Republican Party (United States)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Republican Party (United States)}}

=== 19th century ===
{{Further|Third Party System|National Union Party (United States)}}
[[File:Musical Fund Hall Philly.jpg|thumb|The Republican Party hosted its first [[Republican National Convention]] at [[Musical Fund Hall]] at 808 [[Locust Street]] in [[Philadelphia]] from June 17 to 19, 1856, nominating [[John C. Frémont]] as its presidential candidate in the [[1856 United States presidential election|1856 presidential election]].]]
[[File:CharlesRJennison.jpg|thumb|[[Charles R. Jennison]], an anti-slavery militia leader associated with the [[Jayhawkers]] from [[Kansas]] and an early Republican politician in the region]]

In 1854, the Republican Party was founded in the [[Northern United States]] by forces opposed to the expansion of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], ex-[[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]], and ex-[[Free Soilers]]. The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|the dominant Democratic Party]] and the briefly popular [[Know Nothing]] Party. The party grew out of opposition to the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], which repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]] and opened [[Kansas Territory|the Kansas]] and [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska Territories]] to slavery and future admission as slave states.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Kansas_Nebraska_Act.htm|title=U.S. Senate: The Kansas-Nebraska Act|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329002617/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Kansas_Nebraska_Act.htm|archive-date=March 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/wealthy-activist-who-helped-turn-bleeding-kansas-free-180964494/|title=The Wealthy Activist Who Helped Turn "Bleeding Kansas" Free|website=Smithsonian|access-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327195015/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/wealthy-activist-who-helped-turn-bleeding-kansas-free-180964494/|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> They denounced the expansion of slavery as a great evil, but did not call for ending it in the Southern states. While opposition to the expansion of slavery was the most consequential founding principle of the party, like the Whig Party it replaced, Republicans also called for economic and social [[modernization]].<ref>George H. Mayer, ''The Republican Party, 1854-1964'' (1965) pp. 23–30.</ref>

At the first public meeting of the [[anti-Nebraska movement]] on March 20, 1854, at the [[Little White Schoolhouse]] in [[Ripon, Wisconsin]], the name "Republican" was proposed as the name of the party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tp&CISOPTR=46379&CISOSHOW=46363|title=The Origin of the Republican Party, A. F. Gilman, Ripon College, 1914|publisher=Content.wisconsinhistory.org|access-date=January 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322223415/http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Ftp&CISOPTR=46379&CISOSHOW=46363|archive-date=March 22, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The name was partly chosen to pay homage to [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s [[Democratic-Republican Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gop.com/history/|title=History of the GOP|publisher=GOP|access-date=May 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129081758/https://gop.com/history/|archive-date=January 29, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The first official party convention was held on July 6, 1854, in [[Jackson, Michigan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1879/07/07/archives/birth-of-republicanism-the-michigan-convention-of-1854-twentyfifth.html|title=Birth of Republicanism|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|year=1879|access-date=April 25, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513010125/https://www.nytimes.com/1879/07/07/archives/birth-of-republicanism-the-michigan-convention-of-1854-twentyfifth.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The party emerged from the great political realignment of the mid-1850s, united in pro-capitalist stances with members often valuing [[Radicalism in the United States|Radicalism]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Sperber |first=Jonathan |year=2013 |title=Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life |location=New York |publisher=Liveright Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-87140-467-1 |pages=214, 258 |author-link=Jonathan Sperber}}</ref> Historian [[William Gienapp]] argues that the great realignment of the 1850s began before the Whigs' collapse, and was caused not by politicians but by voters at the local level. The central forces were ethno-cultural, involving tensions between pietistic [[Protestants]] versus liturgical [[Catholics]], [[Lutherans]] and [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalians]] regarding Catholicism, [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]] and [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]]. The Know Nothing Party embodied the social forces at work, but its weak leadership was unable to solidify its organization, and the Republicans picked it apart. Nativism was so powerful that the Republicans could not avoid it, but they did minimize it and turn voter wrath against the threat that slave owners would buy up the good farm lands wherever slavery was allowed. The realignment was powerful because it forced voters to switch parties, as typified by the rise and fall of the Know Nothings, the rise of the Republican Party and the splits in the Democratic Party.<ref>William Gienapp, ''The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852–1856'' (Oxford UP, 1987)</ref><ref>William Gienapp, "Nativism and the Creation of a Republican Majority in the North before the Civil War." ''Journal of American History'' 72.3 (1985): 529–59 [http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/RelAndPolReadings/Gienapp_KnowNothingsAndCreationOfRepublicanParty.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124081808/http://faculty.winthrop.edu/huffmons/RelAndPolReadings/Gienapp_KnowNothingsAndCreationOfRepublicanParty.pdf |date=November 24, 2020 }}</ref>

At the Republican Party's [[1856 Republican National Convention|first National Convention in 1856]], held at [[Musical Fund Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]], the party adopted a national platform emphasizing opposition to the expansion of slavery into the free territories.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/polcon/republicanindex.html|title=Republican National Political Conventions 1856–2008 (Library of Congress)|website=www.loc.gov|access-date=March 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220063038/https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/polcon/republicanindex.html|archive-date=February 20, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> While Republican nominee [[John C. Frémont]] lost [[1856 United States presidential election|that year's presidential election]] to Democrat [[James Buchanan]], Buchanan managed to win only four of the fourteen northern states and won his home state of [[Pennsylvania]] only narrowly.<ref name="auto4">{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-republican-national-convention-ends|title=First Republican national convention ends|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|website=[[History (American TV network)|History]]|date=February 9, 2010|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322173855/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-republican-national-convention-ends|archive-date=March 22, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cooper">{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/buchanan/campaigns-and-elections|title=James Buchanan: Campaigns and Elections|first=William|last=Cooper|date=October 4, 2016|author-link=William J. Cooper Jr.|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=May 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521104633/https://millercenter.org/president/buchanan/campaigns-and-elections|url-status=live}}</ref> Republicans fared better in congressional and local elections, but Know Nothing candidates took a significant number of seats, creating an awkward three-party arrangement. Despite the loss of the presidency and the lack of a majority in the [[U.S. Congress]], Republicans were able to orchestrate a Republican [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House of Representatives]], which went to [[Nathaniel P. Banks]]. Historian [[James M. McPherson]] writes regarding Banks' speakership that "if any one moment marked the birth of the Republican party, this was it."{{sfn|McPherson|1988|p=144}}

[[File:Abraham Lincoln head on shoulders photo portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Abraham Lincoln]], the 16th president (1861–1865) and first Republican to hold the office]]

The Republicans were eager for [[1860 United States elections|the 1860 elections]].<ref name="Burlingame">{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/campaigns-and-elections|title=Abraham Lincoln: Campaigns and Elections|first=Michael|last=Burlingame|date=October 4, 2016|author-link=Michael Burlingame (historian)|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402170247/https://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/campaigns-and-elections|url-status=live}}</ref> Former [[Illinois]] U.S. representative [[Abraham Lincoln]] spent several years building support within the party, campaigning heavily for Frémont in 1856 and [[1859 United States Senate election in Illinois|making a bid for the Senate in 1858]], losing to Democrat [[Stephen A. Douglas]] but gaining national attention from the [[Lincoln–Douglas debates]] it produced.<ref name="Cooper" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Guelzo|first=Allen C.|author-link=Allen C. Guelzo|title=''Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America''|url=https://archive.org/details/lincolndouglasde00alle|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/lincolndouglasde00alle/page/285 285]|isbn=978-0743273206}}</ref> At the [[1860 Republican National Convention]], Lincoln consolidated support among opponents of [[New York (state)|New York]] U.S. senator [[William H. Seward]], a fierce abolitionist who some Republicans feared would be too radical for crucial states such as Pennsylvania and [[Indiana]], as well as those who disapproved of his support for Irish immigrants.<ref name="Burlingame" /> Lincoln won on the third ballot and was ultimately elected president in [[1860 United States presidential election|the general election]] in a rematch against Douglas. Lincoln had not been on the ballot in a single Southern state, and even if the vote for Democrats had not been split between Douglas, [[John C. Breckinridge]] and [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]], the Republicans would have still won but without the [[popular vote (United States presidential election)|popular vote]].<ref name="Burlingame" /> This election result helped kickstart the [[American Civil War]], which lasted from 1861 until 1865.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/12/02/the-election-that-led-to-the-civil-war-mallie-jane-kim|title=The Election That Led to the Civil War|first=Mallie Jane|last=Kim|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=December 2, 2010|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108052540/https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/12/02/the-election-that-led-to-the-civil-war-mallie-jane-kim|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[1864 United States presidential election|The 1864 presidential election]] united [[War Democrats]] with the GOP in support of Lincoln and [[Tennessee]] Democratic senator [[Andrew Johnson]], who ran for president and vice president on [[National Union Party (United States)|the National Union Party]] ticket;<ref name="auto4" /> Lincoln was re-elected.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-reelected|title=Lincoln reelected|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|website=[[History (American TV network)|History]]|date=November 13, 2009|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322174942/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-reelected|archive-date=March 22, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> By June 1865, slavery was dead in the ex-[[Confederate States]] but remained legal in some border states. Under Republican congressional leadership, the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]]—which banned slavery, except as punishment for a crime—passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, [[United States House of Representatives|the House of Representatives]] on January 31, 1865, and was ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/congress-passes-13th-amendment-150-years-ago|title=Congress Passes 13th Amendment, 150 Years Ago|first=Christopher|last=Klein|website=History|date=September 2018 |access-date=March 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330070601/https://www.history.com/news/congress-passes-13th-amendment-150-years-ago|archive-date=March 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Reconstruction, the gold standard, and the Gilded Age====
{{Main|Gilded Age|Gold Standard|Radical Republicans|Reconstruction era}}
[[File:Ulysses S. Grant 1870-1880.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ulysses S. Grant]], the 18th president (1869–1877)]]

[[Radical Republicans]] during [[Lincoln's presidency]] felt he was too moderate in his efforts to eradicate slavery and opposed his [[ten percent plan]]. Radical Republicans passed the [[Wade–Davis Bill]] in 1864, which sought to enforce the taking of the [[Ironclad Oath]] for all former Confederates. Lincoln vetoed the bill, believing it would jeopardize the peaceful reintegration of the ex-Confederate states.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first= William C. |title= With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union |date= 1997 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |pages= 123–170}}</ref>

Following the [[assassination of Lincoln]], Johnson ascended to the presidency and was deplored by Radical Republicans. Johnson was vitriolic in his criticisms of the Radical Republicans during a national tour ahead of [[1866 United States elections|the 1866 elections]].<ref name="Varnon">{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/johnson/campaigns-and-elections|title=Andrew Johnson: Campaigns and Elections|first=Elizabeth R.|last=Varon|date=October 4, 2016|author-link=Elizabeth R. Varon|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=September 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903114824/https://millercenter.org/president/johnson/campaigns-and-elections|url-status=live}}</ref> Anti-Johnson Republicans won a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress following the elections, which helped lead the way toward [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|his impeachment]] and near ouster from office in 1868,<ref name="Varnon" /> the same year former [[Union Army]] general [[Ulysses S. Grant]] was [[1868 United States presidential election|elected as the next Republican president]].

Grant was a Radical Republican, which created some division within the party. [[Massachusetts]] senator [[Charles Sumner]] and Illinois senator [[Lyman Trumbull]] opposed most of his [[Reconstruction era|Reconstructionist]] policies.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1863035|title=Grant or Greeley? The Abolitionist Dilemma in the Election of 1872|first=James M.|last=McPherson|journal=[[The American Historical Review]]|date=October 1965|volume=71|number=1|pages=42–61|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.2307/1863035|jstor=1863035|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=January 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129064623/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1863035|url-status=live}}</ref> Others took issue with the [[Scandals of the Ulysses S. Grant administration|large-scale corruption]] present in the [[Grant administration]], with the emerging [[Stalwarts (politics)|Stalwart faction]] defending Grant and the [[spoils system]], and [[Half-Breeds (politics)|the Half-Breeds]] advocating reform of the [[civil service]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12233454/christie-trump-purge-federal-employees|title=Donald Trump and Chris Christie are reportedly planning to purge the civil service|first=Dylan|last=Matthews|date=July 20, 2016|website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|access-date=March 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322175810/https://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12233454/christie-trump-purge-federal-employees|archive-date=March 22, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Republicans who opposed Grant branched off to form [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|the Liberal Republican Party]], nominating [[Horace Greeley]] in [[1872 United States presidential election|the 1872 presidential election]]. The Democratic Party attempted to capitalize on this divide in the GOP by co-nominating Greeley under their party banner. Greeley's positions proved inconsistent with the Liberal Republican Party that nominated him, with Greeley supporting high [[Tariff in United States history|tariffs]] despite the party's opposition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/grant/campaigns-and-elections|title=Ulysses S. Grant: Campaigns and Elections|first=Joan|last=Waugh|date=October 4, 2016|author-link=Joan Waugh|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804014237/https://millercenter.org/president/grant/campaigns-and-elections|url-status=live}}</ref> Grant was easily re-elected.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/10/22/1872-election-greeley-grant-democrats/|newspaper=Washington Post|title=Democrats didn't run a presidential candidate 150 years ago. It backfired.|last=Frommer|first=Frederic|date=October 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/ulysses-s-grant-1|title=Ulysses S. Grant - Civil War, Facts & Quotes|date=March 30, 2020|website=HISTORY}}</ref>

[[1876 United States presidential election|The 1876 presidential election]] saw a contentious conclusion as both parties claimed victory despite three southern states still not officially declaring a winner at the end of election day. [[Voter suppression in the United States|Voter suppression]] had occurred in the South to depress the black and white Republican vote, which gave Republican-controlled [[returning officer]]s enough of a reason to declare that fraud, intimidation and violence had soiled the states' results. They proceeded to throw out enough Democratic votes for Republican [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] to be declared the winner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/disputed-election-1876|title=Disputed Election of 1876|first=Shelia|last=Blackford|date=September 30, 2020|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417192852/https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/disputed-election-1876|url-status=live}}</ref> Still, Democrats refused to accept the results and [[Electoral Commission (United States)|the Electoral Commission]] made up of members of Congress was established to decide who would be awarded the states' electors. After the Commission voted along party lines in Hayes' favor, Democrats threatened to delay the counting of electoral votes indefinitely so no president would be inaugurated on March 4. This resulted in the [[Compromise of 1877]] and Hayes finally became president.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/hayes/campaigns-and-elections|title=Rutherford B. Hayes: Campaigns and Elections|first=Robert D.|last=Johnston|date=October 4, 2016|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512151114/https://millercenter.org/president/hayes/campaigns-and-elections|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:James G. Blaine - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[James G. Blaine]], the 28th and 31st [[U.S. secretary of state]] (1881; 1889–1892)]]

Hayes doubled down on the [[gold standard]], which had been signed into law by Grant with the [[Coinage Act of 1873]], as a solution to the depressed American economy in the aftermath of [[Panic of 1873|that year's panic]]. He also believed [[Greenback (1860s money)|greenback]]s posed a threat; greenbacks being money printed during the Civil War that was not backed by [[Bullion coin|specie]], which Hayes objected to as a proponent of [[Hard money (policy)|hard money]]. Hayes sought to restock the country's gold supply, which by January 1879 succeeded as gold was more frequently exchanged for greenbacks compared to greenbacks being exchanged for gold.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://millercenter.org/president/hayes/domestic-affairs|title=Rutherford B. Hayes: Domestic Affairs|first=Robert D.|last=Johnston|date=October 4, 2016|publisher=[[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=May 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510194202/https://millercenter.org/president/hayes/domestic-affairs|url-status=live}}</ref> Ahead of [[1880 United States presidential election|the 1880 presidential election]], Republican [[James G. Blaine]] ran for the party nomination, supporting both Hayes' gold standard push and his civil service reforms. After  both Blaine and opponent [[John Sherman]] failed to win the Republican nomination, each of them backed [[James A. Garfield]] for president. Garfield agreed with Hayes' move in favor of the gold standard, but opposed his civil reform efforts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1876/02/the-currency-conflict/519558/|title=The Currency Conflict|first=James A.|last=Garfield|author-link=James A. Garfield|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=February 1876|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=November 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117162821/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1876/02/the-currency-conflict/519558/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last = Peskin| first = Allan| date =Spring 1980| title = The Election of 1880| journal = [[The Wilson Quarterly]]| volume = 4| issue = 2| pages = 172–181| jstor = 40255831}}</ref>

Garfield won the 1880 presidential election, but was [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|assassinated early in his term]]. His death helped create support for the [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act]], which was passed in 1883;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/pendleton-act-inaugurates-us-civil-service-system-jan-16-1883-340488|title=Pendleton Act inaugurates U.S. civil service system, Jan. 16, 1883|last=Andrew Glass|website=[[Politico]]|date=January 16, 2018|access-date=February 22, 2021|archive-date=November 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123194930/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/pendleton-act-inaugurates-us-civil-service-system-jan-16-1883-340488|url-status=live}}</ref> the bill was signed into law by Republican president [[Chester A. Arthur]], who succeeded Garfield.

In 1884, Blaine once again ran for president. He won the Republican nomination, but lost [[1884 United States presidential election|the general election]] to Democrat [[Grover Cleveland]]. Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected president since James Buchanan. Dissident Republicans, known as [[Mugwumps]], had defected from Blaine due to the corruption which had plagued his political career.<ref>{{cite book|title=Critical Americans: Victorian Intellectuals and Transatlantic Liberal Reform|first=Leslie|last=Butler|date=2009|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1893145|title=The Mind of the Boston Mugwump|journal=[[The Journal of American History|The Mississippi Valley Historical Review]]|first=Geoffrey T.|last=Blodgett|year=1962|volume=48|number=4|pages=614–634|doi=10.2307/1893145|jstor=1893145|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108033552/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1893145|url-status=live}}</ref> Cleveland stuck to the gold standard policy,<ref>{{cite book|title=Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850–1908|first=Allan|last=Nevins|author-link=Allan Nevins|date=1933|page=269}}</ref> but he came into conflict with Republicans regarding budding [[American imperialism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1891336|title = Was the Presidential Election of 1900 a Mandate on Imperialism?|last1 = Bailey|first1 = Thomas A.|journal = [[The Mississippi Valley Historical Review]]|volume = 24|issue = 1|pages = 43–52|year = 1937|doi = 10.2307/1891336}}</ref>
[[File:Mckinley.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William McKinley]], the 25th president (1897–1901)]]
Republican [[Benjamin Harrison]] defeated Cleveland in [[1888 United States presidential election|the 1888 election]]. During his presidency, Harrison signed the [[Dependent and Disability Pension Act]], which established pensions for all veterans of the Union who had served for more than 90 days and were unable to perform manual labor.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2152487|title = America's First Social Security System: The Expansion of Benefits for Civil War Veterans|last1 = Skocpol|first1 = Theda|journal = [[Political Science Quarterly]]|volume = 108|issue = 1|pages = 85–116|year = 1993|doi = 10.2307/2152487}}</ref> Following his loss to Cleveland in [[1892 United States presidential election|the 1892 presidential election]], Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to pass a treaty annexing [[Hawaii]] before Cleveland could be inaugurated. Most Republicans supported the proposed annexation,<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3636837|title=Benjamin Harrison and Hawaiian Annexation: A Reinterpretation|first=George|last=W. Baker Jr.|journal=[[Pacific Historical Review]]|volume=33|number=3|date=August 1964|pages=295–309|doi=10.2307/3636837|jstor=3636837|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820085816/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3636837|url-status=live}}</ref> but Cleveland [[Opposition to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom|opposed]] it.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40400511|title=Anti-Imperialism and the Democrats|first=Harold|last=Bacon|journal=[[Science & Society]]|volume=21|date=Summer 1957|issue=3|pages=222–239|jstor=40400511|access-date=May 31, 2021|archive-date=June 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601204219/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40400511|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[1896 United States presidential election|the 1896 presidential election]], Republican [[William McKinley]]'s platform supported the gold standard and high tariffs, having been the creator and namesake for the [[McKinley Tariff]] of 1890. Though having been divided on the issue prior to [[1896 Republican National Convention|that year's National Convention]], McKinley decided to heavily favor the gold standard over [[free silver]] in his campaign messaging, but promised to continue [[bimetallism]] to ward off continued skepticism over the gold standard, which had lingered since the [[Panic of 1893]].<ref name="Phillips 2003 53">{{cite book| last = Phillips| first = Kevin| author-link = Kevin Phillips (political commentator)| year = 2003| title = William McKinley| page=53|publisher = Times Books| location = New York| isbn = 978-0805069532| ref = {{sfnRef|Phillips}}| url = https://archive.org/details/williammckinley00phil}}</ref><ref>Walter Dean Burnham, "Periodization schemes and 'party systems': the 'system of 1896' as a case in point." ''Social Science History'' 10.3 (1986): 263–314.</ref> Democrat [[William Jennings Bryan]] proved to be a devoted adherent to the free silver movement, which cost Bryan the support of Democratic institutions such as [[Tammany Hall]], the ''[[New York World]]'' and a large majority of the Democratic Party's upper and middle-class support.<ref>{{cite book| last = Williams| first = R. Hal| year = 2010| title = Realigning America: McKinley, Bryan and the Remarkable Election of 1896| pages=56, 121| publisher = [[University Press of Kansas]]| location = Lawrence| isbn = 978-0700617210}}</ref> McKinley defeated Bryan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/rural-urban-divide-1896-election|title=The Contentious 1896 Election That Started the Rural-Urban Voter Divide|date=August 5, 2020|website=HISTORY}}</ref> and returned the presidency to Republican control until [[1912 United States presidential election|the 1912 presidential election]].<ref>George H. Mayer, ''The Republican Party, 1854-1964'' (1965) p. 256.</ref>

=== First half of the 20th century ===
====Progressives vs. Standpatters====
[[File:President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Theodore Roosevelt]], the 26th president (1901–1909)]]

[[1896 United States presidential election|The 1896 realignment]] cemented the Republicans as the party of big businesses while president [[Theodore Roosevelt]] added more small business support by his embrace of [[trust busting]]. He handpicked his successor [[William Howard Taft]] in [[1908 United States presidential election|the 1908 election]], but they became enemies as the party split down the middle. Taft defeated Roosevelt for [[1912 Republican Party presidential primaries|the 1912 nomination]] so Roosevelt stormed out of the convention and started a new party. Roosevelt ran on the ticket of [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912–1920)|his new Progressive Party]]. He called for [[Modern liberalism in the United States|social reforms]], many of which were later championed by [[New Deal Democrats]] in the 1930s. He lost and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP, they found they did not agree with the new [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative economic thinking]], leading to an ideological shift to the right in the Republican Party.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894529_1894528_1894519,00.html |title=The Ol' Switcheroo. Theodore Roosevelt, 1912 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=April 29, 2009 |access-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005180052/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894529_1894528_1894519,00.html |archive-date=October 5, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Republicans returned to the presidency in the 1920s, winning on [[Return to normalcy|platforms of normalcy]], business-oriented efficiency, and high tariffs.<ref>George H. Mayer, ''The Republican Party, 1854-1964'' (1965) pp. 328-427, [https://archive.org/details/republicanparty100maye online]</ref> The national party platform avoided mention of prohibition, instead issuing a vague commitment to [[Law and order (politics)|law and order]].<ref>David E. Kyvig, ''Repealing National Prohibition'' (2000) pp. 63–65.</ref> The [[Teapot Dome scandal]] threatened to hurt the party under [[Warren G. Harding]]. He died in 1923 and [[Calvin Coolidge]] easily defeated the splintered opposition in 1924.<ref>Garland S. Tucker, III, ''The high tide of American conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 election'' (2010) [https://archive.org/details/hightideofameric00garl/mode/1up online]</ref> The pro-business policies of the decade produced an unprecedented prosperity until the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] heralded the Great Depression.<ref>Robert K. Murray, ''The politics of normalcy: governmental theory and practice in the Harding-Coolidge era'' (1973) [[iarchive:politicsofnormal00robe/page/n5/mode/1up|online]]</ref>

==== Roosevelt and the New Deal era ====
{{Main|Old Right (United States)|Fifth Party System|History of the United States Republican Party#Fighting the New Deal Coalition: 1932–1980}}
The New Deal coalition forged by Democratic president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excluding the presidency of Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in the 1950s. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, [[New Deal]] legislation sailed through Congress and the economy moved sharply upward from its nadir in early 1933. However, long-term unemployment remained a drag until 1940. In [[1934 United States elections|the 1934 elections]], 10 Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving the GOP with only 25 senators against 71 Democrats. The House likewise had overwhelming Democratic majorities.<ref>Lewis Gould, ''Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans ''(2003) pp. 271–308.</ref>

The Republican Party factionalized into [[Old Right (United States)|a majority Old Right]], based predominantly in [[Midwestern United States|the Midwest]], and a liberal wing based in [[Northeastern United States|the Northeast]] that supported much of the New Deal. The Old Right sharply attacked the [[Second New Deal]], saying it represented [[class warfare]] and [[Socialism in the United States|socialism]]. Roosevelt was [[1936 United States presidential election|easily re-elected president in 1936]]; however, as his second term began, [[Recession of 1937–1938|the economy declined]], strikes soared, and he [[Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937|failed to take control of the Supreme Court]] and purge [[Conservative Democrat#1932–1948: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal coalition|the Southern conservatives]] from the Democratic Party. Republicans made a major comeback in [[1938 United States House of Representatives elections|the 1938 House elections]] and had new rising stars such as [[Robert A. Taft]] of [[Ohio]] on the right and [[Thomas E. Dewey]] of New York on the left.<ref name="Bowen">{{Cite web|url=https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469618968/the-roots-of-modern-conservatism|title=The Roots of Modern Conservatism {{!}} Michael Bowen|website=University of North Carolina Press|access-date=May 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522220118/https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469618968/the-roots-of-modern-conservatism/|archive-date=May 22, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Southern conservatives joined with most Republicans to form the [[conservative coalition]], which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964. By the time of [[World War II]], both parties split on foreign policy issues, with the anti-war [[isolationists]] dominant in the Republican Party and [[Interventionism (politics)|the interventionists]] who wanted to stop German dictator [[Adolf Hitler]] dominant in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt [[1940 United States presidential election|won a third term in 1940]] and [[1944 United States presidential election|a fourth in 1944]]. Conservatives abolished most of the New Deal during the war, but they did not attempt to do away with [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] or the agencies that regulated business.<ref>Gould, pp. 271–308.</ref>

Historian [[George H. Nash]] argues: <blockquote>Unlike the "moderate", internationalist, largely eastern bloc of Republicans who accepted (or at least acquiesced in) some of the "Roosevelt Revolution" and the essential premises of President [[Harry S. Truman]]'s foreign policy, the Republican Right at heart was counterrevolutionary. Anti-collectivist, [[anti-Communist]], anti-New Deal, passionately committed to [[limited government]], [[free market economics]], and congressional (as opposed to executive) prerogatives, the G.O.P. conservatives were obliged from the start to wage a constant two-front war: against liberal Democrats from without and "me-too" Republicans from within.<ref>Quote on p. 261 {{cite journal |jstor = 2702450|title = The Republican Right from Taft to Reagan|last1 = Nash|first1 = George H.|last2 = Reinhard|first2 = David W.|journal = Reviews in American History|volume = 12|issue = 2|pages = 261–265|year = 1984|doi = 10.2307/2702450}} Nash references David W. Reinhard, ''The Republican Right since 1945'', (University Press of Kentucky, 1983).</ref></blockquote>

After 1945, the internationalist wing of the GOP cooperated with Truman's [[Cold War]] foreign policy, funded the [[Marshall Plan]] and supported [[NATO]], despite the continued isolationism of the Old Right.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://mises-media.s3.amazonaws.com/The%20Betrayal%20of%20the%20American%20Right_2.pdf | title=The Betrayal of the American Right | publisher=Mises Institute | first=Murray | last=Rothbard | year=2007 | page=85 | access-date=July 21, 2019 | archive-date=February 22, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013938/https://mises-media.s3.amazonaws.com/The%20Betrayal%20of%20the%20American%20Right_2.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Second half of the 20th century ===
==== Post-Roosevelt era ====
{{Main|Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower}}
[[File:Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959 (cropped)(2).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], the 34th president (1953–1961)]]

Eisenhower had defeated conservative leader senator Robert A. Taft for [[1952 Republican National Convention|the 1952 Republican presidential nomination]], but conservatives dominated the domestic policies of the [[Eisenhower administration]]. Voters liked Eisenhower much more than they liked the GOP and he proved unable to shift the party to a more moderate position.<ref name="Nicol C. Rae 1989">Nicol C. Rae, ''The Decline and Fall of the Liberal Republicans: From 1952 to the Present'' (1989)</ref>
{{Main|Presidency of Richard Nixon|Presidency of Gerald Ford}}

==== From Goldwater to Reagan ====
{{multiple image
| align         = left
| total_width   = 222
| caption_align = center
| image1        = Richard Nixon presidential portrait (1).jpg
| caption1      = [[Richard Nixon]], the 37th president (1969–1974)
| image2        = Gerald Ford presidential portrait (cropped 3).jpg
| caption2      = [[Gerald Ford]], the 38th president (1974–1977)
}}
Historians cite [[1964 United States presidential election|the 1964 presidential election]] and [[1964 Republican National Convention|its respective National Convention]] as a significant shift, which saw the conservative wing, helmed by [[Arizona]] senator [[Barry Goldwater]], battle liberal New York governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] and his eponymous [[Rockefeller Republican]] faction for the nomination. With Goldwater poised to win, Rockefeller, urged to mobilize his liberal faction, retorted, "You're looking at it, buddy. I'm all that's left."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1964-republican-convention-revolution-from-the-right-915921/|title=How the 1964 Republican Convention Sparked a Revolution From the Right|first=Rick|last=Perlstein|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]]|date=August 2008|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220142328/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1964-republican-convention-revolution-from-the-right-915921/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-recalling-rockefeller/2014/11/21/1a615a04-711a-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html|title=George F. Will: Recalling Rockefeller|first=George|last=F. Will|author-link=George Will|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 21, 2014|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027101235/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-recalling-rockefeller/2014/11/21/1a615a04-711a-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], the southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.

Though Goldwater lost the election in a landslide, [[Ronald Reagan]] would make himself known as a prominent supporter of his throughout the campaign, delivering his famous "[[A Time for Choosing]]" speech for Goldwater. Reagan would go on to [[1966 California gubernatorial election|win the California governorship two years later]].

The GOP would go on to control the White House from 1969 to 1977 under 37th president [[Richard Nixon]], and when he resigned in 1974 due to the [[Watergate scandal]], [[Gerald Ford]] became the 38th president, serving until 1977.  Ronald Reagan would later go on to defeat incumbent Democratic President [[Jimmy Carter]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election]], becoming the 40th president on January 20, 1981.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-ronald-reagans-a-time-for-choosing-endures-after-all-this-time/2014/10/23/d833c49e-587a-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html|title=Why Ronald Reagan's 'A Time for Choosing' endures after all this time|first=Steven F.|last=Hayward|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=October 23, 2014|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=December 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220023515/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-ronald-reagans-a-time-for-choosing-endures-after-all-this-time/2014/10/23/d833c49e-587a-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Reagan era====
{{Main|Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Presidency of George H. W. Bush}}
{{multiple image
| total_width   = 200
| caption_align = center
| image1        = Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg
| caption1      = [[Ronald Reagan]], the 40th president (1981–1989)
| image2        = George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped).jpg
| caption2      = [[George H. W. Bush]], the 41st president (1989–1993)
}}

The [[Reagan presidency]], lasting from 1981 to 1989, constituted what is known as "[[Reagan era|the Reagan Revolution]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Troy |first=Gil |title=The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0195317107 |edition=1st}}</ref> It was seen as a fundamental shift from the [[stagflation]] of the 1970s preceding it, with the introduction of [[Reagan's economic policies]] intended to cut taxes, prioritize government [[deregulation]] and shift funding from the domestic sphere into the military to check the [[Soviet Union]] by utilizing [[deterrence theory]]. During a visit to then-[[West Berlin]] in June 1987, he addressed Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] during a speech at the [[Berlin Wall]], demanding that he "[[Tear down this wall!]]". The remark was later seen as influential in the [[fall of the wall]] in November 1989, and was retroactively seen as a soaring achievement over the years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Marc |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/12/tear-down-this-wall-how-reagans-forgotten-line-became-a-defining-presidential-moment/ |title='Tear down this wall': How Reagan's forgotten line became a defining moment |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 2017 |access-date=November 7, 2022 |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108135940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/06/12/tear-down-this-wall-how-reagans-forgotten-line-became-a-defining-presidential-moment/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Soviet Union was [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolved in 1991]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/12/24/ussr-breakup-gorbachev-history|title=Looking back at the breakup of the Soviet Union 30 years ago|website=www.wbur.org|date=December 24, 2021|access-date=November 4, 2023|archive-date=November 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104143442/https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/12/24/ussr-breakup-gorbachev-history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-union-collapse-timeline/31487661.html|title=The Undoing Of The U.S.S.R.: How It Happened|first=Kristyna|last=Foltynova|website=rferl.org|date=October 1, 2021|access-date=November 4, 2023|archive-date=April 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413175407/https://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-union-collapse-timeline/31487661.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/24/it-s-30-years-since-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union|title=It's 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union|website=euronews|date=December 24, 2021|access-date=November 4, 2023|archive-date=January 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109160439/https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/24/it-s-30-years-since-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union|url-status=live}}</ref> Following Reagan's presidency, Republican presidential candidates frequently claimed to share Reagan's views and aimed to portray themselves and their policies as heirs to his legacy.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbU2mBCgfXkC&pg=PA133|title=American Culture Transformed: Dialing 9/11|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1137033499|year= 2012|access-date=June 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406235334/http://books.google.com/books?id=jbU2mBCgfXkC&pg=PA133|archive-date=April 6, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Reagan's vice president, [[George H. W. Bush]], won the presidency in a landslide in [[1988 United States presidential election|the 1988 presidential election]]. However, his term was characterized by division within the Republican Party. Bush's vision of [[economic liberalization]] and international cooperation with foreign nations saw the negotiation and, during the presidency of Democrat [[Bill Clinton]] in the 1990s, the signing of the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) and the conceptual beginnings of the [[World Trade Organization]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/12/02/how-george-hw-bush-pushed-united-states-embrace-free-trade/|title=How George H.W. Bush pushed the United States to embrace free trade|first=Amanda|last=Erickson|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 2, 2018|access-date=May 30, 2021|archive-date=May 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516204027/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/12/02/how-george-hw-bush-pushed-united-states-embrace-free-trade/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Independent politician]] and businessman [[Ross Perot]] decried NAFTA and predicted that it would lead to the [[outsourcing]] of American jobs to [[Mexico]]; however, Clinton agreed with Bush's trade policies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-timeline/opposed-from-the-start-the-rocky-history-of-nafta-idUSKCN1AW09M|title=Opposed from the start, the rocky history of NAFTA|work=[[Reuters]]|date=August 16, 2017|access-date=May 30, 2021|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115210509/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-timeline/opposed-from-the-start-the-rocky-history-of-nafta-idUSKCN1AW09M|url-status=live}}</ref>

Bush [[1992 United States presidential election|lost his re-election bid in 1992]], receiving 37 percent of the [[popular vote (United States presidential election)|popular vote]]; Clinton garnered a plurality of 43 percent, and Perot took third place with 19 percent. While there is debate about whether Perot's candidacy cost Bush re-election, [[Charlie Cook]] asserted that Perot's messaging carried weight with Republican and conservative voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/did-perot-spoil-1992-election-for-bush-its-complicated-11562714375|title=Did Perot Spoil 1992 Election for Bush? It's Complicated.|first=Eliza|last=Collins|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=July 10, 2019|access-date=May 30, 2021|archive-date=June 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609164408/https://www.wsj.com/articles/did-perot-spoil-1992-election-for-bush-its-complicated-11562714375|url-status=live}}</ref> Perot subsequently formed [[Reform Party of the United States of America|the Reform Party]]; future Republican president [[Donald Trump]] was a member.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/05/donald-trump-reform-party-2000-president|title=How Trump's political playbook evolved since he first ran for president in 2000|first=Edward|last=Helmore|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 5, 2017|access-date=May 30, 2021|archive-date=February 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216014439/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/05/donald-trump-reform-party-2000-president|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Gingrich Revolution ====
{{See also|Republican Revolution}}
[[File:NewtGingrich.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Official portrait of [[Newt Gingrich]], the 50th [[speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives]] (1995–1998)]]

In [[1994 United States elections|the 1994 elections]], the Republican Party, led by House minority whip [[Newt Gingrich]], who campaigned on the "[[Contract with America]]", [[Republican Revolution|won majorities in both chambers of Congress, gained 12 governorships, and regained control of 20 state legislatures]]. However, most voters had not heard of the Contract and the Republican victory was attributed to traditional mid-term anti-incumbent voting and Republicans becoming the majority party in [[Dixie]] for the first time since Reconstruction.<ref name="NPR-gop-pledge" /> It was the first time the Republican Party had achieved a majority in the House [[1952 United States House of Representatives elections|since 1952]].<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/midterm-elections-1994-republican-revolution-gingrich-contract-with-america|title=The 1994 Midterms: When Newt Gingrich Helped Republicans Win Big|first=Lesley|last=Kennedy|work=[[History (American TV network)|History]]|date=October 9, 2018|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428164417/https://www.history.com/news/midterm-elections-1994-republican-revolution-gingrich-contract-with-america|url-status=live}}</ref> Gingrich was made speaker, and within the first 100 days of the Republican majority, every proposition featured in the Contract was passed, with the exception of term limits for members of Congress, which did not pass in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2007/11/congress-runs-into-republican-revolution-nov-8-1994-006757|title=Congress runs into 'Republican Revolution' Nov. 8, 1994|first=Andrew|last=Glass|work=[[Politico]]|date=November 8, 2007|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309004632/https://www.politico.com/story/2007/11/congress-runs-into-republican-revolution-nov-8-1994-006757|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NPR-gop-pledge">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2010/09/23/130068500/watching-washington-gop-pledge|title=GOP's 'Pledge' Echoes 'Contract'; But Much Myth Surrounds '94 Plan|first=Ron|last=Elving|newspaper=[[NPR]]|date=September 23, 2010|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=June 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601204151/https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2010/09/23/130068500/watching-washington-gop-pledge|url-status=live}}</ref> One key to Gingrich's success in 1994 was nationalizing the election,<ref name="Kennedy" /> which in turn led to his becoming a national figure during [[1996 United States House of Representatives elections|the 1996 House elections]], with many Democratic leaders proclaiming Gingrich was a zealous radical.<ref name="Baer">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-11-07-1996312030-story.html|title=Revolutionary Gingrich suddenly is a centrist offering to help Clinton Election showed speaker to be 'slightly more popular than Unabomber'; ELECTION 1996|first=Susan|last=Baer|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=November 7, 1996|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=June 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601204128/https://www.baltimoresun.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/1996-house-elections-reaffirming-conservative-trend|title=The 1996 House Elections: Reaffirming the Conservative Trend|first1=John F.|last1=Cogan|first2=David|last2=Brady|publisher=[[Hoover Institute]]|date=March 1, 1997|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019015554/https://www.hoover.org/research/1996-house-elections-reaffirming-conservative-trend|url-status=live}}</ref> The Republicans maintained their majority for the first time [[1928 United States House of Representatives elections|since 1928]] despite [[Bob Dole]] losing handily to Clinton in [[1996 United States presidential election|the presidential election]]. However, Gingrich's national profile proved a detriment to the Republican Congress, which enjoyed majority approval among voters in spite of Gingrich's relative unpopularity.<ref name="Baer" />

After Gingrich and the Republicans struck a deal with Clinton on the [[Balanced Budget Act of 1997]], which included tax cuts, the Republican House majority had difficulty convening on a new agenda ahead of [[1998 United States House of Representatives elections|the 1998 elections]].<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/07/us/the-speaker-steps-down-the-career-the-fall-of-gingrich-an-irony-in-an-odd-year.html|title = The Speaker Steps Down: The Career; the Fall of Gingrich, an Irony in an Odd Year|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = November 7, 1998|last1 = Mitchell|first1 = Alison|access-date = October 13, 2019|archive-date = December 19, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201219165407/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/07/us/the-speaker-steps-down-the-career-the-fall-of-gingrich-an-irony-in-an-odd-year.html|url-status = live}}</ref> During the ongoing [[impeachment of Bill Clinton]] in 1998, Gingrich decided to make Clinton's misconduct the party message heading into the elections, believing it would add to their majority. The strategy proved mistaken and the Republicans lost five seats, though whether it was due to poor messaging or Clinton's popularity providing a [[coattail effect]] is debated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/did-talk-of-impeaching-clinton-damage-republicans-in-1998.html|title=Did Impeachment Plans Damage Republicans in 1998?|first=Ed|last=Kilgore|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=June 6, 2019|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=March 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316043902/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/did-talk-of-impeaching-clinton-damage-republicans-in-1998.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Gingrich was ousted from party power due to the performance, ultimately deciding to resign from Congress altogether. For a short time afterward, it appeared [[Louisiana]] representative [[Bob Livingston]] would become his successor; Livingston, however, stepped down from consideration and resigned from Congress after damaging reports of affairs threatened the Republican House's legislative agenda if he were to serve as speaker.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/clinton-impeachment/573940/|title=The Clinton Impeachment, As Told By The People Who Lived It|first1=David A.|last1=Graham|first2=Cullen|last2=Murphy|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=December 2018|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429042411/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/clinton-impeachment/573940/|url-status=live}}</ref> Illinois representative [[Dennis Hastert]] was promoted to speaker in Livingston's place, serving in that position until 2007.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3900854/dennis-hastert-livingston-scandal/|title=How a Scandal Made Dennis Hastert the Speaker of the House|first=Lily|last=Rothman|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 28, 2015|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025203915/https://time.com/3900854/dennis-hastert-livingston-scandal/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
==== George W. Bush ====
{{Main|Presidency of George W. Bush}}
[[File:George-W-Bush.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[George W. Bush]], the 43rd president (2001–2009) and son of George H. W. Bush]]
Republican [[George W. Bush]] won [[2000 United States presidential election|the 2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential elections]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prospect.org/api/content/6eed4c7a-00cb-50b3-b624-80f59403addb/|title=Movement Interruptus|first=John|last=Judis|date=December 20, 2004|website=The American Prospect|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=February 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013505/https://prospect.org/features/movement-interruptus/|url-status=live}}</ref> He campaigned as a "[[compassionate conservative]]" in 2000, wanting to better appeal to immigrants and minority voters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/147694/compassionate-conservatism-wont-back-anytime-soon|title='Compassionate Conservatism' Won't Be Back Anytime Soon|first=Graham|last=Vyse|magazine=New Republic|date=March 30, 2018|access-date=June 15, 2020|archive-date=January 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116021544/https://newrepublic.com/article/147694/compassionate-conservatism-wont-back-anytime-soon|url-status=live}}</ref> The goal was to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and aid for prisoner reentry into society, a move intended to capitalize on President Clinton's tougher crime initiatives such as his administration's [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act|1994 crime bill]]. The platform failed to gain much traction among members of the party during his presidency.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/08/last-stand-law-and-order-republicans-306333|title=Is This the Last Stand of the 'Law and Order' Republicans?|first=Tim|last=Alberta|website=[[Politico]]|date=June 8, 2020|access-date=June 13, 2020|archive-date=February 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212073318/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/08/last-stand-law-and-order-republicans-306333|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Republican Party remained fairly cohesive for much of the 2000s, as both strong [[economic libertarians]] and [[social conservatives]] opposed the Democrats, whom they saw as the party of bloated, secular, and liberal government.<ref name="Wooldridge">Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. ''The Right Nation'' (2004).</ref> This period saw the rise of "pro-government conservatives"—a core part of the Bush's base—a considerable group of the Republicans who advocated for increased government spending and greater regulations covering both the economy and people's personal lives, as well as for an activist and interventionist foreign policy.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-bush-destroyed-the-republican-party-162234/|title=How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party|first=Sean|last=Wilentz|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=September 4, 2008|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101053122/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-bush-destroyed-the-republican-party-162234/|url-status=live}}</ref> Survey groups such as the [[Pew Research Center]] found that social conservatives and free market advocates remained the other two main groups within the party's coalition of support, with all three being roughly equal in number.<ref>{{cite book|title=In Search of Progressive America|page=97|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0812209099|editor-first=Michael|editor-last=Kazin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/2005/05/10/profiles-of-the-typology-groups/|title=Profiles of the Typology Groups |website=People-press.org|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111215859/http://www.people-press.org/2005/05/10/profiles-of-the-typology-groups/|archive-date=January 11, 2017|url-status=live|date=May 10, 2005}}</ref> However, [[Libertarian Republican|libertarians]] and [[Libertarian conservatism|libertarian-leaning conservatives]] increasingly found fault with what they saw as Republicans' restricting of vital [[Civil liberties in the United States|civil liberties]] while [[corporate welfare]] and [[National debt of the United States|the national debt]] hiked considerably under Bush's tenure.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/righteous-anger-conservative-case-against-george-w-bush|title=Righteous Anger: The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush|publisher=[[The American Conservative]] ([[Cato Institute]] Re-printing)|date=December 11, 2003|access-date=May 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705025111/http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/righteous-anger-conservative-case-against-george-w-bush|archive-date=July 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, some social conservatives expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that conflicted with their moral values.<ref name="scare">[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/huckabees_rebellion.html "How Huckabee Scares the GOP"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918153203/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/huckabees_rebellion.html |date=September 18, 2008 }}. By [[E. J. Dionne]]. [[Real Clear Politics]]. Published December 21, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2008.</ref>

The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, [[Dick Cheney]]. Democrats gained control of the Senate on June 6, 2001, when [[Vermont]] Republican senator [[Jim Jeffords]] switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in [[2002 United States Senate elections|the 2002 elections]], helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the [[September 11 attacks]], and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in [[2006 United States elections|the 2006 elections]], largely due to increasing opposition to the [[Iraq War]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senate-majorities-change-faster-than-the-rules|title=Today's Senate Roadblock Is Tomorrow's Safeguard|first1=Jason|last1=Dick|date=January 19, 2016|newspaper=Roll Call|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=December 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210090543/https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senate-majorities-change-faster-than-the-rules|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/house-republicans-came-back-from-being-written-off-before-they-can-again|title=House Republicans came back from being written off before. They can again|first1=David|last1=Winston|date=January 4, 2019|newspaper=Roll Call|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=December 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208185731/https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/house-republicans-came-back-from-being-written-off-before-they-can-again|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[2008 United States presidential election|the 2008 presidential election]], Arizona Republican senator [[John McCain]] was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-ent-sarah-palin-john-mccain-funeral-20180829-story.html|title=Sarah Palin was not invited to John McCain's funeral|first=Brian|last=Niemietz|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=August 29, 2018|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025023/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-ent-sarah-palin-john-mccain-funeral-20180829-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Tea Party movement ====
{{Main|Tea Party movement}}
The Republicans experienced electoral success in [[2010 United States elections|the 2010 elections]]. The 2010 elections coincided with the ascendancy of the [[Tea Party movement]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url = https://newrepublic.com/article/78903/how-the-republicans-did-it|title = How the Republicans Did It|magazine = The New Republic|date = November 3, 2010|last1 = Kilgore|first1 = Ed|access-date = October 13, 2019|archive-date = December 20, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201220101608/https://newrepublic.com/article/78903/how-the-republicans-did-it|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-election-results-tea-party|title = US midterm election results herald new political era as Republicans take House|newspaper = The Guardian|date = November 3, 2010|access-date = October 13, 2019|archive-date = December 14, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101214214006/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/03/us-midterm-election-results-tea-party|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11317202|title = What exactly is the Tea Party?|work = BBC News|date = September 16, 2010|last1 = Connolly|first1 = Katie|access-date = October 13, 2019|archive-date = January 27, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210127092329/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11317202|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/146780150/strong-in-2010-where-is-the-tea-party-now|title = Strong in 2010, Where is the Tea Party Now?|newspaper = NPR.org|access-date = October 13, 2019|archive-date = August 6, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806223354/https://www.npr.org/2012/02/12/146780150/strong-in-2010-where-is-the-tea-party-now|url-status = live}}</ref> an [[anti-Obama protest]] movement of [[fiscal conservatives]].<ref name="Blum-2020">{{Cite book|last=Blum|first=Rachel M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-r5DwAAQBAJ|title=How the Tea Party Captured the GOP: Insurgent Factions in American Politics|date=2020|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0226687520|access-date=May 21, 2021|archive-date=December 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215023725/https://books.google.com/books?id=1-r5DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Members of the movement called for lower [[Taxation in the United States|taxes]], and for a reduction of the national debt and [[federal budget deficit]] through decreased [[United States federal budget|government spending]].<ref name="Gallup">[https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/165469-gallup-tea-partys-top-concerns-are-debt-size-of-government/ Gallup: Tea Party's top concerns are debt, size of government]  ''The Hill'', July 5, 2010</ref><ref name="thefiscaltimes.com">Somashekhar, Sandhya (September 12, 2010). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/12/AR2010091201425.html Tea Party DC March: "Tea party activists march on Capitol Hill"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214172734/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/12/AR2010091201425.html |date=December 14, 2022 }}. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved November 5, 2011.</ref> The Tea Party movement was also described as a popular constitutional movement<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Somin|first=Ilya|date=May 26, 2011|title=The Tea Party Movement and Popular Constitutionalism|location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=1853645|journal=Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy}}</ref> composed of a mixture of [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarian]],<ref name="libertarian2">{{cite news |last=Ekins |first=Emily |date=September 26, 2011 |title=Is Half the Tea Party Libertarian? |newspaper=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |url=http://reason.com/poll/2011/09/26/is-half-the-tea-part-libertart |url-status=live |access-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511064727/http://reason.com/poll/2011/09/26/is-half-the-tea-part-libertart |archive-date=May 11, 2012}}{{Cite journal |last1=Kirby |first1=David |last2=Ekins |first2=Emily McClintock |date=August 6, 2012 |title=Libertarian Roots of the Tea Party |url=http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/libertarian-roots-tea-party?mc_cid=6b9d637298&mc_eid=a1708a475b |url-status=live |journal=Policy Analysis|publisher=[[Cato Institute]]|issue=705 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005725/https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/libertarian-roots-tea-party?mc_cid=6b9d637298&mc_eid=a1708a475b |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |access-date=June 9, 2019}}</ref> [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]],<ref name="populist2">{{cite news |last=Halloran |first=Liz |date=February 5, 2010 |title=What's Behind The New Populism? |publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123137382 |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729230703/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123137382 |archive-date=July 29, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Barstow |first=David |date=February 16, 2010 |title=Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/us/politics/16teaparty.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302180744/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/us/politics/16teaparty.html |archive-date=March 2, 2017}}{{cite news |last=Fineman |first=Howard |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Party Time |work=[[Newsweek]]|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/05/party-time.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713102631/http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/05/party-time.html |archive-date=July 13, 2011}}</ref> and conservative activism.<ref name="Conservatism">{{cite news |first=Pauline |last=Arrillaga |date=April 14, 2014 |title=Tea Party 2012: A Look At The Conservative Movement's Last Three Years |newspaper=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/14/tea-party-2012_n_1425957.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417025313/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/14/tea-party-2012_n_1425957.html |archive-date=April 17, 2012}}{{cite news |first=Michelle |last=Boorstein |date=October 5, 2010 |title=Tea party, religious right often overlap, poll shows |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100501491.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407201008/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100501491.html |archive-date=April 7, 2019}}{{cite news |first1=Peter |last1=Wallsten |first2=Danny |last2=Yadron |date=September 29, 2010 |title=Tea-Party Movement Gathers Strength |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703882404575520252928390046 |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913085143/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703882404575520252928390046 |archive-date=September 13, 2018}}</ref>

The Tea Party movement's electoral success began with [[Scott Brown (politician)|Scott Brown]]'s upset win in the [[2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts|January Senate special election in Massachusetts]]; the seat had been held for decades by Democrat [[Ted Kennedy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0119/Scott-Brown-the-tea-party-s-first-electoral-victory|title=Scott Brown: the tea party's first electoral victory|date=January 19, 2010|journal=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214004238/https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0119/Scott-Brown-the-tea-party-s-first-electoral-victory|url-status=live}}</ref> In November, Republicans [[2010 United States House of Representatives elections|recaptured control of the House]], [[2010 United States Senate elections|increased their number of seats in the Senate]], and [[2010 United States gubernatorial elections|gained a majority of governorships]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-historic-win-state-legislatures-vote-2010-election/story?id=12049040#.T4eD_NnhdeM|title=Will Redistricting Be a Bloodbath for Democrats?|publisher=[[ABC News]]|access-date=April 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412053633/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-historic-win-state-legislatures-vote-2010-election/story?id=12049040#.T4eD_NnhdeM|archive-date=April 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The Tea Party would go on to strongly influence the Republican Party, in part due to the replacement of establishment Republicans with Tea Party-style Republicans.<ref name="Blum-2020" />

When Obama [[2012 United States presidential election|was re-elected president in 2012]], defeating Republican [[Mitt Romney]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-jan-04-la-pn-obama-biden-officially-win-second-term-20130104-story.html|title=It's official: Obama, Biden win second term|date=January 4, 2013|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103082641/https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-jan-04-la-pn-obama-biden-officially-win-second-term-20130104-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the Republican Party [[2012 United States House of Representatives elections|lost seven seats in the House]], but still retained control of that chamber.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/under-obama-democrats-suffer-largest-loss-in-power-since-eisenhower/291/|title=Under Obama, Democrats suffer largest loss in power since Eisenhower|website=Quorum|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526122132/https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/under-obama-democrats-suffer-largest-loss-in-power-since-eisenhower/291/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Republicans were [[2012 United States Senate elections|unable to gain control of the Senate]], continuing their minority status with a net loss of two seats.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/senate-results-2012_n_2039118.html|title=Democrats Retain Senate Control On Election Night|date=November 7, 2012|website=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108015333/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/senate-results-2012_n_2039118.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the aftermath of the loss, some prominent Republicans spoke out against their own party.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/olympia-snowe-bob-dole-91930.html "Olympia Snowe: Bob Dole is right about GOP" – Kevin Robillard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605115245/http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/olympia-snowe-bob-dole-91930.html |date=June 5, 2013 }}. Politico.Com (May 29, 2013). Retrieved on August 17, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2013/01/powell-gop-has-a-dark-vein-of-intolerance-154019.html Powell: GOP has 'a dark vein of intolerance'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520213100/http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/2013/01/powell-gop-has-a-dark-vein-of-intolerance-154019.html |date=May 20, 2013 }}. Politico.Com. Retrieved on August 17, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.skem1.com/client_id_32089/Grand_Old_Party_for_a_Brand_New_Generation.pdf|title=Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610132357/http://images.skem1.com/client_id_32089/Grand_Old_Party_for_a_Brand_New_Generation.pdf|archive-date=June 10, 2013|date=June 10, 2013}}</ref> A 2012 election post-mortem by the Republican Party concluded that the party needed to do more on the national level to attract votes from minorities and young voters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/what-you-need-to-read-in-the-rnc-election-autopsy-report/274112/|title=What You Need to Read in the RNC Election-Autopsy Report|last=Franke-Ruta|first=Garance|date=March 18, 2013|website=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=July 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707101956/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/what-you-need-to-read-in-the-rnc-election-autopsy-report/274112/|archive-date=July 7, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2013, Republican National Committee chairman [[Reince Priebus]] issued a report on the party's electoral failures in 2012, calling on Republicans to reinvent themselves and officially endorse immigration reform. He proposed 219 reforms, including a $10&nbsp;million marketing campaign to reach women, minorities, and gay people; the setting of a shorter, more controlled primary season; and the creation of better data collection facilities.<ref>Rachel Weiner, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/18/reince-priebus-gives-gop-prescription-for-future/ "Reince Priebus gives GOP prescription for future", ''The Washington Post'' March 18, 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723051117/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/18/reince-priebus-gives-gop-prescription-for-future/ |date=July 23, 2015 }}</ref>

Following [[2014 United States elections|the 2014 elections]], the Republican Party [[2014 United States Senate elections|took control of the Senate]] by gaining nine seats.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-keep-edge-in-latest-senate-midterm-estimate/|title=Republicans keep edge in latest Senate midterm estimate|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=September 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907234121/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-keep-edge-in-latest-senate-midterm-estimate/|archive-date=September 7, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> With 247 seats in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the Congress since [[71st United States Congress|the 71st Congress]] in 1929.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/11/05/its-all-but-official-this-will-be-the-most-dominant-republican-congress-since-1929/|title=It's all but official: This will be the most dominant Republican Congress since 1929|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213082316/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/11/05/its-all-but-official-this-will-be-the-most-dominant-republican-congress-since-1929/|archive-date=December 13, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Trump era ====
{{Main|Presidency of Donald Trump|Trumpism}}
[[File:Donald Trump official portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Donald Trump]], the 45th president (2017–2021)]]

In [[2016 United States presidential election|the 2016 presidential election]], Republican nominee [[Donald Trump]] defeated Democratic nominee [[Hillary Clinton]]. The result was unexpected; polls leading up to the election showed Clinton leading the race.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/12-days-stunned-nation-how-hillary-clinton-lost-n794131|title=12 days that stunned a nation: How Hillary Clinton lost|website=[[NBC News]]|date=August 23, 2017|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128124221/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/12-days-stunned-nation-how-hillary-clinton-lost-n794131|url-status=live}}</ref> Trump's victory was fueled by narrow victories in three states—[[Michigan]], [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Wisconsin]]—that had been part of the [[Blue wall (U.S. politics)|Democratic blue wall]] for decades.<ref name= "elites">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/donald-trump-republican-party/presidency|title=How Trump won and proved everyone wrong with his populist message|website=[[NBC News]] Specials|date=December 14, 2016|access-date=December 8, 2019|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108102242/https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/donald-trump-republican-party/presidency/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was attributed to strong support amongst working-class white voters, who felt dismissed and disrespected by the political establishment.<ref name="campani" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/upshot/why-trump-won-working-class-whites.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109094913/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/upshot/why-trump-won-working-class-whites.html |archive-date=November 9, 2016 |url-access=limited|url-status=live|title=Why Trump Won: Working-Class Whites|first=Nate|last=Cohn|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 9, 2016|access-date=February 15, 2021}}</ref> Trump became popular with them by abandoning Republican establishment orthodoxy in favor of a broader nationalist message.<ref name= "elites" />

After [[2016 United States elections|the 2016 elections]], Republicans [[2016 United States Senate elections|maintained their majority in the Senate]], [[2016 United States House of Representatives elections|the House]], and [[2016 United States gubernatorial elections|governorships]], and wielded newly acquired executive power with Trump's election. The Republican Party controlled 69 of 99 state legislative chambers in 2017, the most it had held in history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/republicans-expand-control-in-a-deeply-divided-nation.html?_r=0|title=Republicans Expand Control in a Deeply Divided Nation|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 11, 2016 |access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119193906/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/republicans-expand-control-in-a-deeply-divided-nation.html?_r=0|archive-date=November 19, 2016|url-status=live|last1=Bosman |first1=Julie |last2=Davey |first2=Monica }}</ref> The Party also held 33 governorships,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-2017-2018-governors-races-predictions.html|title=2017-2018 Governors' Races: Where Power Is Most and Least Likely to Flip|date=January 3, 2017|website=Governing}}</ref> the most it had held since 1922.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-11-09/republicans-expand-control-of-governorships-legislatures|title=Republicans Governorships Rise to Highest Mark Since 1922|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915132840/https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-11-09/republicans-expand-control-of-governorships-legislatures|archive-date=September 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The party had total control of government in 25 states;<ref>{{cite news|title=Republican governorships rise to highest mark since 1922|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-11-09/republicans-expand-control-of-governorships-legislature|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|date=November 6, 2016|first=David A.|last=Lieb|agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Amber|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/12/these-3-maps-show-just-how-dominant-republicans-are-in-america-after-tuesday/|title=These 3 maps show just how dominant Republicans are in America after Tuesday|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 12, 2016|access-date=November 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113061740/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/12/these-3-maps-show-just-how-dominant-republicans-are-in-america-after-tuesday/|archive-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> it had not held total control of this many states since 1952.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lieb|first1=David A.|title=GOP-Controlled States Aim to Reshape Laws|url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune/20161229/281822873464433|date=December 29, 2016|agency=Associated Press|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075054/https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune/20161229/281822873464433|archive-date=December 31, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The opposing Democratic Party held full control of only five states in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Greenblatt|first1=Alan|title=Republicans Add to Their Dominance of State Legislatures|url=http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-republicans-add-dominance-state-legislatures.html|date=November 9, 2016|work=[[Governing (magazine)|Governing]]|access-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116125852/http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-republicans-add-dominance-state-legislatures.html|archive-date=November 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[2018 United States elections|the 2018 elections]], Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, but strengthened their hold on the Senate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/2018-election-results-democrats-regain-control-house/575122/|title=The Democrats Are Back, and Ready to Take On Trump|first=David A.|last=Graham|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=November 7, 2018|access-date=November 17, 2020|archive-date=December 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209204842/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/2018-election-results-democrats-regain-control-house/575122/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Over the course of his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to [[Supreme Court of the United States|the Supreme Court]]: [[Neil Gorsuch]], [[Brett Kavanaugh]], and [[Amy Coney Barrett]]. It was the most Supreme Court appointments for any president in a single term since [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kumar |first=Anita |date=September 26, 2020 |title=Trump's legacy is now the Supreme Court |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/26/trump-legacy-supreme-court-422058 |access-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216160832/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/26/trump-legacy-supreme-court-422058 |url-status=live }}</ref> Trump [[List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump|appointed 260 judges]] in total, creating [[Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts|overall Republican-appointed majorities on every branch of the federal judiciary]] except for the [[Court of International Trade]] by the time he left office, shifting the judiciary to the [[Right-wing politics|right]]. Other notable achievements during his presidency included the passing of the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] in 2017; the creation of the [[U.S. Space Force]], the first new independent military service since 1947; and the brokering of the [[Abraham Accords]], a series of normalization agreements between [[Israel]] and various [[Arab states]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 22, 2017 |title=Trump signs tax cut bill, first big legislative win |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-signs-tax-cut-bill-first-big-legislative-win-n832141 |website=[[NBC News]] |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208215849/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-signs-tax-cut-bill-first-big-legislative-win-n832141 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Leonard  |first=David |date=December 21, 2019 |title=Trump Officially Establishes US Space Force with 2020 Defense Bill Signing |url=https://www.space.com/trump-creates-space-force-2020-defense-bill.html |website=Space.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603070522/https://www.space.com/trump-creates-space-force-2020-defense-bill.html |archive-date= Jun 3, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Forgey |first=Quint |date=September 15, 2020 |title='The dawn of a new Middle East': Trump celebrates Abraham Accords with White House signing ceremony |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/15/trump-abraham-accords-palestinians-peace-deal-415083 |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226143445/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/15/trump-abraham-accords-palestinians-peace-deal-415083 |url-status=live }}</ref> Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/05/trump-acquitted-in-impeachment-trial.html|title=Trump acquitted of both charges in Senate impeachment trial|last1=Wilkie|first1=Christina|last2=Breuninger|first2=Kevin|date=February 5, 2020|website=CNBC}}</ref>

Trump lost [[2020 United States presidential election|the 2020 presidential election]] to Democrat [[Joe Biden]]. He refused to concede the race, claiming widespread electoral fraud and [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election|attempting to overturn the results]]. On January 6, 2021, the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|United States Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters]] following a rally at which Trump spoke. After the attack, the House [[Second impeachment of Donald Trump|impeached Trump for a second time]] on the charge of [[Sedition|incitement of insurrection]], making him the only federal officeholder to be impeached twice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-effort-live-updates/2021/01/13/956449072/house-impeaches-trump-a-2nd-time-citing-insurrection-at-u-s-capitol|title=House Impeaches Trump A 2nd Time, Citing Insurrection At U.S. Capitol|first=Bill|last=Chappell|work=[[NPR]]|date=January 13, 2021|access-date=February 14, 2021|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220221620/https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-effort-live-updates/2021/01/13/956449072/house-impeaches-trump-a-2nd-time-citing-insurrection-at-u-s-capitol|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/trump-impeached.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/trump-impeached.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|title=Trump Impeached for Inciting Insurrection|first=Nicholas|last=Fandos|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 13, 2021|access-date=February 14, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Trump left office on January 20, 2021. His impeachment trial continued into the early weeks of the [[Biden presidency]], and he was [[Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump|acquitted on February 13, 2021]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-acquitted-impeachment-trial-7-gop-senators-vote-democrats-convict-n1257876|title=Trump acquitted in impeachment trial; 7 GOP Senators vote with Democrats to convict|first=Dareh|last=Gregorian|work=[[NBC News]]|date=February 13, 2021|access-date=February 14, 2021|archive-date=February 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213205205/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-acquitted-impeachment-trial-7-gop-senators-vote-democrats-convict-n1257876|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022 and 2023, Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump proved decisive in landmark decisions on [[New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen|gun rights]], [[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization|abortion]], and [[Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard|affirmative action]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-guns-decision-second-amendment-new-york-2022-6 | title=Supreme Court strikes down century-old New York law, dramatically expanding Second Amendment rights to carry guns outside the home | website=[[Business Insider]] | access-date=November 21, 2022 | archive-date=June 26, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626001859/https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-guns-decision-second-amendment-new-york-2022-6 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html | title=Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of federal abortion rights | website=[[CNBC]] | date=June 24, 2022 | access-date=November 21, 2022 | archive-date=June 24, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624141534/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-by-supreme-court-ending-federal-abortion-rights.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The party went into the [[2022 United States elections|2022 elections]] confident and with analysts predicting a [[Wave elections in the United States|red wave]], but it ultimately underperformed expectations, with voters in [[swing state]]s and competitive districts joining Democrats in rejecting candidates who had been endorsed by Trump or who had denied the results of the 2020 election.<ref name="FiveThirtyEight 2022">{{cite web|date=November 8, 2022|title=<!--2022 Election: Live Analysis and Results-->How Election Week 2022 Went Down|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2022-midterm-election/|access-date=November 17, 2022|website=[[FiveThirtyEight]]|archive-date=November 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116174931/https://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/2022-midterm-election/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hounshell 2022">{{cite news |last=Hounshell |first=Blake |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Five Takeaways From a Red Wave That Didn't Reach the Shore |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/us/politics/midterm-elections-takeaways.html |access-date=November 9, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118043809/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/us/politics/midterm-elections-takeaways.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Tumulty 2022">{{cite news |last=Tumulty |first=Karen |date=November 9, 2022 |title=The expected red wave looks more like a puddle |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |access-date=November 10, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112060937/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The party won control of the House with a narrow majority,<ref name="Cowan 2022">{{cite news |last=Cowan |first=Richard |date=November 17, 2022 |title=Republicans win U.S. House majority, setting stage for divided government |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-one-seat-away-winning-house-us-midterm-vote-2022-11-16/ |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125100214/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-one-seat-away-winning-house-us-midterm-vote-2022-11-16/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but lost the Senate and several state legislative majorities and governorships.<ref name="composition_2023_05_23_ncsl_org">[https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition "State Partisan Composition"], May 23, 2023, [[National Conference of State Legislatures]], retrieved July 4, 2023. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition |date=July 4, 2023 }}.</ref><ref name="states_2023_07_01_gazette">[[Thomas Cronin|Cronin, Tom]] and Bob Loevy: [https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html "American federalism: States veer far left or far right"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html |date=July 4, 2023 }}, July 1, 2023, updated July 2, 2023, ''[[Colorado Springs Gazette]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref><ref name="trifectas_2023_01_18_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/us/politics/state-legislatures-democrats-trifectas.html "In the States, Democrats All but Ran the Table"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/us/politics/state-legislatures-democrats-trifectas.html |date=July 4, 2023 }} November 11, 2022, ''[[The New York Times]],'' retrieved July 4, 2023</ref> The results led to many Republicans and conservative thought leaders questioning whether Trump should continue as the party's main figurehead and leader.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Bender |first1=Michael C. |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |date=November 10, 2022 |title=Trump Under Fire From Within G.O.P. After Midterms |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/us/politics/trump-republicans-midterms.html |access-date=November 23, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122225849/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/us/politics/trump-republicans-midterms.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gomez |first=Henry |title=Battleground Republicans unload on Trump ahead of expected 2024 announcement |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/battleground-republicans-unload-trump-ahead-expected-2024-announcement-rcna57153 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123151640/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/battleground-republicans-unload-trump-ahead-expected-2024-announcement-rcna57153 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |website=[[NBC News]] |date=November 15, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Current status ====

As of {{CURRENTYEAR}}, the GOP holds a majority in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. It also holds 27 [[List of United States governors|state governorships]], 28 [[List of United States state legislatures|state legislatures]], and 23 state [[government trifecta]]s. Six of the nine current [[U.S. Supreme Court]] justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Its most recent presidential nominee was [[Donald Trump]], who served as the 45th president of the United States. There have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one political party.