Republican Party (United States)

Republican Party
Abbreviation	GOP
Chairperson	Michael Whatley
Governing body	Republican National Committee
Speaker of the House	Mike Johnson
Senate Minority Leader	Mitch McConnell
House Majority Leader	Steve Scalise
Founders	Alvan E. Bovay[1] Henry J. Raymond[2] ... and others Horace Greeley John C. Frémont Francis P. Blair Edwin D. Morgan Amos Tuck Salmon P. Chase
Founded	March 20, 1854; 170 years ago (1854-03-20) Ripon, Wisconsin, U.S.
Merger of	Whig Party[3][4][5][6] Free Soil Party[7] Anti-Nebraska movement[8]
Headquarters	310 First Street SE, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Student wing	College Republicans High School Republican National Federation
Youth wing	Young Republicans Teen Age Republicans
Women's wing	National Federation of Republican Women
Overseas wing	Republicans Overseas
Ideology	Majority: Conservatism[9] Factions: Centrism[10] Christian right[11] Libertarianism[12] Right-wing populism[13]
Political position	Center-right[14] to right-wing[15]
International affiliation	International Democracy Union[16] Asia Pacific Democracy Union[17] European Conservatives and Reformists Party (global partner)[18]
Elections

The Republican Party, also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is one of the

The party was founded in 1854 by

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, preserving the Union and abolishing slavery. Afterward, the party largely dominated the national political scene 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 was a rare break in between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II. His former vice president Richard Nixon carried 49 states in 1972 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.^[21] Since 2009, the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and has shifted towards right-wing populism.^[a]

In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from

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.^[38] The name was partly chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.^[39] The first official party convention was held on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan.^[40]

The party emerged from the great political realignment of the mid-1850s, united in pro-capitalist stances with members often valuing

The Republicans were eager for

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 had occurred in the South to depress the black and white Republican vote, which gave Republican-controlled returning officers 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.^[60] Still, Democrats refused to accept the results and 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.^[61]

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 that year's panic. He also believed greenbacks posed a threat; greenbacks being money printed during the Civil War that was not backed by specie, which Hayes objected to as a proponent of 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.^[62] Ahead of 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.^[63][64]

Garfield won the 1880 presidential election, but was assassinated early in his term. His death helped create support for the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was passed in 1883;^[65] 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 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.^[66][67] Cleveland stuck to the gold standard policy,^[68] but he came into conflict with Republicans regarding budding American imperialism.^[69]

Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in 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.^[70] Following his loss to Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election, Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to pass a treaty annexing Hawaii before Cleveland could be inaugurated. Most Republicans supported the proposed annexation,^[71] but Cleveland opposed it.^[72]

In 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 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.^[73][74] 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.^[75] McKinley defeated Bryan^[76] and returned the presidency to Republican control until the 1912 presidential election.^[77]

The Republicans returned to the presidency in the 1920s, winning on platforms of normalcy, business-oriented efficiency, and high tariffs.^[79] The national party platform avoided mention of prohibition, instead issuing a vague commitment to law and order.^[80] The Teapot Dome scandal threatened to hurt the party under Warren G. Harding. He died in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge easily defeated the splintered opposition in 1924.^[81] The pro-business policies of the decade produced an unprecedented prosperity until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression.^[82]

The New Deal coalition forged by Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excluding the presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress and the economy moved sharply upward from its nadir in early 1933. However, long-term unemployment remained a drag until 1940. In the 1934 elections, 10 Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving the GOP with only 25 senators against 71 Democrats. The House likewise had overwhelming Democratic majorities.^[83]

The Republican Party factionalized into

After 1945, the internationalist wing of the GOP cooperated with Truman's Cold War foreign policy, funded the Marshall Plan and supported NATO, despite the continued isolationism of the Old Right.^[87]

Eisenhower had defeated conservative leader senator Robert A. Taft for

Richard Nixon, the 37th president (1969–1974)

Gerald Ford, the 38th president (1974–1977)

Historians cite the 1964 presidential election and its respective National Convention as a significant shift, which saw the conservative wing, helmed by Arizona senator Barry Goldwater, battle liberal New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and his eponymous Rockefeller Republican faction for the nomination. With Goldwater poised to win, Rockefeller, urged to mobilize his liberal faction, retorted, "You're looking at it, buddy. I'm all that's left."^[89][90]

Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.

Though Goldwater lost the election in a landslide, Ronald Reagan would make himself known as a prominent supporter of his throughout the campaign, delivering his famous "A Time for Choosing" speech for Goldwater. Reagan would go on to win the California governorship two years later.

The GOP would go on to control the White House from 1969 to 1977 under 37th president Richard Nixon, and when he resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford became the 38th president, serving until 1977. Ronald Reagan would later go on to defeat incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 United States presidential election, becoming the 40th president on January 20, 1981.^[91]

Ronald Reagan, the 40th president (1981–1989)

George H. W. Bush, the 41st president (1989–1993)

The

Reagan's vice president, George H. W. Bush, won the presidency in a landslide in the 1988 presidential election. However, his term was characterized by division within the Republican Party. Bush's vision of economic liberalization and international cooperation with foreign nations saw the negotiation and, during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the conceptual beginnings of the World Trade Organization.^[98] Independent politician and businessman Ross Perot decried NAFTA and predicted that it would lead to the outsourcing of American jobs to Mexico; however, Clinton agreed with Bush's trade policies.^[99]

Bush

In the 1994 elections, the Republican Party, led by House minority whip Newt Gingrich, who campaigned on the "Contract with America", won majorities in both chambers of Congress, gained 12 governorships, and regained control of 20 state legislatures. The Republican Party won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, and won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South for the first time since Reconstruction.^[102][103]

However, most voters had not heard of the Contract and the Republican victory was attributed to traditional mid-term anti-incumbent voting and Republicans becoming the majority party in the South for the first time since Reconstruction, winning many former Southern Democrats.^[104] Gingrich was made speaker, and within the first 100 days of the Republican majority, every proposition featured in the Contract was passed, with the exception of term limits for members of Congress, which did not pass in the Senate.^[105][104] One key to Gingrich's success in 1994 was nationalizing the election,^[103] which in turn led to his becoming a national figure during the 1996 House elections, with many Democratic leaders proclaiming Gingrich was a zealous radical.^[106][107] The Republicans maintained their majority for the first time since 1928 despite Bob Dole losing handily to Clinton in the presidential election. However, Gingrich's national profile proved a detriment to the Republican Congress, which enjoyed majority approval among voters in spite of Gingrich's relative unpopularity.^[106]

After Gingrich and the Republicans struck a deal with Clinton on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which included tax cuts, the Republican House majority had difficulty convening on a new agenda ahead of the 1998 elections.^[108] During the ongoing impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, Gingrich decided to make Clinton's misconduct the party message heading into the elections, believing it would add to their majority. The strategy proved mistaken and the Republicans lost five seats, though whether it was due to poor messaging or Clinton's popularity providing a coattail effect is debated.^[109] Gingrich was ousted from party power due to the performance, ultimately deciding to resign from Congress altogether. For a short time afterward, it appeared Louisiana representative Bob Livingston would become his successor; Livingston, however, stepped down from consideration and resigned from Congress after damaging reports of affairs threatened the Republican House's legislative agenda if he were to serve as speaker.^[110] Illinois representative Dennis Hastert was promoted to speaker in Livingston's place, serving in that position until 2007.^[111]

Republican

The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney. Democrats gained control of the Senate on June 6, 2001, when Vermont Republican senator Jim Jeffords switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in the 2002 elections, helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the September 11 attacks, and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in the 2006 elections, largely due to increasing opposition to the Iraq War.^{[121][122][123]}

In the 2008 presidential election, Arizona Republican senator John McCain was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator Barack Obama.^[124]

The Republicans experienced electoral success in

The Tea Party movement's electoral success began with Scott Brown's upset win in the January Senate special election in Massachusetts; the seat had been held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy.^[136] In November, Republicans recaptured control of the House, increased their number of seats in the Senate, and gained a majority of governorships.^[137] The Tea Party would go on to strongly influence the Republican Party, in part due to the replacement of establishment Republicans with Tea Party-style Republicans.^[129]

When Obama was re-elected president in 2012, defeating Republican Mitt Romney,^[138] the Republican Party lost seven seats in the House, but still retained control of that chamber.^[139] However, Republicans were unable to gain control of the Senate, continuing their minority status with a net loss of two seats.^[140] In the aftermath of the loss, some prominent Republicans spoke out against their own party.^{[141][142][143]} A 2012 election post-mortem by the Republican Party concluded that the party needed to do more on the national level to attract votes from minorities and young voters.^[144] In March 2013, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus issued a report on the party's electoral failures in 2012, calling on Republicans to reinvent themselves and officially endorse immigration reform. He proposed 219 reforms, including a $10 million marketing campaign to reach women, minorities, and gay people; the setting of a shorter, more controlled primary season; and the creation of better data collection facilities.^[145]

Following the 2014 elections, the Republican Party took control of the Senate by gaining nine seats.^[146] With 247 seats in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the Congress since the 71st Congress in 1929.^[147]

In the 2016 presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The result was unexpected; polls leading up to the election showed Clinton leading the race.^[148] Trump's victory was fueled by narrow victories in three states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—that had been part of the Democratic blue wall for decades.^[149] It was attributed to strong support amongst working-class white voters, who felt dismissed and disrespected by the political establishment.^[150][151] Trump became popular with them by abandoning Republican establishment orthodoxy in favor of a broader nationalist message.^[149]

After the 2016 elections, Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate, the House, and governorships, and wielded newly acquired executive power with Trump's election. The Republican Party controlled 69 of 99 state legislative chambers in 2017, the most it had held in history.^[152] The Party also held 33 governorships,^[153] the most it had held since 1922.^[154] The party had total control of government in 25 states;^[155][156] it had not held total control of this many states since 1952.^[157] The opposing Democratic Party held full control of only five states in 2017.^[158] In the 2018 elections, Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, but strengthened their hold on the Senate.^[159]

Over the course of his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to

In 2022 and 2023, Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump proved decisive in landmark decisions on gun rights, abortion, and affirmative action.^[170][171] The party went into the 2022 elections confident and with analysts predicting a red wave, but it ultimately underperformed expectations, with voters in swing states and competitive districts joining Democrats in rejecting candidates who had been endorsed by Trump or who had denied the results of the 2020 election.^{[172][173][174]} The party won control of the House with a narrow majority,^[175] but lost the Senate and several state legislative majorities and governorships.^{[176][177][178]} The results led to a number of Republicans and conservative thought leaders questioning whether Trump should continue as the party's main figurehead and leader.^[179][180] Despite this, Trump easily won the nomination to be the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election.^[181]

As of 2024, the GOP holds a majority in the

There have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one political party.

Name and symbols

It has been suggested that mascots be split out into another article. (Discuss) (August 2024)

The Republican Party's founding members chose its name as homage to the values of republicanism promoted by Democratic-Republican Party, which its founder, Thomas Jefferson, called the "Republican Party".^[183] The idea for the name came from an editorial by the party's leading publicist, Horace Greeley, who called for "some simple name like 'Republican' [that] would more fitly designate those who had united to restore the Union to its true mission of champion and promulgator of Liberty rather than propagandist of slavery".^[184] The name reflects the 1776 republican values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption.^[185] "Republican" has a variety of meanings around the world, and the Republican Party has evolved such that the meanings no longer always align.^[186][121]

The term "Grand Old Party" is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the abbreviation "GOP" is a commonly used designation. The term originated in 1875 in the

The traditional mascot of the party is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol.^[188] An alternate symbol of the Republican Party in states such as Indiana, New York and Ohio is the bald eagle as opposed to the Democratic rooster or the Democratic five-pointed star.^[189][190] In Kentucky, the log cabin is a symbol of the Republican Party.^[191]

Traditionally the party had no consistent color identity.^{[192][193][194]} After the 2000 presidential election, the color red became associated with Republicans. During and after the election, the major broadcast networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: states won by Republican nominee George W. Bush were colored red and states won by Democratic nominee Al Gore were colored blue. Due to the weeks-long dispute over the election results, these color associations became firmly ingrained, persisting in subsequent years. Although the assignment of colors to political parties is unofficial and informal, the media has come to represent the respective political parties using these colors. The party and its candidates have also come to embrace the color red.^[195]

• 
  An 1874 cartoon by Thomas Nast, featuring the first notable appearance of the Republican elephant^[196]
• 
  The red, white and blue elephant
• 
  The GOP banner logo, c. 2013
• 
  A GOP banner logo, c. 2017

During the 19th century, Republican factions included the

The dawn on the 20th century saw the Republican party split into an

Republicans began the 21st century with the election of

Right-wing populism became an increasingly dominant ideological faction within the GOP throughout the 2010s and helped lead to the election of Donald Trump in 2016.^[150] Starting in the 1970s and accelerating in the 2000s, American right-wing interest groups invested heavily in external mobilization vehicles that led to the organizational weakening of the GOP establishment. The outsize role of conservative media, in particular Fox News, led to it being followed and trusted more by the Republican base over traditional party elites. The depletion of organizational capacity partly led to Trump's victory in the Republican primaries against the wishes of a very weak party establishment and traditional power brokers.^{[203]: 27–28} Trump's election exacerbated internal schisms within the GOP,^[203]: 18 and saw the GOP move from a center coalition of moderates and conservatives to a solidly right-wing party hostile to liberal views and any deviations from the party line.^[204]

The Party has since faced intense factionalism,^[205][206] and has also undergone a major decrease in the influence of its establishment conservative faction.^{[22][13][207][24][30]} Trump's election split both the GOP and larger conservative movement into Trumpist and anti-Trump factions.^[208][209]

These factions are particularly apparent in the

Ronald Reagan's presidential election in 1980 established Reagan-style American conservatism as the dominant ideological faction of the Republican Party until the election of Donald Trump in 2016.^{[9][22][13][23][24][26][27][28][29]} Traditional modern conservatives combine support for free-market economic policies with social conservatism and a hawkish approach to foreign policy.^[21] Other parts of the conservative movement are composed of fiscal conservatives and deficit hawks.^[216] Conservatives generally support policies that favor limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to the states.^[217]

In foreign policy,

Long-term shifts in conservative thinking following the election of Trump have been described as a "new fusionism" of traditional conservative ideology and right-wing populist themes.[32] These have resulted in shifts towards greater support for national conservatism,^[220] protectionism,^[221] cultural conservatism, a more realist foreign policy, a repudiation of neoconservatism, reduced efforts to roll back entitlement programs, and a disdain for traditional checks and balances.^[32][222] There are significant divisions within the party on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.^[223][224]

Conservative caucuses include the Republican Study Committee and Freedom Caucus.^[225][226]

Since the rise of the

The Christian right is strongest in the Bible Belt, which covers most of the Southern United States.^[243] Mike Pence, Donald Trump's vice president from 2017 to 2021, was a member of the Christian right.^[244] In October 2023, a member of the Christian right faction, Louisiana representative Mike Johnson, was elected the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.^[245][246]

The Republican Party has a prominent

Moderates in the Republican Party are an ideologically centrist group that predominantly come from the

Notable moderate Republicans include Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine,^{[261][262][263][264]} Nevada governor Joe Lombardo, Vermont governor Phil Scott, former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, and former Maryland governor Larry Hogan.^{[265][266][267]}

Right-wing populism is a dominant political faction of the GOP.^[c] Sometimes referred to as the MAGA or "America First" movement,^[276][277] Republican populists have been described as consisting of a range of right-wing ideologies including but not limited to right-wing populism,^{[150][278][279]} national conservatism,^[280] neo-nationalism,^[281] and Trumpism.^{[269][282][283]} They have been described as the American political variant of the far-right.^[d] The election of Trump in 2016 split the party into pro-Trump and anti-Trump factions.^[208][209]

The Republican Party's populist and far-right movements emerged in concurrence with a global increase in populist movements in the 2010s and 2020s,^[202] coupled with entrenchment and increased partisanship within the party since 2010, fueled by the rise of the Tea Party movement which has also been described as far-right.^[287] According to political scientists Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins, the Republican Party's gains among white voters without college degrees contributed to the rise of right-wing populism.^[31] According to historian Gary Gerstle, Trumpism gained support in opposition to neoliberalism, including opposition to free trade, immigration, and internationalism.^[28][288]

The far-right faction supports cuts to spending.^[289][290] In international relations, populists support U.S. aid to Israel but not to Ukraine,^[291][292] are generally supportive of improving relations with Russia,^{[293][294][295]} and favor an isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda.^{[296][297][298][223]} They generally reject compromise within the party and with the Democrats,^[299][300] and are willing to oust fellow Republican office holders they deem to be too moderate.^[301][302] Compared to other Republicans, the populist faction is more likely to oppose legal immigration,^[303] free trade,^[304] neoconservatism,^[305] and environmental protection laws.^[306]

The party's far-right faction includes members of the Freedom Caucus,^{[307][308][309]} as well as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz.^[310] Gaetz led the 2023 rebellion against then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.^[311][312] In the U.S. Senate, Josh Hawley has been described as a prominent figure within the populist wing of the party.^[313]

Julia Azari, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, noted that not all Trumpist Republicans are public supporters of Donald Trump, and that some Republicans endorse Trump policies while distancing themselves from Trump as a person.^[314] The continued dominance of Trump within the GOP has limited the success of this strategy.^[315][316] In 2024, Trump led a takeover of the Republican National Committee, installing Lara Trump as its new co-chair.^[317]

Joseph Lowndes, a professor of political science at the University of Oregon, argued that while current far-right Republicans support Trump, the faction rose before and will likely exist after Trump.^[318] Lilliana Mason, associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, states that Donald Trump solidified the trend among Southern white conservative Democrats since the 1960s of leaving the Democratic Party and joining the Republican Party: "Trump basically worked as a lightning rod to finalize that process of creating the Republican Party as a single entity for defending the high status of white, Christian, rural Americans. It's not a huge percentage of Americans that holds these beliefs, and it's not even the entire Republican Party; it's just about half of it. But the party itself is controlled by this intolerant, very strongly pro-Trump faction."^[319] According to sociologist Joe Feagin, political polarization by racially extremist Republicans as well as their increased attention from conservative media has perpetuated the near extinction of moderate Republicans and created legislative paralysis at numerous government levels in the last few decades.^[320]

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v t e

Republicans believe that free markets and individual achievement are the primary factors behind economic prosperity.^[321] Reduction in income taxes is a core component of Republicans' fiscal agenda.^[322]

Tax cuts have been at the core of Republican economic policy since 1980.

As per a 2021 study that measured Republicans' congressional votes, the modern Republican Party's economic policy positions tend to align with business interests and the affluent.[327]^{[328][329][330][331]}

Republicans frequently advocate in favor of fiscal conservatism during Democratic administrations; however, the party has a record of increasing federal debt during periods when it controls the government (the implementation of the Bush tax cuts, Medicare Part D and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are examples of this record).^{[332][333][334]} Republican administrations have, since the late 1960s, sustained or increased previous levels of government spending.^[335][336]

Republicans believe individuals should take responsibility for their own circumstances. They also believe the private sector is more effective in helping the poor through charity than the government is through welfare programs and that social assistance programs often cause government dependency.^[337] As of November 2022, all 11 states that had not expanded Medicaid had Republican-controlled state legislatures.^[338]

The Republican Party is generally opposed to labor unions.

Most Republicans also oppose increases in the minimum wage, believing that such increases hurt businesses by forcing them to cut and outsource jobs while passing on costs to consumers.^[342]

The Republican Party has taken widely varying views on

The Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934 marked a sharp departure from the era of protectionism in the United States. American duties on foreign products declined from an average of 46% in 1934 to 12% by 1962, which included the presidency of Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower.^[349] After World War II, the U.S. promoted the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1947, to minimize tariffs and other restrictions, and to liberalize trade among all capitalist countries.^[350][351]

During the

Trump also blocked appointments to the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization, rendering it unable to enforce and punish violators of WTO rules.^[359][33] Subsequently, disregard for trade rules has increased, leading to more trade protectionist measures.^[360] The Biden administration has maintained Trump's freeze on new appointments.^[33] The proposed 2024 Republican Party platform was even more protectionist, calling for enacting tariffs on most imports.^[34]

Democrats and Republicans have diverged on the seriousness of the threat posed by climate change, with Republicans' assessment remaining essentially unchanged over the past decade.^[361]

Opinion about human causation of climate change increased substantially with education among Democrats, but not among Republicans.^[362] Conversely, opinions favoring becoming carbon neutral declined substantially with age among Republicans, but not among Democrats.^[362]

Historically,

Many Republicans during the presidency of Barack Obama opposed his administration's new environmental regulations, such as those on carbon emissions from coal. In particular, many Republicans supported building the Keystone Pipeline; this position was supported by businesses, but opposed by indigenous peoples' groups and environmental activists.^{[378][379][380]}

According to the

From 2008 to 2017, the Republican Party went from "debating how to combat human-caused climate change to arguing that it does not exist", according to The New York Times.^[385] In January 2015, the Republican-led U.S. Senate voted 98–1 to pass a resolution acknowledging that "climate change is real and is not a hoax"; however, an amendment stating that "human activity significantly contributes to climate change" was supported by only five Republican senators.^[386]

The party opposes a

According to a 2023 YouGov poll, Republicans are slightly more likely to oppose intersex medical alterations than Democrats.^[396][397]

The Republican Party has a persistent history of skepticism and opposition to multilateralism in American foreign policy.^[398] Neoconservatism, which supports unilateralism and emphasizes the use of force and hawkishness in American foreign policy, has been a prominent strand of foreign policy thinking in all Republican presidential administration since Ronald Reagan's presidency.^[399] Some, including paleoconservatives,^[400] call for non-interventionism and an isolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda.^{[32][218][219]} This faction gained strength starting in 2016 with the rise of Donald Trump, demanding that the United States reset its previous interventionist foreign policy and encourage allies and partners to take greater responsibility for their own defense.^[401]

During the 1940s, Republicans predominantly opposed the cause of an independent Jewish state due to the influence of conservatives of the Old Right.^[402] In 1948, Democratic President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize an independent state of Israel.^[403]

The rise of neoconservatism saw the Republican Party become predominantly pro-Israel by the 1990s and 2000s,^[404] although notable anti-Israel sentiment persisted through paleoconservative figures such as Pat Buchanan.^[405] As president, Donald Trump generally supported Israel during most of his term, but became increasingly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu towards the end of it.^[406] After the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Trump blamed Netanyahu for having failed to prevent the attack.^[407] Trump previously criticized the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and expressed doubt about whether Netanyahu truly desired peace with the Palestinians.^[408] According to i24NEWS, the 2020s have seen declining support for Israel among nationalist Republicans, led by individuals such as Tucker Carlson.^[409][402] Nevertheless, the 2024 Republican Party platform reaffirmed the party would "stand with Israel" and called for the deportation of "pro-Hamas radicals", while expressing a desire for peace in the Middle East.^[410]

In the party's 2016 platform,^[411] its stance on Taiwan is: "We oppose any unilateral steps by either side to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Straits on the principle that all issues regarding the island's future must be resolved peacefully, through dialogue, and be agreeable to the people of Taiwan." In addition, if "China were to violate those principles, the United States, in accord with the Taiwan Relations Act, will help Taiwan defend itself".

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, neoconservatives in the party have supported the War on Terror, including the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. The George W. Bush administration took the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, while other prominent Republicans, such as Ted Cruz, strongly oppose the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which they view as torture.^[412] In the 2020s, Trumpist Republicans such as Matt Gaetz supported reducing U.S. military presence abroad and ending intervention in countries such as Somalia.^[413]

The 2016 Republican platform eliminated references to giving weapons to

In a 2014 poll, 59% of Republicans favored doing less abroad and focusing on the country's own problems instead.[428]

Republicans have frequently advocated for restricting foreign aid as a means of asserting the national security and immigration interests of the United States.^{[429][430][431]}

A survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows that "Trump Republicans seem to prefer a US role that is more independent, less cooperative, and more inclined to use military force to deal with the threats they see as the most pressing".^[432]

The Republican Party is generally associated with

The Republican position on abortion has changed significantly over time.^[228][438] During the 1960s and early 1970s, opposition to abortion was concentrated among members of the political left and the Democratic Party; most liberal Catholics — which tended to vote for the Democratic Party — opposed expanding abortion access while most conservative evangelical Protestants supported it.^[438]

During this period, Republicans generally favored legalized abortion more than Democrats,^[439][440] although significant heterogeneity could be found within both parties.^[441] Leading Republican political figures, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, took pro-choice positions until the early 1980s.^[439] However, starting at this point, both George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan described themselves as pro-life during their presidencies.

In the 21st century, both George W. Bush^[442] and Donald Trump described themselves as "pro-life" during their terms. However, Trump stated that he supported the legality and ethics of abortion before his candidacy in 2015.^[443]

Summarizing the rapid shift in the Republican and Democratic positions on abortion, Sue Halpern writes:

Until its dissolution in 2018, Republican Majority for Choice, an abortion rights PAC, advocated for amending the GOP platform to include pro-abortion rights members.^[453]

The Republican Party has pursued policies at the national and state-level to restrict embryonic stem cell research beyond the original lines because it involves the destruction of human embryos.^[454][455]

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, a majority of Republican-controlled states passed near-total bans on abortion, rendering it largely illegal throughout much of the United States.^[456][457]

Republicans generally oppose

The 2012 Republican national platform stated, "We support efforts to help low-income individuals get a fair chance based on their potential and individual merit; but we reject preferences, quotas, and set-asides, as the best or sole methods through which fairness can be achieved, whether in government, education or corporate boardrooms…Merit, ability, aptitude, and results should be the factors that determine advancement in our society."[459]^{[460][461][462]}

Republicans generally support gun ownership rights and oppose laws regulating guns. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll, 45% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents personally own firearms, compared to 32% for the general public and 20% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.^[464]

The

In contrast, George H. W. Bush, formerly a lifelong NRA member, was highly critical of the organization following their response to the Oklahoma City bombing authored by CEO Wayne LaPierre, and publicly resigned in protest.^[469]

Republican elected officials have historically supported the

Opposition to the legalization of marijuana has softened significantly over time among Republican voters.[473]^[474] A 2021 Quinnipiac poll found that 62% of Republicans supported the legalization of recreational marijuana use and that net support for the position was +30 points.^[470] Some Republican-controlled states have legalized medical and recreational marijuana in recent years.^[475]

The Republican Party has taken widely varying views on immigration throughout its history.^[9] In the period between 1850 and 1870, the Republican Party was more opposed to immigration than the Democrats. The GOP's opposition was, in part, caused by its reliance on the support of anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant parties such as the Know-Nothings. In the decades following the Civil War, the Republican Party grew more supportive of immigration, as it represented manufacturers in the northeast (who wanted additional labor); during this period, the Democratic Party came to be seen as the party of labor (which wanted fewer laborers with which to compete). Starting in the 1970s, the parties switched places again, as the Democrats grew more supportive of immigration than Republicans.^[476]

In 2006, the Republican-led Senate passed

In 2016, Donald Trump proposed to build a wall along the southern border of the United States. Trump immigration policies during his administration included a travel ban from multiple Muslim-majority countries, a Remain in Mexico policy for asylum-seekers, a controversial family separation policy, and attempting to end DACA.^[303][482] During the tenure of Democratic President Joe Biden, the Republican Party has continued to take a hardline stance against illegal immigration. The Party largely opposes immigration reform,^[483] although there are widely differing views on immigration within the Party.^[480] The Party's proposed 2024 platform was opposed to immigration, and called for the mass deportation of all illegal immigrants in the United States.^[34]

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Similar to the Democratic Party, the Republican position on LGBT rights has changed significantly over time, with continuously increasing support among both parties on the issue.^[484][485] The Log Cabin Republicans is a group within the Republican Party that represents LGBT conservatives and allies and advocates for LGBT rights.^[486][487]

From the early-2000s to the mid-2010s, Republicans opposed same-sex marriage, while being divided on the issue of civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.^[488] During the 2004 election, George W. Bush campaigned prominently on a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage; many believe it helped Bush win re-election.^[489][490] In both 2004^[491] and 2006,^[492] President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and House Majority Leader John Boehner promoted the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment which would legally restrict the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples.^{[493][494][495]} In both attempts, the amendment failed to secure enough votes to invoke cloture and thus ultimately was never passed. As more states legalized same-sex marriage in the 2010s, Republicans increasingly supported allowing each state to decide its own marriage policy.^[496] As of 2014, most state GOP platforms expressed opposition to same-sex marriage.^[497] The 2016 GOP Platform defined marriage as "natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman," and condemned the Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriages.^[498][499] The 2020 platform, which reused the 2016 platform, retained the statements against same-sex marriage.^{[500][501][502]}

Following his election as president in 2016, Donald Trump stated that he had no objection to same-sex marriage or to the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, but had previously promised to consider appointing a Supreme Court justice to roll back the constitutional right.

On November 6, 2021, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced the creation of the "RNC Pride Coalition", in partnership with the Log Cabin Republicans, to promote outreach to LGBTQ voters.^[516] However, after the announcement, McDaniel apologized for not having communicated the announcement in advance and emphasized that the new outreach program did not alter the 2016 GOP Platform.^[517]

As of 2023, a majority of Republican voters support same-sex marriage.^{[484][518][519]} According to FiveThirtyEight, as of 2022, Republican voters are consistently more open to same-sex marriage than their representatives.^[520][521] The party platform approved at the 2024 Republican National Convention removed opposition to same-sex marriage, though it did oppose transgender rights and teaching about LGBT topics in schools.^[34]

Virtually all restrictions on voting have in recent years been implemented by Republicans. Republicans, mainly at the state level, argue that the restrictions (such as the purging of

In defending their restrictions to voting rights, Republicans have made false and exaggerated claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States; all existing research indicates that it is extremely rare,[525]^{[526][527][528]} and civil and voting rights organizations often accuse Republicans of enacting restrictions to influence elections in the party's favor. Many laws or regulations restricting voting enacted by Republicans have been successfully challenged in court, with court rulings striking down such regulations and accusing Republicans of establishing them with partisan purpose.^[527][528]

After the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder rolled back aspects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Republicans introduced cuts to early voting, purges of voter rolls and imposition of strict voter ID laws.^[529] The 2016 Republican platform advocated proof of citizenship as a prerequisite for registering to vote and photo ID as a prerequisite when voting.^[530]

After Donald Trump and his

Supporters of the bills argue they would improve election security and reverse temporary changes enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic; they point to false claims of significant election fraud, as well as the substantial public distrust of the integrity of the 2020 election those claims have fostered,^[f] as justification.^{[542][543][544]} Political analysts say that the efforts amount to voter suppression, are intended to advantage Republicans by reducing the number of people who vote, and would disproportionately affect minority voters.^{[545][546][547][548]}

According to a 2015

As of the 2020s, the party derives its strongest support from rural voters, evangelical Christians and Latter-day Saints, men, senior citizens, and white voters without college degrees.^{[551][552][553][554]} The party has made significant gains among the white working class, Hispanics, and Orthodox Jews, but has lost support among upper middle class and college-educated whites.^[555][556]

Since 1980, a "gender gap" has seen stronger support for the Republican Party among men than among women. Unmarried and divorced women were far more likely to vote for Democrat John Kerry than for Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.^[557] In 2006 House races, 43% of women voted Republican while 47% of men did so.^[558] In the 2010 midterms, the "gender gap" was reduced, with women supporting Republican and Democratic candidates equally (49%–49%).^[559][560] Exit polls from the 2012 elections revealed a continued weakness among unmarried women for the GOP, a large and growing portion of the electorate.^[561] Although women supported Obama over Mitt Romney by a margin of 55–44% in 2012, Romney prevailed amongst married women, 53–46%.^[562] Obama won unmarried women 67–31%.^[563]

However, according to a December 2019 study, "White women are the only group of female voters who support Republican Party candidates for president. They have done so by a majority in all but 2 of the last 18 elections".^[564][565]

The Republican Party has steadily increased the percentage of votes it receives from white voters without college degrees since the 1970s, even as the educational attainment of the United States has steadily increased.^[31] Since the 2010s, a similar trend in the opposite direction has been seen among white voters with college degrees, who have been increasingly voting for the Democratic Party.^[566][567] White voters without college degrees tend to be more socially conservative and more likely to live in rural areas.^[568] In the 2020 United States presidential election, Donald Trump won 67% of white voters without a college degree, compared to 48% of white voters with a college degree.^{[569][566][567]}

In 2012, the Pew Research Center conducted a study of registered voters with a 35–28 Democrat-to-Republican gap. They found that self-described Democrats had an eight-point advantage over Republicans among college graduates and a fourteen-point advantage among all post-graduates polled. Republicans had an eleven-point advantage among White men with college degrees; Democrats had a ten-point advantage among women with degrees. Democrats accounted for 36% of all respondents with an education of high school or less; Republicans accounted for 28%. When isolating just White registered voters polled, Republicans had a six-point advantage overall and a nine-point advantage among those with a high school education or less.^[570] Following the 2016 presidential election, exit polls indicated that "Donald Trump attracted a large share of the vote from Whites without a college degree, receiving 72 percent of the White non-college male vote and 62 percent of the White non-college female vote." Overall, 52% of voters with college degrees voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, while 52% of voters without college degrees voted for Trump.^[571]

Republicans have been winning under 15% of the African American vote in national elections since 1980. The party abolished chattel slavery under

Republicans have gained support among racial and ethnic minorities, particularly among those who are working class, Hispanic or Latino, or Asian American since the 2010s.[582]^{[583][584][585][586][587]} According to John Avlon, in 2013, the Republican party was more ethnically diverse at the statewide elected official level than the Democratic Party was; GOP statewide elected officials included Latino Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and African-American U.S. senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.^[588]

In the 2008 presidential election, Republican presidential candidate John McCain won 55% of White votes, 35% of Asian votes, 31% of Hispanic votes and 4% of African American votes.^[589] In 2012, 88% of Romney voters were White while 56% of Obama voters were White.^[590] In the 2022 U.S. House elections, Republicans won 58% of White voters, 40% of Asian voters, 39% of Hispanic voters, and 13% of African American voters.^[591]

As of 2020, Republican candidates had lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections.^[592] Since 1992, the only time they won the popular vote in a presidential election is the 2004 United States presidential election. Demographers have pointed to the steady decline of its core base of older, rural White voters (as a percentage of the eligible voters).^{[593][594][595][596]} However, Donald Trump managed to increase non-White support to 26% of his total votes in the 2020 election — the highest percentage for a GOP presidential candidate since 1960.^[597][598]

Religion has always played a major role for both parties, but in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who reside predominantly in Utah and several neighboring states, voted 75% or more for George W. Bush in 2000.^[600] Members of the Mormon faith had a mixed relationship with Donald Trump during his tenure, despite 67% of them voting for him in 2016 and 56% of them supporting his presidency in 2018, disapproving of his personal behavior such as that shown during the Access Hollywood controversy.^[601] In the 2020 United States presidential election, Trump underperformed in heavily-Mormon Utah by a margin of more than 20% compared to Mitt Romney (who is Mormon) in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2004. Their opinion on Trump had not affected their party affiliation, however, as 76% of Mormons in 2018 expressed preference for generic Republican congressional candidates.^[602]

Jews continue to vote 70–80% Democratic; however, a slim majority of Orthodox Jews voted for the Republican Party in 2016, following years of growing Orthodox Jewish support for the party due to its social conservatism and increasingly pro-Israel foreign policy stance.^[603] Over 70% of Orthodox Jews identify as Republican or Republican leaning as of 2021.^[604] An exit poll conducted by the Associated Press for 2020 found 35% of Muslims voted for Donald Trump.^[605] The mainline traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Disciples) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the National Baptists, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 54–46 in the 2010 midterms.^[606]

Although once strongly Democratic, American Catholic voters have been politically divided in the 21st century with 52% of Catholic voters voting for Trump in 2016 and 52% voting for Biden in 2020. While Catholic Republican leaders try to stay in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church on subjects such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research, they tend to differ on the death penalty and same-sex marriage.^[607] Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato si' sparked a discussion on the positions of Catholic Republicans in relation to the positions of the Church. The Pope's encyclical on behalf of the Catholic Church officially acknowledges a man-made climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.^[608] The Pope says the warming of the planet is rooted in a throwaway culture and the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet in pursuit of short-term economic gains. According to The New York Times, Laudato si' put pressure on the Catholic candidates in the 2016 election: Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum.^[609]

With leading Democrats praising the encyclical, James Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at Boston College, has said that both sides were being disingenuous: "I think it shows that both the Republicans and the Democrats ... like to use religious authority and, in this case, the Pope to support positions they have arrived at independently ... There is a certain insincerity, hypocrisy I think, on both sides".^[610] While a Pew Research poll indicates Catholics are more likely to believe the Earth is warming than non-Catholics, 51% of Catholic Republicans believe in global warming (less than the general population) and only 24% of Catholic Republicans believe global warming is caused by human activity.^[611]

The Republican Party has traditionally been a pro-business party. It garners major support from a wide variety of industries from the financial sector to small

A survey cited by The Washington Post in 2012 found that 61 percent of small business owners planned to vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. Small business became a major theme of the 2012 Republican National Convention.^[618]

As of 2021, there have been a total of 19 Republican presidents.

#	Name (lifespan)	Portrait	State	Presidency start date	Presidency end date	Time in office
16	Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)		Illinois	March 4, 1861	April 15, 1865[g]	4 years, 42 days
18	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)		Illinois	March 4, 1869	March 4, 1877	8 years, 0 days
19	Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893)		Ohio	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881	4 years, 0 days
20	James A. Garfield (1831–1881)		Ohio	March 4, 1881	September 19, 1881[g]	199 days
21	Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886)		New York	September 19, 1881	March 4, 1885	3 years, 166 days
23	Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)		Indiana	March 4, 1889	March 4, 1893	4 years, 0 days
25	William McKinley (1843–1901)		Ohio	March 4, 1897	September 14, 1901[g]	4 years, 194 days
26	Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)		New York	September 14, 1901	March 4, 1909	7 years, 171 days
27	William Howard Taft (1857–1930)		Ohio	March 4, 1909	March 4, 1913	4 years, 0 days
29	Warren G. Harding (1865–1923)		Ohio	March 4, 1921	August 2, 1923[g]	2 years, 151 days
30	Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)		Massachusetts	August 2, 1923	March 4, 1929	5 years, 214 days
31	Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)		California	March 4, 1929	March 4, 1933	4 years, 0 days
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)		Kansas	January 20, 1953	January 20, 1961	8 years, 0 days
37	Richard Nixon (1913–1994)		California	January 20, 1969	August 9, 1974[h]	5 years, 201 days
38	Gerald Ford (1913–2006)		Michigan	August 9, 1974	January 20, 1977	2 years, 164 days
40	Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)		California	January 20, 1981	January 20, 1989	8 years, 0 days
41	George H. W. Bush (1924–2018)		Texas	January 20, 1989	January 20, 1993	4 years, 0 days
43	George W. Bush (born 1946)		Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2009	8 years, 0 days
45	Donald Trump (born 1946)		New York	January 20, 2017	January 20, 2021	4 years, 0 days

United States
Congressional Elections

House Election year	No. of overall House seats won	+/–	Presidency	No. of overall Senate seats won	+/–[i]	Senate Election year
1950	199 / 435	28	Harry S. Truman	47 / 96	5	1950
1952	221 / 435	22	Dwight D. Eisenhower	49 / 96	2	1952
1954	203 / 435	18		47 / 96	2	1954
1956	201 / 435	2		47 / 96	0	1956
1958	153 / 435	48		34 / 98	13	1958
1960	175 / 437	22	John F. Kennedy	35 / 100	1	1960
1962	176 / 435	1		34 / 100	3	1962
1964	140 / 435	36	Lyndon B. Johnson	32 / 100	2	1964
1966	187 / 435	47		38 / 100	3	1966
1968	192 / 435	5	Richard Nixon	42 / 100	5	1968
1970	180 / 435	12		44 / 100	2	1970
1972	192 / 435	12		41 / 100	2	1972
1974	144 / 435	48	Gerald Ford	38 / 100	3	1974
1976	143 / 435	1	Jimmy Carter	38 / 100	1	1976
1978	158 / 435	15		41 / 100	3	1978
1980	192 / 435	34	Ronald Reagan	53 / 100	12	1980
1982	166 / 435	26		54 / 100	0	1982
1984	182 / 435	16		53 / 100	2	1984
1986	177 / 435	5		45 / 100	8	1986
1988	175 / 435	2	George H. W. Bush	45 / 100	1	1988
1990	167 / 435	8		44 / 100	1	1990
1992	176 / 435	9	Bill Clinton	43 / 100	0	1992
1994	230 / 435	54		53 / 100	8	1994
1996	227 / 435	3		55 / 100	2	1996
1998	223 / 435	4		55 / 100	0	1998
2000	221 / 435	2	George W. Bush	50 / 100	4	2000[j]
2002	229 / 435	8		51 / 100	2	2002
2004	232 / 435	3		55 / 100	4	2004
2006	202 / 435	30		49 / 100	6	2006
2008	178 / 435	21	Barack Obama	41 / 100	8	2008
2010	242 / 435	63		47 / 100	6	2010
2012	234 / 435	8		45 / 100	2	2012
2014	247 / 435	13		54 / 100	9	2014
2016	241 / 435	6	Donald Trump	52 / 100	2	2016
2018	200 / 435	41		53 / 100	1	2018
2020	213 / 435	13	Joe Biden	50 / 100	3	2020[k]
2022	222 / 435	9		49 / 100	1	2022

Election	Presidential ticket	Votes	Vote %	Electoral votes	+/–	Result
1856	John C. Frémont/William L. Dayton	1,342,345	33.1	114 / 296	New party	Lost
1860	Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin	1,865,908	39.8	180 / 303	66	Won
1864	Abraham Lincoln/Andrew Johnson	2,218,388	55.0	212 / 233	32	Won
1868	Ulysses S. Grant/Schuyler Colfax	3,013,421	52.7	214 / 294	2	Won
1872	Ulysses S. Grant/Henry Wilson	3,598,235	55.6	286 / 352	72	Won
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes/William A. Wheeler	4,034,311	47.9	185 / 369	134	Won[A]
1880	James A. Garfield/Chester A. Arthur	4,446,158	48.3	214 / 369	29	Won
1884	James G. Blaine/John A. Logan	4,856,905	48.3	182 / 401	32	Lost
1888	Benjamin Harrison/Levi P. Morton	5,443,892	47.8	233 / 401	51	Won[B]
1892	Benjamin Harrison/Whitelaw Reid	5,176,108	43.0	145 / 444	88	Lost
1896	William McKinley/Garret Hobart	7,111,607	51.0	271 / 447	126	Won
1900	William McKinley/Theodore Roosevelt	7,228,864	51.6	292 / 447	21	Won
1904	Theodore Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks	7,630,457	56.4	336 / 476	44	Won
1908	William Howard Taft/James S. Sherman	7,678,395	51.6	321 / 483	15	Won
1912	Nicholas M. Butler[l]	3,486,242	23.2	8 / 531	313	Lost[C]
1916	Charles E. Hughes/Charles W. Fairbanks	8,548,728	46.1	254 / 531	246	Lost
1920	Warren G. Harding/Calvin Coolidge	16,144,093	60.3	404 / 531	150	Won
1924	Calvin Coolidge/Charles G. Dawes	15,723,789	54.0	382 / 531	22	Won
1928	Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis	21,427,123	58.2	444 / 531	62	Won
1932	Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis	15,761,254	39.7	59 / 531	385	Lost
1936	Alf Landon/Frank Knox	16,679,543	36.5	8 / 531	51	Lost
1940	Wendell Willkie/Charles L. McNary	22,347,744	44.8	82 / 531	74	Lost
1944	Thomas E. Dewey/John W. Bricker	22,017,929	45.9	99 / 531	17	Lost
1948	Thomas E. Dewey/Earl Warren	21,991,292	45.1	189 / 531	90	Lost
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon	34,075,529	55.2	442 / 531	253	Won
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon	35,579,180	57.4	457 / 531	15	Won
1960	Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	34,108,157	49.6	219 / 537	238	Lost
1964	Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller	27,175,754	38.5	52 / 538	167	Lost
1968	Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew	31,783,783	43.4	301 / 538	249	Won
1972	Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew	47,168,710	60.7	520 / 538	219	Won
1976	Gerald Ford/Bob Dole	38,148,634	48.0	240 / 538	280	Lost
1980	Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush	43,903,230	50.7	489 / 538	249	Won
1984	Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush	54,455,472	58.8	525 / 538	36	Won
1988	George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle	48,886,097	53.4	426 / 538	99	Won
1992	George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle	39,104,550	37.4	168 / 538	258	Lost
1996	Bob Dole/Jack Kemp	39,197,469	40.7	159 / 538	9	Lost
2000	George W. Bush/Dick Cheney	50,456,002	47.9	271 / 538	112	Won[D]
2004	George W. Bush/Dick Cheney	62,040,610	50.7	286 / 538	15	Won
2008	John McCain/Sarah Palin	59,948,323	45.7	173 / 538	113	Lost
2012	Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan	60,933,504	47.2	206 / 538	33	Lost
2016	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	62,984,828	46.1	304 / 538	98	Won[E]
2020	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	74,223,975	46.8	232 / 538	72	Lost