Republican influence is the story of the century

For 70 years, the Republican Party has dominated American politics.

Three things with origins within the Republican Party predicted our future. It is the rise of a personal presidency that puts the president above the party. The conservative revolt that propelled the candidacies of Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan, and the collapse of the Republican establishment that enabled Donald Trump’s hostile takeover of the party apparatus.

During the Roosevelt Truman era, the Republican Party lost five consecutive presidential elections. No major political party in modern times has survived such a crushing defeat. At the time, twice-defeated Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey astutely observed in my book, The Great Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism:

“Sixteen years in the wilderness changed the party forever.”

The Republicans ultimately found a winner in Dwight D. Eisenhower. But Eisenhower’s success came at the expense of the Republican Party. Rather than rely on the party for his victories, Eisenhower created “Citizens for Eisenhower.” The group, led by major corporations, boasted 29,000 clubs and 250,000 members, including independents and disaffected Democrats.

Mr. Eisenhower’s successors followed his lead and left the party, including Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. But it was the Republican Party that perfected what political scientist Theodore J. Lowy called the “personal presidency,” with Eisenhower as its founder and Richard Nixon and Donald Trump as his successors.

Another key element in the Republican story was the emergence of a well-funded conservative movement that began in the 1950s. In 1952, conservative Ohio Sen. Robert A. Taft, known by the nickname “Mr. Republican,” was furious that someone without strong ties to the Republican Party was seeking the top spot in the Republican Party. Republicans,” Eisenhower countered.

As a result, a fierce battle ensued at the Republican convention. Actor John Wayne, an avid Taft supporter, confronted an Eisenhower supporter and yelled, “Why don’t you raise the red flag?” Harry Truman, fearful of losing to Eisenhower and confident that any Democrat could beat Taft, said of his preferred candidate after his defeat at the convention, “Of all the stupid rabbits, he’s the worst.” ” he said.

Taft’s defeat and subsequent acceptance of Eisenhower’s New Deal policies (including building the federal interstate highway system, establishing the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and signing the National Defense Education Act) infuriated conservatives. But Eisenhower said, “If any political party tries to abolish Social Security, unemployment insurance, abolish labor laws, abolish agricultural programs, you will never hear of that party again in our political history.” and dismissed them.

Barry Goldwater had none of that, deriding the Eisenhower administration as nothing more than a “department store New Deal.” Goldwater was nominated as the party’s presidential candidate in 1964, backed by a core of fervent conservative followers.

His nomination paved the way for Ronald Reagan. In 1964, Reagan was a struggling actor well past his prime. But President Reagan put in a brave performance supporting Goldwater. Two years later, he was elected governor of California.

After President Reagan won a landslide victory in 1980, his conservative tax-cutting and budget-cutting agenda dominated American politics for decades. Only the election of Barack Obama and the beginning of the Great Recession marked the end of the Reagan administration.

Donald Trump’s surprise victory in 2016 took the Republican Party in a different direction. Currently, President Trump’s America First issue is the party’s default position. The Republican Party, no longer a champion of free trade and unable to counter Russian influence abroad, especially in Ukraine, has bowed to President Trump’s orders. His hostile takeover marks the final dismantling of the party establishment left over from the Reagan era.

Donald Trump’s personal embodiment of the presidency has subverted the Republican Party’s adherence to established norms. When a party loses an election, like President Trump did in 2020, there is often a period of reflection, followed by renewal. But Trump’s repeated attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory, and the Republican Party’s inability to accept defeat, demonstrate that the threat they pose to our democracy is far from over. It means.

A Trump victory in 2024 would certainly mean a permanent change in the Republican Party and the completion of one man’s control of the constitutional form of government.

But Trump’s defeat is not the end of the story. The political polarization that President Trump exploits will continue unabated. It remains unclear whether the Grand Old Party will be able to remove President Trump and reestablish its traditional commitment to conservative principles.

Either way, the Republican narrative will continue to shape our collective memory. That motivated me to write “Grand Old Unraveling.”

Never before has a single party dominated and changed American politics so completely. And whichever future voters and Republicans choose to pursue will shape politics for decades to come.

John Kenneth White is a professor of political science at The Catholic University of America. His most recent book is “Grand Old Unraveling: The Republic Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.” He can be reached at his johnkennethwhite.com.