
| leader4_name     = <!--We show the House majority leader, even if he's of the same party as the Speaker. Feel free to add a note (as was done at the Democratic Party page), explaining the Speaker & House majority leader's status-->[[Steve Scalise]]
| leader5_title    = [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]
| leader5_name     = [[Mike Johnson]]
| founders         = [[Alvan E. Bovay]]<ref name = college>[http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=46379&CISOSHOW=46363 ''The Origin of the Republican Party''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322223415/http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Ftp&CISOPTR=46379&CISOSHOW=46363 |date=March 22, 2012 }} by Prof. A. F. Gilman, Ripon College, WI, 1914.</ref><br />[[Henry Jarvis Raymond|Henry J. Raymond]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/a-very-mad-man/ |title=A Very Mad-Man|last=Widmer|first=Ted|department=Opinionator|access-date=2017-03-12|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 19, 2011 }}</ref>
{{Collapsible list
| title = {{nobold|''...{{nbsp}}and others''}}
| [[Horace Greeley]]
| [[John C. Frémont]]
| [[Francis Preston Blair|Francis P. Blair]]
| [[Edwin D. Morgan]]
| [[Amos Tuck]]
| [[Salmon P. Chase]]
}}
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1854|3|20}}<br />[[Ripon, Wisconsin]], U.S.
| merger           = [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Political Parties {{!}} Northern Illinois University Digital Library |url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/lincoln/topics/message/parties |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=digital.lib.niu.edu |archive-date=May 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517050217/https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/lincoln/topics/message/parties |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howe |first=Daniel Walker |date=Winter 1995 |title=Why Abraham Lincoln Was a Whig |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.2629860.0016.105 |journal=Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association |volume=16 |issue=1 |hdl=2027/spo.2629860.0016.105 |issn=1945-7987}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Context: The Breakdown of the Party System {{!}} Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teaching-resource/historical-context-breakdown-party-system |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=www.gilderlehrman.org |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518041908/https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teaching-resource/historical-context-breakdown-party-system |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="e238">{{cite web | title=Major American Political Parties of the 19th Century | website=Norwich University Resource Library | url=https://online.norwich.edu/online/about/resource-library/major-american-political-parties-19th-century | access-date=2024-05-28}}</ref><br />[[Free Soil Party]]<ref>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}}.</ref><br />[[Anti-Nebraska movement]]<ref>James M. McPherson, ''Ordeal by Fire: Volume I. The Coming of War'', second edition ({{ISBN|0-07045837-5}}) p. 94.</ref>
| headquarters     = 310 First Street SE,<br />[[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| student_wing     = [[College Republicans]]<br />[[High School Republican National Federation]]
| youth_wing       = {{unbulleted list|[[Young Republicans]]|[[Teen Age Republicans]]}}
| womens_wing      = [[National Federation of Republican Women]]
| wing1_title      = Overseas wing
| wing1            = [[Republicans Overseas]]
| position         = <!--Please do not alter this without consensus on the talk page. Please do not change "center" to "centre" - this article is written in American English.-->{{nowrap|[[Centre-right politics|Center-right]]<ref>Sources for '''center-right''':
* {{cite journal |last1=Gidron |first1=Norm |last2=Zilbatt |first2=Daniel |title=Center-Right Political Parties in Advanced Democracies |journal=[[Annual Review of Political Science]] |date=2019 |volume=22 |pages=18–19, 27–28 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-090717-092750 |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dziblatt/files/gidron_and_ziblatt_2019.pdf |access-date=June 17, 2024 |issn=1094-2939 |archive-date=January 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123203039/https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dziblatt/files/gidron_and_ziblatt_2019.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Keckler |first1=Charles |last2=Rozell |first2=Mark J. |title=The Libertarian Right and the Religious Right |journal=[[Perspectives on Political Science]] |date=April 3, 2015 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=92–99 |doi=10.1080/10457097.2015.1011476 |quote=To better understand the structure of cooperation and competition between these groups, we construct an anatomy of the American center-right, which identifies them as incipient factions within the conservative movement and its political instrument, the Republican Party.}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Todd |title=Authoritarian attitudes and support for radical right populists |journal=[[Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties]] |date=October 2, 2019 |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=448–464 |doi=10.1080/17457289.2019.1666270 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/9883946 |quote=A strict two-party system, such as the United States, does not fit the tripolar logic. If authoritarian attitudes exist in an electorate that effectively has no potential for anything but a choice between one centre-left and one centre-right party, people with such attitudes may find a place in one of the two dominant parties. }}
* {{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Neil |last2=Keith |first2=Daniel |last3=Vasilopoulou |first3=Sofia |last4=Sindre |first4=Gyda M. |title=The Routledge Handbook of Political Parties |date=March 8, 2023 |page=140 |doi=10.4324/9780429263859 |isbn=978-0-429-26385-9 |url=https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/82937/1/Alexiadou_Greene_RHPP_2022_Parties_in_government_and_in_coalitions.pdf |quote=A primary driver of comparisons between the USA and other Anglosphere centre-right parties appears to be cultural and language affinities.}}</ref> to [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]<ref>Sources for '''right-wing''':
* {{Citation |last=McKay |first=David |title=Facilitating Donald Trump: Populism, the Republican Party and Media Manipulation |date=2020 |work=Authoritarian Populism and Liberal Democracy |pages=107–121 |editor-last=Crewe |editor-first=Ivor |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7 |access-date=2024-06-13 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7 |isbn=978-3-030-17997-7 |quote="the Republicans changed from being a right of centre coalition of moderates and conservatives to an unambiguously right-wing party that was hostile not only to liberal views but also to any perspective that clashed with the core views of an ideologically cohesive conservative cadre of party faithfuls" |editor2-last=Sanders |editor2-first=David }}
* {{cite web |last=Greenberg |first=David |date=2021-01-27 |title=An Intellectual History of Trumpism |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trumpism-intellectual-history-populism-paleoconservatives-214518/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Politico Magazine |quote="The larger ideology that the president-elect represents is a post-Iraq War, post-crash, post-Barack Obama update of what used to be called paleoconservatism: On race and immigration, where the alt-right affinities are most pronounced, its populist ideas are carrying an already right-wing party even further right." |archive-date=April 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411023158/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trumpism-intellectual-history-populism-paleoconservatives-214518/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal | last1=Wineinger | first1=Catherine | last2=Nugent | first2=Mary K. | title=Framing Identity Politics: Right-Wing Women as Strategic Party Actors in the UK and US | journal=Journal of Women, Politics & Policy | volume=41 | issue=1 | date=2020-01-02 | issn=1554-477X | doi=10.1080/1554477X.2020.1698214 | page=5 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jessoula |first1=Matteo |last2=Natili |first2=Marcello |last3=Pavolini |first3=Emmanuele |title='Exclusionary welfarism': a new programmatic agenda for populist right-wing parties? |journal=Contemporary Politics |date=8 August 2022 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=447–449 |doi=10.1080/13569775.2021.2011644 |language=en |issn=1356-9775}}</ref>}}
| symbol           =
| ideology         = <!-- Do not change without consensus at talk page. -->
{{unbulleted list|class=nowrap|
 | '''Majority:'''
 | [[Conservatism in the United States|Conservatism]]<ref name="Smith-2021">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Robert C. |date=2021 |title=Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and the Future of the Republican Party and Conservatism in America |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/713662 |journal=[[American Political Thought]] |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=283–289 |doi=10.1086/713662 |s2cid=233401184 |access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref>
}}
'''[[Factions in the Republican Party (United States)|Factions]]:'''{{unbulleted list|class=nowrap|
 | [[Centrism#United States|Centrism]]<ref name="Republican feud over 'root canal' spending cuts raises US government shutdown risk">{{cite web |last1=Morgan |first1=David |title=Republican feud over 'root canal' spending cuts raises US government shutdown risk |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-feud-over-root-canal-spending-cuts-raises-us-govt-shutdown-risk-2023-08-21/ |website=[[Reuters]] |access-date=May 13, 2024 |date=August 21, 2023 |archive-date=October 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001153610/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-feud-over-root-canal-spending-cuts-raises-us-govt-shutdown-risk-2023-08-21/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
  | [[Christian right]]{{refn|
* {{cite book |author=<!--Not stated-->|editor-last1=Baker|editor-first1=Paula|editor-last2=Critchlow|editor-first2=Donald T.|date=2020 |title=The Oxford Handbook of American Political History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd7QDwAAQBAJ |location=New York, New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=Chapter 15: Religion and American Politics |pages=278–294 |isbn=9780199341788}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Lewis |first=Andrew R. |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics |title=The Inclusion-Moderation Thesis: The U.S. Republican Party and the Christian Right |url=https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-665 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.665|date=August 28, 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-022863-7 |quote=Considering all the evidence, the most apt description is that conservative Christianity has transformed the Republican Party, and the Republican Party has transformed conservative Christianity ... With its inclusion in the Republican Party, the Christian right has moderated on some aspects ... At the same time, the Christian right has altered Republican politics.}}
* {{cite journal |author-last=Perry |author-first=Samuel L. |date=2022 |title=American Religion in the Era of Increasing Polarization |journal=[[Annual Review of Sociology]] |location=San Mateo, California |publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=87–107 |doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-031021-114239 |doi-access=free |issn=0360-0572 |quote=Unaffiliated Americans were not abandoning orthodox beliefs, but rather, the increase in "no religion" was confined to political moderates and liberals who were likely reacting to the growing alignment of Christian identity with the religious Right and Republicans.|quote-page=91}}3
* {{cite book |author=<!--Not stated-->|editor-last1=Berlet |editor-first1=Chip |editor-last2=Hardisty|editor-first2=Berlet|date=2019 |edition=1 |title=Trumping Democracy: From Reagan to the Alt-right |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aL8ktAEACAAJ |location=London |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Drifting Right and going wrong: An overview of the US political Right |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315438412-9/drifting-right-going-wrong-1-chip-berlet-jean-hardisty|page=91 |doi=10.4324/9781315438412-9 |isbn=9781315438412|quote=Within the Republican Party, the Christian Right competes with more secular, upstart free market libertarianism and button-down business conservatism for dominance.}}
* {{cite journal |author-last=Gannon |author-first=Thomas M. |date=July–September 1981 |title=The New Christian Right in America as a Social and Political Force |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1981_num_52_1_2226 |journal=[[Archives de sciences sociales des religions]] |location=[[Paris]] |publisher=[[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences|Éditions de l'EHESS]] |volume=26 |issue=52–1 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.3406/assr.1981.2226 |doi-access=free |issn=0335-5985 |jstor=30125411}}
* {{cite journal |author-last=Ben Barka |author-first=Mokhtar |date=December 2012 |title=The New Christian Right's relations with Israel and with the American Jews: the mid-1970s onward |journal=E-Rea |location=[[Aix-en-Provence]] and [[Marseille]] |publisher=[[Centre pour l'Édition Électronique Ouverte]] on behalf of [[Aix-Marseille University]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.4000/erea.2753 |doi-access=free |issn=1638-1718 |s2cid=191364375}}
* {{cite book |author1-last=Palmer |author1-first=Randall |author2-last=Winner |author2-first=Lauren F. |year=2005 |origyear=2002 |chapter=Protestants and Homosexuality |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMVH6upbI9QC&pg=PA149 |title=Protestantism in America |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |series=Columbia Contemporary American Religion Series |pages=149–178 |isbn=9780231111317 |lccn=2002023859}}
* {{cite web|url=http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Cright.htm|title=Content Pages of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Social Science|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230556/http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Cright.htm|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}
* {{cite magazine |author-last=Trollinger |author-first=William |date=October 8, 2019 |title=Fundamentalism turns 100, a landmark for the Christian Right |url=http://theconversation.com/fundamentalism-turns-100-a-landmark-for-the-christian-right-123651 |url-status=live |magazine=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |issn=2201-5639 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507013412/https://theconversation.com/fundamentalism-turns-100-a-landmark-for-the-christian-right-123651 |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |access-date=July 3, 2022|quote=The emergent Christian Right attached itself to the Republican Party, which was more aligned with its members' central commitments than the Democrats ... By the time Falwell died, in 2007, the Christian Right had become the most important constituency in the Republican Party. It played a crucial role in electing Donald Trump in 2016.}}
* {{cite news |last=Thomson-DeVeaux |first=Amelia |date=October 27, 2022 |title=How Much Power Do Christians Really Have? |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-power-do-christians-really-have/ |url-status=live |work=FiveThirtyEight |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240410175350/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-power-do-christians-really-have/ |archive-date=April 10, 2024 |access-date=June 16, 2024 |quote=In the 1980s and 1990s, as white Christian conservatives forged an alliance with the Republican Party, Christianity itself started to become a partisan symbol. Identifying as a Christian was no longer just about theology, community or family history — to many Americans, the label became uncomfortably tangled with the Christian Right's political agenda, which was itself becoming increasingly hard to separate from the GOP's political agenda.}}
}}
 | [[Libertarian Republican|Libertarianism]]<ref name="Wilbur-2012">{{cite book|last=Wilbur |first=Miller |date=2012 |title=The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America |volume=3 |chapter=Libertarianism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYME6Z35nyAC |location=[[Thousand Oaks, California]] |publisher=[[Sage Publishing|SAGE Publications]] |pages=1006{{ndash}}1007 |isbn=978-1-4129-8876-6 |quote=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.}}</ref>
 | [[Right-wing populism]]<ref name="Arhin-2023"/>
}}
| affiliation1_title = [[Congressional caucuses|Caucuses]]
| affiliation1     = [[Problem Solvers Caucus]]<br />[[Republican Governance Group]]<br />[[Republican Main Street Partnership#Affiliated members of Congress|Republican Main Street Caucus]]<br />[[Republican Study Committee]]<br />[[Freedom Caucus]]
| international    = {{Tree list}}
* [[International Democracy Union]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://idu.org/member-parties/|title=Members|publisher=IDU|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716031006/http://idu.org/member-parties/|archive-date=July 16, 2015}}</ref>
** [[Asia Pacific Democracy Union]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Regional Unions |url=http://www.idu.org/regional_list.aspx?id=1 |website=[[International Democracy Union]] |access-date=August 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617014146/http://www.idu.org/regional_list.aspx?id=1 |archive-date=June 17, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
** [[European Conservatives and Reformists Party]] (global partner)<ref>{{cite web |title=About - ECR Party |url=https://ecrparty.eu/about/ |website=[[European Conservatives and Reformists Party]] |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=August 4, 2022 |archive-date=July 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701085842/https://ecrparty.eu/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Tree list/end}}
| colors           = {{color box|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Red]]
| seats1_title     = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
| seats1           = {{composition bar|49|100|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats2_title     = [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| seats2           = {{composition bar|220|435|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats3_title     = [[List of current United States governors#State governors|State Governors]]
| seats3           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|27|50|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats4_title     = [[State legislature (United States)|State upper chambers]]
| seats4           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|1110|1973|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats5_title     = [[State legislature (United States)|State lower chambers]]
| seats5           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|2948|5413|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats6_title     = [[List of current United States governors#Territory governors|Territorial Governors]]
| seats6           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|0|5|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats7_title     = [[Territories of the United States#Governments and legislatures|Territorial upper chambers]]
| seats7           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|12|97|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| seats8_title     = [[Territories of the United States#Governments and legislatures|Territorial lower chambers]]
| seats8           = <!--Don't change numbers until terms begin--> {{composition bar|9|91|hex={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}}}
| website          = {{Official URL}}
| country          = United States
| leader3_name     = [[Mitch McConnell]]
| leader3_title    = [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Minority Leader]]
}}
The '''United States Republican Party''', also known as the '''GOP''' ('''Grand Old Party''') is one of the [[Two-party system|two biggest]] [[political parties in the United States]]. Since the mid-1850's, the party's main opponent has been the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Both political parties have controlled American politics ever since.

The party sits at the [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] of the [[Politics of the United States|American political spectrum]], with the Democratic Party being positioned to their [[Centre-left politics|left]]. However, there also factions of the Republican Party that are [[center-right]] to [[Far-right politics|far-right]]. 

Ideologically, Republicans favor fiscal and social conservatism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Robert C.|year=2021|title=Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and the Future of the Republican Party and Conservatism in America|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/713662?journalCode=apt|journal=American Political Thought|volume=10|issue=2|pages=283–289|doi=10.1086/713662|s2cid=233401184}}</ref> It opposes [[Abortion debate|abortion]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yahoo is part of the Yahoo family of brands|url=https://consent.yahoo.com/v2/collectConsent?sessionId=3_cc-session_302c16fe-6669-4ad2-a5a9-a48bf064f4e0|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130195811/https://consent.yahoo.com/v2/collectConsent?sessionId=3_cc-session_302c16fe-6669-4ad2-a5a9-a48bf064f4e0|archive-date=2023-01-30|access-date=2023-01-30|website=consent.yahoo.com}}</ref> [[euthanasia]], [[Labour union|labor unions]], [[affirmative action]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Media Matters|date=10 June 2020|title=Ben Shapiro: "The only aspects of American life that are legally racist are legally racist on behalf of minority groups"|url=https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-only-aspects-american-life-are-legally-racist-are-legally-racist-behalf|access-date=2023-01-30|website=Media Matters for America|language=en}}</ref> [[Marijuana|marijuana legalization]], and a high [[minimum wage]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Stolberg|first1=Sheryl Gay|last2=Smialek|first2=Jeanna|date=2019-07-18|title=House Passes Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $15, a Victory for Liberals|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/politics/minimum-wage.html|access-date=2023-01-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It advocates for [[Tax|low taxes]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Appelbaum|first=Binyamin|date=2017-12-02|title=Debt Concerns, Once a Core Republican Tenet, Take a Back Seat to Tax Cuts|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/us/politics/tax-cuts-deficit-debt.html|access-date=2023-01-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[limited government]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jacobs|first1=Nicholas F.|last2=King|first2=Desmond|last3=Milkis|first3=Sidney M.|date=June 2019|title=Building a Conservative State: Partisan Polarization and the Redeployment of Administrative Power|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/building-a-conservative-state-partisan-polarization-and-the-redeployment-of-administrative-power/E4CF0AF5BF4878AE51A0D10C6140B890|journal=Perspectives on Politics|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=453–469|doi=10.1017/S1537592718003511|issn=1537-5927|s2cid=181764492}}</ref> [[gun rights]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Travis|date=2017-06-22|title=1. The demographics of gun ownership|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/|access-date=2023-01-30|website=Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Free market|free markets]], and [[free trade]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/congres_bal_2000_00_4343|title=Congressional trade votes : from NAFTA approval to fast-track defeat|last=Baldwin|first=Robert E.|date=2000|publisher=Washington, DC : Institute for International Economics|others=Georgetown University Law Library|isbn=978-0-88132-267-5}}</ref> It did, however, hold [[Protectionism|protectionist]] opinions during its early days,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Frankel|first=Jeffrey|title=The Republicans have a long history of protectionism|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-republicans-have-a-long-history-of-protectionism-2018-06-14|access-date=2023-01-30|website=MarketWatch|language=EN-US}}</ref> for example during [[Theodore Roosevelt]]’s presidency. It also held anti-free trade opinions during Donald Trump’s presidency.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Is the GOP Still the Party of Free Trade?|url=https://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/publications/is-the-gop-still-the-party-of-free-trade/|access-date=2023-01-30|website=www.reaganfoundation.org|language=en}}</ref>

The symbol of the Republican party is the [[elephant]]. This symbol was first used in 1874 in a political cartoon by [[Thomas Nast]].<ref>[http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Year=2003&Month=November&Date=7 Cartoon of the Day: "The Third-Term Panic"]. Retrieved on 2008-09-01.</ref>

The [[Republican National Committee]], or the RNC, is the main organization for the Republican Party in all 50 states. The Republican Party is not the same political party as the [[Democratic-Republican Party]]. A state where most voters vote for Republican politicians is called a [[Red states and blue states|red state]].

==History==
[[File:NastRepublicanElephant.jpg|300px|thumb|left|1874 cartoon in ''Harpers Weekly'', first use of the elephant as symbol for the Republican party.]]
The Republican Party was founded in [[Ripon, Wisconsin]] in 1853,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/republican-party-founded |title=Republican Party founded |publisher=History.com |access-date=September 21, 2014}}</ref> with the help of [[Francis Preston Blair]]. The Republican Party was formed by people who did not like the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] of 1854, which would let each territory allow [[slavery]]. The Republican Party was founded by past members of the [[Free Soil Party]] and the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] who wanted to stop the expansion of slavery. The founders of the Republican Party wanted to stop the expansion of slavery because they believed it was against the ideals of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] and [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Some founders of the Republican Party wanted to [[Abolitionism|abolish slavery]] everywhere in the United States. The Republican Party's first candidate for president of the United States was [[John C. Frémont]] in 1856.

As the Whig Party collapsed, the Republicans became one of two major political parties in the United States (the Democratic Party was the other major political party). In 1860 [[Abraham Lincoln]], the first Republican president, was [[1860 United States presidential election|elected]]. For the rest of the second half of the [[19th century]], the country had mostly Republican presidents. From 1860 until 1912 the Republicans lost the presidential election just twice (non-consecutively to Democrat [[Grover Cleveland]] in 1884 and 1892).

Republicans believed in [[protectionism]] (the belief that raising [[tax]]es on trades with other countries would protect the [[economy]]) during the second half of the 19th century and during the early half of the [[20th century]].

After [[World War I]], the [[1920s]] had three Republican presidents: [[Warren Harding]], [[Calvin Coolidge]], and [[Herbert Hoover]]. It was called the Republican Decade for that reason. Harding and Coolidge made a plan for the economy which lowered taxes, made the [[Federal government of the United States|government]] spend less [[money]], and got rid of rules and [[law]]s that affected the economy.

Near the end of the 1920s, the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|stock market crashed]] and the [[Great Depression]] began. During the Great Depression, the Republican Party became less popular. No Republicans were president between 1933 and 1953, when [[Dwight Eisenhower]] began his first of two consecutive terms as president (he was [[1956 United States presidential election|re-elected]] in 1956). [[Richard Nixon]] lost the [[1960 United States presidential election|election]] in 1960, but was [[1968 United States presidential election|elected]] president on the Republican ticket in 1968 and [[1972 United States presidential election|again]] in 1972.

[[Ronald Reagan]], an [[actor]] and conservative [[political activist]], was [[1980 United States presidential election|elected]] as president in 1980. Ronald Reagan became the first Republican president who was a former member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Ronald Reagan served two terms and his successor [[George H.W. Bush]] served one term. Reagan wanted fewer laws to affect the economy, and wanted the [[Military of the United States|military]] to be stronger.

[[Bill Clinton]] (a Democrat) was [[1992 United States presidential election|elected]] president in 1992, and [[1996 United States presidential election|re-elected]] in 1996. However, a new [[United States Congress|Congress]] was elected in [[1996|1994]], and Republicans gained control of both the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the [[United States Senate|Senate]]. They voted against many of Clinton's ideas and proposed ideas of their own such as a [[line-item veto]] and a [[balanced budget amendment]]. In [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]], [[George W. Bush]] was elected president, defeating [[Al Gore]] in a very close election. Bush was re-elected in [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]].

After elections held in 2006, Republicans lost control of Congress. Democrat [[Barack Obama]] was [[2008 United States presidential election|elected]] in 2008 and [[2012 United States presidential election|re-elected]] in 2012. Republican [[John Boehner]] was elected the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]] in 2010 and re-elected in 2012. In 2014, Republicans gained control of the Senate and the House. Boehner resigned in early October 2015 and was eventually succeeded by [[Paul Ryan]] of [[Wisconsin]] on October 29, 2015. On November 9, 2016, [[Donald Trump]] was [[United States presidential election, 2016|elected]] president, defeating Democrat [[Hillary Clinton]] in the [[U.S. Electoral College|Electoral College]]. Trump was the first Republican to take office as president since January 20, 2001, when [[George W. Bush]] was inaugurated. The Republicans lost the House and won the Senate in 2018. Paul Ryan retired in 2019 and was succeeded by [[Nancy Pelosi]], who is a member of the Democratic Party.

In [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]], the Republicans lost the presidency when [[Joe Biden]] defeated Donald Trump. In 2022, they were able to get control back of the House of Representatives, but not the Senate.

== Republican beliefs ==
Currently, the Republican Party is identified by [[classical liberalism]], [[conservatism]], and [[right-wing]] policies.

Not all Republicans believe in the same things, but generally, these are the things many Republicans support in all:
*Small government
*[[Federalism]] and [[subsidiarity]] 
* [[Capitalism]], [[laissez-faire]], and [[supply-side economics]]
* Reduced government spending
* Aiding the State of Israel, the United States' allies, and defending American interests in the Middle East.
* Lower taxes
* A strong military and strong national defense with increased military spending
* The [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|2nd Amendment]] and allowing people to own guns
* Educational choice, e.g. a voucher system such as the [[D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program]].
* Oppose [[Illegal immigrant|illegal immigration]] and support of deportation
* Oppose government-run [[health care]]
* Oppose letting students go to [[college]] or [[university]] for free
* Oppose declaring [[Washington D.C.]] an official state.   
* Oppose [[abortion]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beer |first=Tommy |title=Majority Of Republicans Believe The QAnon Conspiracy Theory Is Partly Or Mostly True, Survey Finds |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/02/majority-of-republicans-believe-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory-is-partly-or-mostly-true-survey-finds/ |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

Most supporters for the Republican Party come from states in the [[Southern United States|Southern]], [[Deep South]], parts of the Midwest, and the rural Northeast areas of the US, as well as from [[Montana]]; though they come from all over the United States, including the northern portion of California.

== List of republican presidents ==
{| class="sortable wikitable"
! style="text-align:center;" |<abbr title="Order of presidency">#</abbr>
! style="text-align:center;" |President
! style="text-align:center;" |Portrait
! style="text-align:center;" |State
! style="text-align:center;" |Term start
! style="text-align:center;" |Term end
! style="text-align:center;" |Years in office
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|16
|{{sortname|Abraham|Lincoln}} (1809–1865)
|[[File:Abraham Lincoln O-77 matte collodion print.jpg|85x85px]]
|[[Illinois]]
|[[First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln|March 4, 1861]]
|[[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|April 15, 1865]]{{efn|Died in office.|name=died}}
|{{ayd|1861|3|4|1865|4|15}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|18
|{{sortname|Ulysses S.|Grant}} (1822–1885)
|[[File:Ulysses_S_Grant_by_Brady_c1870-restored.jpg|81x81px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[First inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant|March 4, 1869]]
|[[Inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes|March 4, 1877]]
|{{ayd|1869|3|4|1877|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|19
|{{sortname|Rutherford B.|Hayes}} (1822–1893)
|[[File:President Rutherford Hayes 1870 - 1880.jpg|79x79px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[Inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes|March 4, 1877]]
|[[Inauguration of James A. Garfield|March 4, 1881]]
|{{ayd|1877|3|4|1881|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|20
|{{sortname|James A.|Garfield}} (1831–1881)
|[[File:James_Abram_Garfield,_photo_portrait_seated.jpg|82x82px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[Inauguration of James A. Garfield|March 4, 1881]]
|[[Assassination of James A. Garfield|September 19, 1881]]{{efn|Died in office.|name=died}}
|{{ayd|1881|3|4|1881|9|19}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|21
|{{sortname|Chester A.|Arthur}} (1829–1886)
|[[File:Chester_A._Arthur_portrait_c1882.jpg|80x80px]]
|[[New York (state)|New York]]
|[[Inauguration of Chester A. Arthur|September 19, 1881]]
|[[First inauguration of Grover Cleveland|March 4, 1885]]
|{{ayd|1881|9|19|1885|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|23
|{{sortname|Benjamin|Harrison}} (1833–1901)
|[[File:Benjamin_Harrison,_head_and_shoulders_bw_photo,_1896.jpg|82x82px]]
|[[Indiana]]
|[[Inauguration of Benjamin Harrison|March 4, 1889]]
|[[Second inauguration of Grover Cleveland|March 4, 1893]]
|{{ayd|1889|3|4|1893|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|25
|{{sortname|William|McKinley}} (1843–1901)
|[[File:Mckinley.jpg|81x81px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[First inauguration of William McKinley|March 4, 1897]]
|[[Assassination of William McKinley|September 14, 1901]]{{efn|Died in office.|name=died}}
|{{ayd|1897|3|4|1901|9|14}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|26
|{{sortname|Theodore|Roosevelt}} (1858–1919)
|[[File:Theodore Roosevelt by the Pach Bros.jpg|79x79px]]
|[[New York (state)|New York]]
|[[First inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt|September 14, 1901]]
|[[Inauguration of William Howard Taft|March 4, 1909]]
|{{ayd|1901|9|14|1909|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|27
|{{sortname|William Howard|Taft}} (1857–1930)
|[[File:William_Howard_Taft,_head-and-shoulders_portrait,_facing_front.jpg|87x87px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[Inauguration of William Howard Taft|March 4, 1909]]
|[[First inauguration of Woodrow Wilson|March 4, 1913]]
|{{ayd|1909|3|4|1913|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|29
|{{sortname|Warren G.|Harding}} (1865–1923)
|[[File:Warren_G_Harding-Harris_&_Ewing.jpg|88x88px]]
|[[Ohio]]
|[[Inauguration of Warren G. Harding|March 4, 1921]]
|[[Death of Warren G. Harding|August 2, 1923]]{{efn|Died in office.|name=died}}
|{{ayd|1921|3|4|1923|8|2}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|30
|{{sortname|Calvin|Coolidge}} (1872–1933)
|[[File:Calvin_Coolidge_cph.3g10777_(cropped).jpg|87x87px]]
|[[Massachusetts]]
|[[First inauguration of Calvin Coolidge|August 2, 1923]]
|[[Inauguration of Herbert Hoover|March 4, 1929]]
|{{ayd|1923|8|2|1929|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|31
|{{sortname|Herbert|Hoover}} (1874–1964)
|[[File:President_Hoover_portrait.jpg|87x87px]]
|[[California]]
|[[Inauguration of Herbert Hoover|March 4, 1929]]
|[[First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt|March 4, 1933]]
|{{ayd|1929|3|4|1933|3|4}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|34
|{{sortname|Dwight D.|Eisenhower}} (1890–1969)
|[[File:Dwight_D._Eisenhower,_official_photo_portrait,_May_29,_1959.jpg|81x81px]]
|[[Texas]]
|[[First inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower|January 20, 1953]]
|[[Inauguration of John F. Kennedy|January 20, 1961]]
|{{ayd|1953|1|20|1961|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|37
|{{sortname|Richard|Nixon}} (1913–1994)
|[[File:Richard_M._Nixon,_ca._1935_-_1982_-_NARA_-_530679_(3x4).jpg|87x87px]]
|[[California]]
|[[First inauguration of Richard Nixon|January 20, 1969]]
|[[Watergate scandal|August 9, 1974]]{{efn|Resigned from office.}}
|{{ayd|1969|1|20|1974|8|9}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|38
|{{sortname|Gerald|Ford}} (1913–2006)
|[[File:Gerald_Ford_presidential_portrait_(cropped_2).jpg|87x87px]]
|Michigan
|[[Inauguration of Gerald Ford|August 9, 1974]]
|[[Inauguration of Jimmy Carter|January 20, 1977]]
|{{ayd|1974|8|9|1977|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|40
|{{sortname|Ronald|Reagan}} (1911–2004)
|[[File:Official_Portrait_of_President_Reagan_1981-cropped.jpg|85x85px]]
|[[California]]
|[[First inauguration of Ronald Reagan|January 20, 1981]]
|[[Inauguration of George H. W. Bush|January 20, 1989]]
|{{ayd|1981|1|20|1989|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|41
|{{sortname|George H. W.|Bush}} (1924–2018)
|[[File:George_H._W._Bush_presidential_portrait_(cropped_2).jpg|85x85px]]
|[[Texas]]
|[[Inauguration of George H. W. Bush|January 20, 1989]]
|[[First inauguration of Bill Clinton|January 20, 1993]]
|{{ayd|1989|1|20|1993|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|43
|{{sortname|George W.|Bush}} (born 1946)
|[[File:George-W-Bush.jpeg|86x86px]]
|[[Texas]]
|[[First inauguration of George W. Bush|January 20, 2001]]
|[[First inauguration of Barack Obama|January 20, 2009]]
|{{ayd|2001|1|20|2009|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|45
|{{sortname|Donald|Trump}} (born 1946)
|[[File:Donald_Trump_official_portrait_(cropped).jpg|90x90px]]
|[[New York (state)|New York]]
|[[First inauguration of Donald Trump|January 20, 2017]]
|[[Inauguration of Joe Biden|January 20, 2021]]
|{{ayd|2017|1|20|2021|1|20}}
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|<!--47--> Elect
|{{sortname|Donald|Trump}} (born 1946)
|[[File:Donald_Trump_official_portrait_(cropped).jpg|90x90px]]
|[[Florida]]
|[[Second inauguration of Donald Trump|January 20, 2017]]
|
|{{ayd|2025|1|20}}
|}

==List of famous Republicans==
*[[Buzz Aldrin]] (US astronaut)
*[[Susan B. Anthony]] (women's rights activist, abolitionist activist)
*[[Clara Barton]] (Union Army Civil War nurse, humanitarian, Red Cross founder)
* [[Jeb Bush]] (Former governor of Florida, son of Former President George H. W. Bush and brother of Former President George W. Bush)
* [[Jan Brewer]] (Former governor of Arizona)
*[[Ben Carson|Dr. Ben Carson]] (U.S. Secretary of HUD under President Trump, retired neurosurgeon)
* [[Dick Cheney]] (Vice President under President George W. Bush)
* [[Chris Christie]] (Former Governor of New Jersey)
*[[Bing Crosby]] (American singer and actor)
* [[Thomas Dewey]] (Presidential candidate in 1944 and 1948)
* [[Bob Dole]] (presidential candidate in 1996, former Senator from Kansas)
*[[Elizabeth Dole]] (former Senator from North Carolina, former U.S. Secretary of Labor under President George Bush, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Reagan)
*[[John Ford]] (American film director and producer)
* [[Newt Gingrich]] (former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives)
* [[Rudy Giuliani]] (former mayor of New York City, former presidential candidate, former US attorney)
* [[Barry Goldwater]] (presidential candidate in 1964, former Senator from Arizona)
* [[Chuck Hagel]] (a former senator from Nebraska, former U.S. Secretary of Defense)
*[[Nikki Haley]] (UN Ambassador, former Governor of South Carolina)
*[[Sean Hannity]] (a well-known talk show host on Fox News)
* [[Dennis Hastert]] (former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives)
*[[Orrin Hatch]] (former President Pro-tempore of the Senate)
* [[Jack Kemp]] (vice-presidential candidate in 1996)
*[[Jeane Kirkpatrick]] (former UN Ambassador, professor)
* [[Henry Kissinger]] (former U.S. Secretary of State)
* [[Rush Limbaugh]] (a radio talk show host)
* [[Richard Lugar]] (former senator from Indiana)
* [[John McCain]] (presidential candidate in 2008, former Senator from Arizona)
* [[Mitch McConnell]] (Senate Majority Leader)
* [[Sarah Palin]] (vice presidential candidate in 2008, former Governor of Alaska)
*[[Rand Paul|Dr. Rand Paul]] (Senator from Kentucky, physician)
*[[Ron Paul|Dr. Ron Paul]] (former U.S. Congressman from Texas, physician, author)
* [[Colin Powell]] (general during Persian Gulf War, Secretary of State)
*[[Paul Robeson]] (American singer, actor, and Civil Rights activist)
* [[Nelson Rockefeller]] (Vice President under President Gerald Ford, former Governor of New York)
* [[Mitt Romney]] (former Governor of Massachusetts, presidential candidate in 2012, Senator from Utah)
* [[Paul Ryan]] (former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, vice presidential candidate in 2012, U.S. Congressman)
* [[Condoleezza Rice]] (former U.S. Secretary of State)
* [[Karl Rove]] (former strategist to President George W. Bush)
* [[Donald Rumsfeld]] (U.S. Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush)
* [[Mark Sanford]] (Governor of South Carolina)
*[[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] (American actor, former governor of California)
*[[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] (abolitionist activist, women's rights activist)
* [[Kenneth Starr]] (U.S. prosecutor of Democrat Bill Clinton)
* [[Michael Steele]] (Former chairman of the Republican National Committee)
* [[Ted Stevens]] (Former Senator from Alaska)
*[[Mary Edwards Walker|Dr. Mary Edwards Walker]] (Union Army Civil War doctor and surgeon, abolitionist activist, women's rights activist)
*[[John Wayne]] (American actor)

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Other websites==
{{commonscat}}
*{{official website}}

{{authority control}}
[[Category:Republican Party (United States)| ]]
[[Category:1854 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Conservative parties]]