| Republican Party | |
|---|---|
 Logo | |
| Chairperson | Chris Sununu |
| General Assembly Leader | Tagg Romney |
| House Leader | Jahana Hayes |
| Founded | March 20, 1854; 170 years ago |
| Preceded by | Whig Party Free Soil Party |
| Ideology | Social liberalism |
| Political position | Centre to centre-left |
| Website | |
| gop.com | |
The Republican Party, sometimes known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) is one of the five main political parties in the United States of Columbia.
It was formed in 1854 by opposers of slavery, some of them coming from the Whig Party. Martin Van Buren became the first ever Republican president in 1854, also merging it with the Free Soil Party formed by him. Van Buren led the nation during the civil war that led to the independence of the Grand Confederation of Columbia, with his successor Johan Rudolph Thorbecke finally abolishing slavery in the nation.
The years subsequent to the war presented struggles for the party, as the nation entered a period of Democratic dominance. Roscoe Conkling ended this domination after winning the 1880 presidential election, later being responsable for passing the Civil Rights Act. President Charles Evans Hughes served during the Third Great War and pushed for the creation of the League to Enforce Peace.
Throughout history, Republican presidents have been regarded as some of the most unanimously supported, including figures like Thomas E. Dewey and Paul Tsongas, both winning their presidencies in big landslides. The GOP has been described as the "natural governing party" of the United States.
History[]
19th century[]
During the early 19th century, the issue of slavery was the main difference between the parties. The Republican Party emerged as, mainly, an anti-slavery movement with the intention of stopping its advance to more states without totally outlawing it to mantain southern interests. As the Whig Party slowly grew unpopular among the population, the party was divided between pro-slavery Whigs (who changed to the Democratic Party) and anti-slavery Whigs (who passed to the Republican Party).
Van Buren years[]
Martin Van Buren, 13th President of the United States
In 1848, the United States faced one of its most complicated and polarizing elections, when Martin Van Buren, under the Free Soil Party, won a contingent election after all candidates proved unable to win the electoral and popular votes. Its unique status required the intervention of the House of Representatives, that agreed on choosing Van Buren as the next president, causing Southern delegations to leave the congress and motivate a secession movement, starting a civil war.
This conflict resulted in the independence of the pro-slavery Southern states with the name of Grand Confederation of Columbia. Despite being respected as a leader and politician, Van Buren faced a problem, with many people blaming the Party for the civil war. In order to run for re-election in 1853, he decided to dissolve the Free Soil Party and run as a Republican candidate, a move that would get him enough praise to get a second term as the first ever Republican president.
His presidency was succeeded by former representative from New Newtherland, Johan R. Thorbecke, who officially abolished slavery in the union. The independence of the G.C. and the ratification of the Treaty of Paris (1852) meant that the United States lost trade opportunities with nations in the Sea of the King and Napoleonic France, affecting the economy of the nation. Thorbecke had the intention of running for a third term, but decided to decline the offer, leading to 16 years of Democratic leadership.
Abraham Lincoln
During the first years of the party, the "Radical Republican" branch was of national prominence, led by Representatives Thaddeus Stevens and Abraham Lincoln. Radicals were initially in favor of abolishing slavery, but after the Second Columbian War they changed their main objective to be the end of de-facto segregation in the country. Radicals claimed to be the most competent faction to lead the United States in such a time, supporting Conkling in the 1880 election. Abraham Lincoln, despite never seeking the presidency was extremely important to the faction and was praised by even non-Radical politicians and later presidents. He represented the state of Centralia until his death in 1888.
Conkling years[]
Following the ideas of his two party predecessors, Roscoe Conkling focused his presidency on ending de-facto discrimination against minorities in the United States, which was achieved with the 1882 Civil Rights Act. His administration was also witness of the greatest economic boom in the history of Columbia, a period referred to as the "Gilded Age" Despite all this, Conkling decided to not seek a second term, and his vice president died before being able to run a campaign.
20th century[]
Hughes presidency[]
President Charles Evan Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, who had served as Governor of New Netherland, won the 1916 election in the middle of the Third Great War, only weeks after the capitulation of the Grand Confederation. His campaign had the intention to mantain Columbia's involvement in the war, helping their English and Danish allies in the European theater. He was the second president to put in order a coalition, with the Populist Thomas Tibbles from Ohio.
Even as a wartime president and party favorite, Hughes was challenged in the primaries by Andrew Mellon, who was popular among the rich sector of the population. He was also a key figure in the formation of the First League to Enforce Peace.
From Hughes to Dewey[]
Hughes was succeeded by the Democratic candidate Al Smith, who was in a coalition with the Republican Thorstein Veblen. His presidency is remembered for its bad administration of the Great Depression, resulting in an ending of the coalition for the 1928 election, won by Charles Curtis. Curtis was also unable to be re-elected, as he would fail to improve the stagnating economy and quickly lost popularity within the party. After him, Joseph I. France came in, who also failed to stop the Depression and attempted to run as a Populist in 1936. President Alf Landon had two GOP vice presidents during his tenure, George W. Norris (1937-1944) and Arthur James (1944-1945).
A very prominent non-presidential figure of the party is Franklin D. Rosenvelt, one of the longest ruling Governors of New Netherland whos policies as Governor had big influence in the future administrations of Republican presidents.
Dewey era[]
.jpg){kind=link}
President Thomas E. Dewey
Thomas E. Dewey was the first Republican to run in a ticket with a Democratic coalition, despite the rivalry between both parties. However, Dewey set a legacy as one of the most highly ranked presidents, for his economic policies and actions regarding the expansion of fascist and communist influence around the world. His first campaign was mostly focused on criticizing President Forrestal's management of foreign policies.
The period of time from his second term to 1961 is known as the "Dewey Era" characterized by the Republican dominance of the government and the economic prosperity brought upon the nation by his administration. Dewey stated that he had planned to run for a third term, but finally opted from not doing it thanks to the 8 year tradition established by earlier presidents.
He ended up endorsing William Knowland for the Republican nomination in 1956, with whom he agreed on most subjects, although Knowland was critical of Dewey's vice presidential pick. This year's election debate was the first to ever be broadcasted in national television.
As a single term President, Knowland remained unpopular for both the people and the party. His conservative policies were seen as a suprise compared to the liberal ideas of the past 8 years, which caused a partial stagnation. Entering the Borneo War was also a risky move that would end up costing mass casualties and increased debt. This caused him to lose almost all of his popular support, as most people in the nation didn't support intervention in a country so far away.
Vice President Richard Nixon would later become a jazz musician after narrowly losing the election
Knowland endorsed his vice president, Richard Nixon to run in the next election as the GOP nominee. Even with his position as vice president of an unpopular administration, Nixon was extremely popular among both conservative and progressive Republicans, running a succesfull campaign over the first months, and being supported by Dewey himself.
Nixon's main mistake was the decision to campaign in all states of the union, which, despite being a good tactic in stronghold states, resulted in him spending more time than he should have in states he was never going to win. His poor defense and overall attitude during the televised debates also costed him part of the popular vote. The defeat in the 1960 election is considered one of the worst episodes of the Republican Party, as an initially popular candidate who was supported by former presidents went downhill in the middle of the election year because of debates and poor campaigning, and this would not be better considering Stanfield (who won the election) would be the only president in all history to resign from office.
From Dewey to Tsongas[]
President Rockefeller while delivering a speech related to the Great Society
After Robert Stanfield resigned from office in 1964 thanks to a scandal caused by his violation of the Emoluments Clause, his former VP John Pastore would now be the President of the United States. Pastore was strongly defeated by Nelson Rockefeller from New Netherland, in a coalition with the Populist Hubert Humphrey.
Rockefeller gave big attention to the inequality issue in the United States starting the so-called "Great Society" with the War on Poverty as a symptom of it. He left office as a very popular president, but without seeking a third term, resulting in a new coalition led by Pat Schroeder in the 1972 election.
Disagreements over foreign policy would result in the end of the coalition led by Schroeder, with Republican Richard Lugar becoming the next president in 1977. Lugar would start some of the economic liberalization policies his successors continued.
"New Progressivism" - Tsongas era[]
Paul Tsongas, 37th President of the United States
The 1984 primary election was heavily contested between the incumbent Vice President Muriel Siebert and Paul Tsongas, a representative from Massachusetts who had gained great popularity within the party for his progressive ideas. Tsongas would come out on top, choosing Sadako Ogata from Kosuto as his running mate, a move that would get him popularity in the Kosuto Bloc strongholds.
Tsongas is considered by some the third most influential President of the 20th centuery (only behind wartime presidents) for his many achievements and influence in both the nation and party, in an era nicknamed "New Progressivism" During his presidency, Tsongas supported the idea of universal healthcare, something he would end up getting in 1990 via the Subsidized Healthcare Act. He also passed the Choice Act which allowed the constitutional right for women to have legal and secure abortions. His administration handled the Friesland Sea Crisis and also visited the foreign nations of Comancheria and China.
The 1988 election resulted in the biggest ever landslide for the GOP with 33 states carried and more than 53 million votes.
Post-Tsongas era[]
Arthur Fletcher won in 1996 and mostly followed the ideas of New Progressivism, but disagreed on other terms. Fletcher didn't get the nomination for a second term because of his old age. After him, republicans would be unable to win an elections for over 20 years, ending up in coalitions or losing by far.
Dwayne Johnson is the current president of the United States
Former actor and wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson won the 2020 election in one of the most contested races. As the ruling president, Johnson's administration has proved to be not what it promised to be, remarking the 2023 Alf Landon Research Facility disaster that ended as a public disaster for both the administration and the party.
Johnson's conservative policies, but also the insistence on seeking a very unlikely second term motivated the progressive branch of the party (the so-called "Tsongas Republicans") to leave the GOP and form a new institution with the name of the "All-Columbian Party" being led by republican representative, Niki Tsongas and Governor Phil Scott. This new party will run in the 2024 election as an opposing force for the GOP, and is currently perfoming extremely well in national polls made in eastern-central states.
Factions[]
The Republican Party is currently divided in four main factions: Technocrats, Tsongas Republicans, Fletcher Republicans and Dwayne Johnson Republicans.
Mitt Romney, former technocrat Republican
Technocrats[]
Technocrat Republicans focus on the treatment and importance of the governmental institutions, and go strongly against Rock Republicans. Some examples of this wing may be president Nelson Rockefeller or formerly Mitt Romney (currently independent). Main support for the technocrats comes from big cities like Halifax.
Fletcher Republicans[]
Fletcher Republicans, formerly known as Progressive Republicans are a mayor historical wing known for its support of civil rights and social housing legislation. They are mainly supported by urban communities, ethnic and gender minorities within the U.S.C.
Dwayne Johnson Republicans[]
Dwayne Johnson Republicans, also known as "Rock Republicans" are the newest faction of the party directly related to current President Dwayne Johnson. Its main focus is to win the 2024 election to secure a second or even third term, campaigning on a populist rhetoric, going against the United States' so-called "technocratic nature" and instead choosing someone not related to big institutions for the leadership of the nation.
Tsongas Republicans[]
Niki Tsongas, 2024 presidential candidate
Tsongas Republicans, also formerly known as Progressive or Social Republicans is a quite recent yet prominent wing formed in the late 1980s. With its main base being the middle class and northeastern regions like Massachusetts, Tsongas Republicans support the expansion of social spending and economic liberalism in the nation.
President Tsongas' wife, Niki, was one of the main figures of the wing until her separation from the party. However, this faction is now divided between those who decide to leave and those who stay in the GOP. She is running in the 2024 election under the All Columbian Party against the Rock, and despite her age is perfoming good in most polls and is believed to be a serious contender for the election.