Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party, also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main political rival of the Democratic Party in the mid-1850s.
== History ==
The party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, an act which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It supported classical liberalism and economic reform, while opposing the expansion of slavery into the free territories. 
The party initially had a very limited presence in the South, but was successful in the North. By 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in nearly every northern state. White Southerners became alarmed at the threat to slavery. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, the deep Southern states seceded from the United States. 
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.
=== Post-World War 2 History ===
File:MacArthurInaugaration.png|General. Douglas MacArthur
1948 saw the resurgence of the Republican Party under popular World War 2 General, Douglas MacArthur, with a more nationalist and protectionist approach—dominating America into the early 1950s. The MacArthur presidency saw various successes, particularly in foreign policy, such as the unification of Korea.
The Republicans lost control of the White House in 1956, with a close election loss to Lyndon B. Johnson. The Democrats retained control of the presidency for the next two years, under two different Democratic administrations. Though, both saw strong Republican majorities in Congress. 
The advent of the Neo-Depression under the Edward J. Holstadt presidency saw the Republicans mount a landslide victory in the 1964 election, under the leadership of popular WW2 Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The ticket also compromised Vice President Richard Nixon, a Senator from California. 
The Republican Party dominated the presidency for the next twelve years, under Nimitz (1964-1966), and then Nixon (1966-1974). After various scandals, particularly the watergate scandal under Richard Nixon in 1973, the Republicans lost the presidency in the 1976 election to young populist Democrat, John V. Lindsay, the Mayor of New York City. 
The Democrat Party under John Lindsay largely dominated American politics for the next two decades. With various Democratic trifectas, including 1978 and 1984.
==== 1980s ====
The Republicans moved to the right after a gradual decline of the Liberal Republicans led by Governor William Scranton. Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination in 1980, going on to lose to John V. Lindsay in a landslide. 
After Reagan’s defeat, the Republican Party saw a shift back to the center. Seeing the rise of H.W. Bush as a moderate and centrist candidate for the for the presidency in 1984. H.W. Bush went on to lose the general election in a historical landslide. Shifting the Republican Party further to the center.
==== 1988-Present ====
Charles H. Percy became the Republican nominee in 1988 on a socially progressive platform. The party saw a rejuvenation in the late 1980s, with Charles Percy winning in 1988 by one state in a close election, which saw him winning the electoral vote, but losing the popular vote—defeating Incumbent President Walter Mondale, who took the reigns of the Democrat Party after the death of John Lindsay.
1988 saw a Republican trifecta, with Republican supermajorities in the following midterms. 
After countless scandals, and a loss of his conservative base. Charles Percy lost his re-election bid in 1992 to the Progressive Democrat Edward Kennedy. 
The Republican Party was intensely split over the renomination of Charles Percy in 1996, though Former President Charles Percy was nominated again, defeating the Nationalist Gen. David Petraeus, a dark horse candidate for the presidency.
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