Republican Party — Bunk History

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Donald Trump

Donald Trump Would Be Weaker the Second Time Around

Donald Trump wants the ideology of William McKinley and Gilded Age Republicanism, but with a totally different social base. It won’t work.

by Paul Heidman via Jacobin on October 23, 2024

Remains of an elephant preserved at the US National Museum.

How Moderate Republicans Went Extinct

On Nelson Rockefeller and the disappearance of moderate Republicans from American politics.

by Henry M. J. Tonks via Public Seminar on September 18, 2024

Governor Philip La Follette signing the old-age pension bill in Madison, Wisconsin in 1931.

The Golden Age of Wisconsin Socialism

At its peak in the 1920s and early ’30s, the Socialist Party in Wisconsin used confrontational tactics and nonsocialists alliances to make legislative advances.

by Joshua Kluever via Jacobin on September 12, 2024

A drawing of two people speaking with a third person's head listening between them.

Diverging Majority

Demography has not managed to be destiny in the past half-century—but predictions of a millenarian shift have not lost their appeal.

by Rick Perlstein, Geraldo Cadava via The Baffler on September 3, 2024

Jimmy Carter and Max Cleland unveil a memorial to Vietnam Veterans during Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in 1978.

The History Behind the Attacks on Tim Walz's Military Record

In 2002, Republicans attacked the patriotism of a distinguished Democratic veteran. It worked and they've kept doing it ever since.

by Kyle Longley via Made By History on August 29, 2024

Kamala Harris stands in front of a crowd of voters holidng "Freedom" signs.

Kamala Harris’s “Freedom” Campaign

Democrats’ years-long efforts to reclaim the word are cresting in this year’s Presidential race.

by Peter Slevin via The New Yorker on August 23, 2024

Aurora Borealis painting by Frederic Edwin Church, 1865.

A Nice Metaphor for the Country

On the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago.

by Jon Grinspan via HNN on August 20, 2024

People holding antiwar signs at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

A Brief History of the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party, and the US political system as a whole, is a very strange beast.

by Doug Henwood, Adam Hilton via Jacobin on August 6, 2024

Protestors and counter-protestors face off holding flags and posters.

Two Americas?

Heather Cox Richardson argues that there are two Americas: one interested in equality, the other in hierarchy. But it's not that simple.

by Nicholas Misukanis via Commonweal on August 6, 2024

Thomas Nast’s 1874 elephant illustration.

What History Tells Us Might Happen to the Republican Party

The signs that precede the crumbling of American political parties and the creation of new ones.

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via The Bulwark on July 31, 2024

J. D. Vance speaking at a campaign rally for Donald Trump.

J. D. Vance Is Summoning the John Birch Society

Far from a novel form of populism, J. D. Vance’s appeals are indistinguishable from the economic vision of the 1970s John Birch Society.

by David Austin Walsh via Jacobin on July 29, 2024

Barry Goldwater giving a speech at the Republican National Convention.

The Republican National Convention That Shocked the Country

The pulsating anger in San Francisco 60 years ago became the party's animating spirit.

by Charles J. Holden via Made By History on July 17, 2024

General president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O'Brien speaks during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024.

A Return to Gompers

Sean O’Brien’s speech at the RNC may represent a return to nonpartisan realpolitik for unions. But does that reflect labor's strength or its decline?

by Dustin Guastella via Jacobin on July 17, 2024

W.E.B. Du Bois

When Did Black Voters Shift to Democrats? Earlier Than You Might Think

A look at how and why African Americans first started to abandon the GOP for the Democratic Party.

by Blake Wilson via Retropolis on June 30, 2024

Donald Trump wearing 2000 "America First Pat Buchanan" sticker.

The Crack-Up

John Ganz’s “When the Clock Broke” renders the signal political battles of the present in an entirely new light.

by John Ganz, Chris Lehmann via The Baffler on June 21, 2024

David Duke, a former Klansman and neo-Nazi, lost the race for governorship in Louisiana but won a majority of the white vote.

The American Election That Set the Stage for Trump

In the early nineties, the country turned against the establishment and right-wing populists thrived. A new history reassesses their impact.

by Isaac Chotiner, John Ganz via The New Yorker on June 18, 2024

Ross Perot laughing, surrounded by reporters.

Donald Trump Didn’t Spark Our Current Political Chaos. The ’90s Did.

In ‘When the Clock Broke,’ John Ganz revisits the era of Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot to find the roots of our populist moment.

by Becca Rothfeld via Washington Post on June 13, 2024

Republican elephant and Democratic donkey with crossed arms turned away from each other.

Party People

Many recoil at the thought of stronger political parties. But revitalized parties could be exactly what our ailing democracy needs.

by John Sides via Democracy Journal on June 13, 2024

Then-Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton speaks at the Human Rights Campaign forum in Washington, July 15, 2003.

Remembrance of Ratf**ks Past

As Cornel West is receiving ballot access help from Republicans, 20 years ago Al Sharpton’s campaign for president was largely orchestrated by Roger Stone.

by Rick Perlstein via The American Prospect on June 12, 2024

An 1863 illustration from “Le Monde illustré” of formerly enslaved people celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.

What If Reconstruction Didn’t End Till 1920?

Historian Manisha Sinha argues that the Second Republic lasted decades longer than most histories state and achieved wider gains.

by Eric Herschthal via The New Republic on June 11, 2024

First Lady Betty Ford poses atop of the cabinet's conference table.

First Lady In Motion

Betty Ford and the public eye.

by M. A. Davis via Nursing Clio on May 22, 2024

Stanford Law School.

Why the Right’s Mythical Version of the Past Dominates When It Comes to Legal “History”

They’re invested in legal education, creating an originalist industrial complex with outsize influence.

by Saul Cornell via Slate on May 14, 2024

Collage of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ted Kennedy on the campaign trail.

The Debate Gaffe That Changed American History

And cost Gerald Ford the presidency.

by Jeff Greenfield via Politico Magazine on May 9, 2024

1880 chart of American political history

Historians and the Strange, Fluid World of 19th-Century Politics

Why our understanding of the era has been hindered by the party system model.

by Rachel Shelden, Erik B. Alexander via Process: A Blog for American History on May 7, 2024

William F. Buckley Jr. at a press conference.

An Implausible Mr. Buckley

A new PBS documentary whitewashes the conservative founder of National Review.

by Rick Perlstein via The American Prospect on April 17, 2024

Demonstrators protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 26, 2024.

The Truth About the Comstock Act

The anti-obscenity law is unenforceable and probably unconstitutional. Conservatives still want to use it to ban medication abortions.

by Hassan Ali Kanu via The American Prospect on April 9, 2024

Make America Great Again hats in different colors of the rainbow.

Reaching the Heartland: Gay Republicans’ Message to Religious Americans

How gay Republicans tried to counter the religious right and show Christians it is ok to be gay.

by Neil J. Young via The Revealer on April 4, 2024

Abraham Lincoln campaigning with the Wide Awakes.

The Club of Cape-Wearing Activists Who Helped Elect Lincoln—and Spark the Civil War

The untold story of the Wide Awakes, the young Americans who took up the torch for their antislavery cause and stirred the nation.

by Jon Grinspan via Smithsonian on April 1, 2024

Alexander I

Why Early American Conservatives Loved Russia

A conspiracy theory among New England Federalists led some to contemplate separating from the U.S. during the War of 1812.

by Nicholas Dipucchio via Made By History on March 27, 2024

Lessons from the 1976 Republican Convention: Why Ronald Reagan Lost the Nomination

In 1976, Ronald Reagan found owning the soul of a party isn’t the same as taking home its nomination.

via Retro Report on March 15, 2024

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