User:Mansand800000/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival the Democratic Party.
Republican Party | |
---|---|
Chairman | Reince Priebus (WI) |
House leader | John Boehner (Speaker) (OH) |
Senate leader | Mitch McConnell (Majority Leader) (KY) |
Chair of Governors Association | Bill Haslam (TN) |
Founded | March 20, 1854 (1854-03-20) |
Preceded by | Whig Party Free Soil Party |
Headquarters | 310 First Street SE Washington, D.C. 20003 |
Student wing | College Republicans |
Youth wing | Young Republicans Teen Age Republicans |
Membership (2012) | 30.7 million[1] |
Ideology | Historical: Abolitionism Classical liberalism Progressivism Social liberalism Modern: Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Neoconservatism Social conservatism |
European affiliation | Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists[2] (associate) |
International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
Regional affiliation | Asia Pacific Democrat Union[3] |
Colors | Red |
Seats in the Senate | 54 / 100 |
Seats in the House | 246 / 435 |
Governorships | 31 / 50 |
State Upper Chamber Seats | 1,134 / 1,972 |
State Lower Chamber Seats | 3,044 / 5,411 |
Website | |
www | |
Founded by anti-slavery activists and members of the Whig Party in 1854, the GOP dominated politics nationally and in most of the northern U.S. for most of the period between 1860 and 1932. There have been 18 Republican U.S. presidents, the first being Abraham Lincoln, who served from 1861 until his assassination in 1865, and the most recent being George W. Bush, who served two full four-year terms from 2001 to 2009. The most recent Republican presidential nominee was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney who lost in 2012.
The party's platform is generally based on American conservatism,[4][5][6] in contrast to the contemporary American liberalism of the rival Democratic Party. The Republican Party's conservatism involves supporting free market capitalism, limited government, strong national defense, opposing regulation and labor unions, and supporting socially conservative policies.[7] The party is generally split on the issue of how to deal with illegal immigration.[8]
In the 114th U.S. Congress, the Republicans have their largest majority in the U.S. House of Representatives since the 1928 election; the GOP also holds a majority of seats in the Senate.[9] The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures.[10] Specifically, 68 out of 98 partisan state legislative chambers have Republican majorities.[11][12]