Rockefeller Republican

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In the United States, the term Rockefeller Republican refers to a faction of Republicans who hold liberal views similar to those of the late Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979), governor of New York from 1959 to 1974 and Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977.

Tom Dewey, governor of New York from 1942 to 1954 and the Republican presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948, was the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the 1940s and early 1950s, battling conservative Republicans from the Midwest led by Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, known as "Mr. Republican". With the help of Dewey, General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Taft for the 1952 presidential nomination and became the leader of the moderates. Eisenhower coined the phrase "Modern Republicanism" to describe his moderate vision of Republicanism.

After Eisenhower, Rockefeller emerged as the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican party, running for President in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Rockefeller Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in 1964 when conservatives captured control of the Republican party and nominated Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for President.

Senator Prescott S. Bush (1895-1972) of Connecticut (father of and grandfather of presidents), was a moderate Republican who largely agreed with Rockefeller's policies, though the two were estranged. Other leaders include Pennsylvania governor Raymond P. Shafer.

After Rockefeller left the national stage in 1976, this faction of the party was more often called "moderate Republicans," in contrast to the conservatives who rallied to Ronald Reagan.

Historically Rockefeller Republicans were moderate or liberal on domestic and social policies. They typically favored New Deal programs, welfare, and civil rights—usually promising to run them more efficiently than the Democrats. They were strong supporters of big business. In fiscal policy they favored balanced budgets and relatively high tax levels to keep the budget balanced. They sought long-term economic growth through entrepreneurships, not tax cuts. In state politics, they were strong supporters of state colleges and universities, low tuition, and large research budgets. They favored infrastructure improvements, such as highway projects.

In foreign policy, Rockefeller Republicans were internationalists and anti-Communists. They felt the best way to counter Communism was sponsoring economic growth (through foreign aid), maintaining a strong military, and keeping close ties to NATO. Barry Goldwater crusaded against the Rockefeller Republicans, beating Rockefeller narrowly in the California primary of 1964. That set the stage for a conservative resurgence, based in the South and West, in opposition to the Northeast. Ronald Reagan continued in the same theme, but George H. W. Bush, his principal 1980 opponent in the Republican primaries and later his Vice President, was more closely associated with the moderate conservatives.

The "Rockefeller Republican" label is sometimes applied to such modern-day politicians as Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine. Another is Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, a liberal in both cultural and international respects, but generally "pro-business" in terms of economic policy. The departure of U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords from the Republican party in 2001 dramatized the still-existing tension between the "Rockefeller wing" of the party and what is today its generally more influential socially-conservative wing.

The term "Rockefeller Republican" today sounds somewhat dated, and such Republicans are probably more apt to call themselves "moderate Republicans."

[edit] References

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Conrad Joyner. The Republican Dilemma: Conservatism or Progressivism (1963)
Kristol, Irving. "American Conservatism 1945-1995." Public Interest 94 ( Fall 1995): 80-91.
David W. Reinhard. The Republican Right since 1945 (1983)
Rae, Nicol. Decline and Fall of Liberal Republicans: 1952 to The Present. 1989.
Reichley, A. James. Conservatives in an Age of Change: The Nixon and Ford Administrations. 1981.
Reiter, Howard. "Intra-Party Cleavages in the United States Today." Western Political Quarterly 34 ( 1981): 287-300.
Sherman, Janann. No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith (2000)