Switcheroo: The Republican Party from Lincoln to Trump
Ashley Merck, The Vision Magazine graphic designer
The year is 1860 and Abraham Lincoln has won the 16th presidential election as America’s first Republican candidate. It was only four years before his election when the Republican party was established. Lincoln fought for the rights of slaves and even created amendments to appeal to this issue. Flash-forward 156 years to when the latest Republican candidate, Donald Trump was elected as America’s 45th president in Nov. 2016. The Republican party is now viewed as racist by Democrats because of Trump’s plans to build a wall and deport illegal immigrants. So how has the Republican party changed so much since its founding and how does it affect us today?
Let’s take a step back and observe the history of how it came to be in the first place, what their original views were versus what their views are today.
According to history.com, the party was officially established on March 20, 1854 and had gained support of northern voters because of its anti-slavery views. Six years after its establishment, the Republican party’s first presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. Voters were in favor of fighting for the rights of African-American slaves which is why abolitionist Lincoln won this election.
Bradley Sundt, a sophomore interdisciplinary studies major in business, political science and mass communication at North Greenville University (NGU), is intrigued by politics and is informally endorsed to run for a position at the South Carolina State House after he graduates from college.
“[The Republican party] was not very powerful at first. It was an abolitionist part [in favor of] anti-slavery,” explained Sundt. “Over the years, it has gone from being the poor man’s party to becoming the rich man’s party.” He went on to explain how the republican party is now the party of business and is gaining power again. The Republican party is known as a capitalist party which uses basic economics as a driving force for their decisions. The Republicans are also known for being religious and therefore gives money to various charities.
According to Sundt, the Republican party has been in a love-hate relationship with American citizens. “It was loved in the beginning and hated during the Cold War and President Reagan made it loved again,” said Sundt.
It was first loved because of the Civil Rights Movement which helped African-Americans gain rights, but later hated because of the Great Depression when Hoover was president and many Americans lost their jobs. Democratic president, Franklin Roosevelt also played a role in shaping America’s view of Republicans as he formed the New Deal offering free food and opening job opportunities for the people. Needless to say, the Republicans looked like villains in comparison to the Democrats. It wasn’t until Ronald Reagan when America’s view of Republicans shifted from villain to hero.
Reagan was key to changing voters’ views about the republican party because he made the party seem more appealing as he ran against Democratic party candidate, Jimmy Carter in 1980. As Reagan campaigned against Carter, the American people adored him because of the respect and Christian values he offered in comparison to Carter who was viewed as too weak to lead the United States because of his personality and appearance. During his presidency, Reagan also used a scare tactic that he would defeat the Soviet Union with the Star Wars program in which he threatened to produce nuclear weapons as a defense mechanism and ultimately defeated the USSR without any shots being fired. Reagan won this battle economically through his power and intimidation. And it’s because of his influence that we see the modern day Republican party views being shaped today according to Sundt.
After all that has happened through Republican party history, one may wonder what the most significant change was and how does it affect our society today. David Tyner, professor of humanities at NGU, explains the biggest switch of the parties’ views was government size.
“The [biggest change is that the] Republican party now claims to favor small government over big government,” explained Tyner. “And the democrats originally favored small government, but now favor big government.”
According to Sundt, big government claims to be the fix to all problems whereas small government does not. For example, during the Civil War, Lincoln passed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments and didn’t follow the rules in regards to how amendments should be passed. He passed them because he wanted what was best for the African-Americans and therefore made a big government move.
In contrast to today’s Republican motives which favors small government, the party uses the federal government to protect citizen rights. The party views that states should be in complete control and the federal government is only there to help.
Tyner also explained that the republican party originally favored an active national government to promote business interests and economic growth in general, but that changed at the turn of the century. Today’s modern Republican party views were greatly influenced by Ronald Reagan and therefore favor a limited and active government.
This change affects us today because the Republicans generally want what is best for businesses and in order to do that, the government should have as little intervention as possible. Democrats today believe that government is a solution, whereas Republicans believe that government is a problem.
After holding office for 24 presidential elections, the Republican party has gone through significant changes since its founding in 1856. With the Republican-Democrat platform switch, both parties do not reflect their original intentions. How will Trump define the Republican party as he holds his position as America’s 45th president?
