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 The party grew out of opposition to the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], which repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]] and opened [[Kansas Territory|the Kansas]] and [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska Territories]] to slavery and future admission as slave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>