Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then.

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners of the planter class became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War, thereby preserving the Union and abolishing slavery.

After the war, the party largely dominated national politics until the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it lost its congressional majorities and the Democrats' New Deal programs proved popular. Dwight D. Eisenhower's election in 1952 was a rare break between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II. Following the 1960s era of Civil rights movement, during which major bipartisan legislation proposed by Democratic presidents was passed amid deep Southern Democratic resistance, the South began a gradual shift toward the Republican Party. Richard Nixon, who employed the "Southern Strategy", carried 49 states in the 1972 election, with what he touted as his "silent majority". The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics, bringing together advocates of free-market economics, social conservatives, and Cold War foreign policy hawks under the Republican banner. Since 2009, the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and shifted towards right-wing populism, which ultimately became its dominant faction. Following the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, the party has pivoted towards Trumpism.

In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from rural voters, White Southerners, evangelical Christians, men, senior citizens, and voters without college degrees. On economic issues, the party has maintained a pro-business attitude since its inception. It supports low taxes and deregulation while opposing socialism, labor unions, public health insurance option and single-payer healthcare. The party also supports economic protectionism, including enacting tariffs on imports and opposes free trade. On social issues, it advocates for restricting abortion, supports tough on crime policies, (such as capital punishment and the prohibition of recreational drug use) promotes gun ownership and easing gun restrictions, and opposes transgender rights. The party favors limited legal immigration but strongly opposes illegal immigration and favors the deportation of those without permanent legal status, such as undocumented immigrants and those with temporary protected status. In foreign policy, the party supports U.S. aid to Israel but is divided on aid to Ukraine and is generally supportive of improving relations with Russia, with Trump's ascent empowering an isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda.