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Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11 1953), a Republican, is the forty-third and current Governor of Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family, the younger brother of President George W. Bush and the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush.

Early years

Jeb Bush was born in Midland, Texas, where his father was running an oil drilling company. He has been known by his initials "JEB" since childhood. When Bush was six years old, the family moved to Houston, Texas. He was a childhood athlete, enjoying baseball and tennis. He went to a public elementary school, but later transferred to a private school. When he was in eighth grade, his father won a seat in Congress and moved to Washington, DC. Bush stayed in Houston with another family to finish the school year, and spent most summers and holidays at the family estate, known as the Bush Compound. He then enrolled at Phillips Andover, a private boarding school in Massachusetts already attended by his brother George. Bush made the honor roll in his first semester. He has described himself in his time there as "a cynical little turd in a cynical little school". Friends recall him as disciplined and focused, neither drinking nor gambling during a trip to Las Vegas. He did, however, enjoy an Elvis Presley concert.[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/4124298.htm] When Bush was seventeen, he went to León, Mexico, as part of his school's student exchange program. He spent his time there teaching English. While attending a motorcycle race, he met a local girl named Columba Garnica Gallo, whom he eventually married. Bush attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies in 1973, taking only two and a half years to complete his work, and obtaining generally excellent grades. He registered for the draft, but the Vietnam War ended before his number came up. After his early graduation, Bush married the first and only woman he had ever dated, Columba Garnica Gallo, on February 23, 1974. Their three children, now grown, are George P. (recently married), John E. "Jeb" Bush Jr. and Noelle.

Early career

Business experience in Texas and abroad

After earning his degree, Bush went to work in an entry level position in the international division of Texas Commerce Bank, which was run by Ben Love. Love hired the new college graduate for his office, where Bush assisted in drafting much of Love's communications. Texas Commerce Bank In November 1977 he was sent to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, in South America, to open a new operation for the bank. Bush moved his family to the foreign city and spent about two years there, working in international finance. In so doing, he earned his way into the executive program at the bank. Bush attracted a lot of new business to the bank as a result of his effective networking in Venezuela while maintaining credit quality in an emerging market. Bush returned to the United States to work without salary on his father's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980, explaining: :"I wasn't motivated for politics, I wasn't motivated because of ideology or anything. My dad's the greatest man I've ever met or will meet; I can predict that fairly confidently. It was payback time, simple as that." His father ultimately lost the Republican nomination for President that year, but Ronald Reagan chose George H. W. Bush to be his running mate. Bush's father was soon elected in that year the Vice President of the United States, and won reelection in 1984. In 1988, George H.W. Bush won the Republican Party's presidential nomination, and the election, becoming the nation's 41st president.

Business experience in Miami, Florida

Following the 1980 presidential election, Bush and his family moved to Miami-Dade County, Florida. He took a job in real estate with Armando Codina, a 32-year-old Cuban immigrant and self-made American millionaire. Codina had made a fortune in a computer business, and then formed a new company, IntrAmerica Investments Inc., to pursue opportunities in real estate. In 1981, his first year with Codina's new real estate venture, Bush earned $41,508. He soon became a valuable real estate salesman for Codina and helped Codina build a very successful property business in Florida. During Bush's years in Miami, he was involved in many different entrepreneurial pursuits, including working for a mobile phone company, serving on the board of a Norwegian-owned company that sold fire equipment to the Alaska oil pipeline, becoming a minority owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, buying a shoe company that sold footwear in Panama, and getting involved in a questionable scheme to sell water pumps in Nigeria. Because of Bush's effectiveness in Cordina's property business, Codina eventually agreed to take him on as a partner in a new development business. It quickly became one of South Florida's leading real estate development firms. As a partner, Bush received a handsome 40% of the firm's profits. In June 1993, Bush sold his share of the company he and Codina had built for over one million dollars to pursue public service.

Civic and charitable activities

After losing a 1994 election for Governor of the State of Florida, Bush pursued policy and charitable interests. He started a non-profit organization called "The Foundation For Florida’s Future" which was described by some as a "think tank". Its stated mission was to influence public policy at the grassroots level. He also "volunteered time to assist the Miami Children's Hospital, the United Way of Dade County and the Dade County Homeless Trust". [http://www.oneflorida.org/myflorida/government/governorinitiatives/one_florida/bushmore.html] United Way In 1996, The Foundation For Florida’s Future published a book that Bush had co-written, Profiles in Character (ISBN 0965091201). The book highlighted a number of ordinary people, detailing their true stories of uncommon courage. The foundation also published and distributed policy papers, such as "A New Lease on Learning: Florida's First Charter School", co-written by Bush.[http://www.heartland.org/pdf/21111f.pdf] (PDF) Bush subsequently wrote the foreword to another book, shown at right, published by the conservative Heritage Foundation and written by Nina Shokraii Rees, School Choice 2000: What’s Happening in the States (ISBN 0891950893). Bush co-founded the first charter school in the State of Florida: Liberty City Charter School, a grades K-6 elementary school. [http://www.dadeschools.net/schools/liberty_charter.htm] The school is situated in Liberty City, a Miami neighborhood that was the site, in 1980, of the worst race riot since the Civil Rights era. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/895/Riot_erupts_in_Liberty_City The school's co-founder, working alongside Bush as a partner, was T. Williard Fair, a well-known local black activist and head of the Greater Miami Urban League. The Liberty City Charter School still operates today as a charter school.

Personal transformation

In addition to his business, civic and charitable activities, Bush underwent a religious conversion during his early career years. At the urging of his wife, Columba, a devout Mexican Catholic, the Protestant Bush became a Roman Catholic. He and his wife belonged to the Epiphany Catholic Church in Miami for many years. Rather than fade into the annals of political history after his 1994 defeat for the governorship at the age of 41, Bush then refocused and worked hard to re-establish himself. This self-described cynic's religious conversion and substantial civic involvement added different dimensions to his business background. Four years down the road, at 45 years of age, a new Jeb Bush emerged, and in 1998 became Governor of Florida.

Political career

Bush speaks Spanish fluently, in addition to English. He regularly delivers speeches in both English and Spanish due to the large number of Spanish speaking residents of Florida.

Early campaigns

Bush got his start in Florida politics as the Chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. Dade County played an important role in the 1986 election of Bob Martinez to the Governor's office. In return, Martinez appointed Bush as Florida's Secretary of Commerce. He served in that role in 1987 and 1988, before resigning once again to work on his father's presidential campaign. In 1989 he served as the campaign manager of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban-American to serve in Congress. He launched an unsuccessful bid for the governor's office in 1994 against incumbent Democratic Governor Lawton Chiles, losing 51% to 49%.

Governor of Florida

Lawton Chiles In 1998, Bush defeated Democratic opponent Lt. Governor Buddy MacKay (55% to 45%) to become governor, after courting moderate voters and Hispanics. Simultaneously, his brother George W. Bush won a landslide re-election victory for a second term as Governor of Texas, and the Bush brothers became the first siblings to govern two states at the same time since Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller governed New York and Arkansas from 1967 to 1971. Bush's administration has been marked by a focus on public education reform. His "A+ Plan" mandated standardized testing in Florida's public schools, eliminated social promotion and established a system of funding public schools based on a statewide grading system using the FCAT test. Bush has been a proponent of school vouchers and charter schools, especially in areas of the state with failing public schools, although to date very few schools have received failing grades from the state. One program that has seen fruition is the Florida Virtual High School, a distance-learning program that allows students in rural areas of the state to take Advanced Placement classes for college credit. However, his policies have also been driven by a firm refusal to raise taxes for education, which lead Bush to oppose a ballot initiative to amend the Florida Constitution to cap growing school class sizes. Bush was caught on tape boasting about having "a couple of devious plans if this thing passes." [http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/campaign/stories/1003classsize.htm]. (The tape is available online. [http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/campaign/sound/classsize2.mp3]) Despite his opposition, the amendment passed; [http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Constitution&Submenu=3&Tab=statutes#A09S01] Bush's subsequent suggestions that the amendment be repealed [http://www.flablog.net/2005/02/devious-plan-ver-40.htm] have contributed to criticisms that he has failed to implement it in good faith. A similar concern about new expenditures has lead to controversy over whether Florida has provided adequate resources to implement a subsequent voter-approved state constitutional amendment that requires a universal state-financed pre-Kindergarten program.[http://www.iamforkids.org/campaign/policybriefs/Universal_Pre_Kindergarten.pdf] For most of his career, Bush has also been a vocal advocate of environmentalism, signing legislation to protect the Everglades and opposing federal plans to drill for oil off the coast of Florida. In early October, 2005 Bush attempted to strike a compromise with fellow Republicans that would allow offshore drilling in an area that stretches 125 miles off Florida's coastline and give the state legislature the power to permit drilling closer to the state's coastlines. The compromise, which was warmly received by some Florida Republicans and U.S. Congressmen, such as bill sponsor Richard Pombo, has yet to be agreed upon; others, including some Republicans, notably U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, objected to any backtracking on the drilling moratorium; some, mostly Democrats, termed the shift a betrayal. Some observers have questioned whether he or Secretary of State Katherine Harris attempted to help his brother in the 2000 presidential election by tampering with the voter rolls and then certifying a controversial election. Questions have been raised about Bush's involvement in the notorious "Florida Felons List" affair in which primarily black and Democratic voters who were not in fact felons erroneously were listed as ineligible to vote. Bush ignored at least one direct warning from a state computer expert that the list was flawed and should not be used. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/10/16/politics1842EDT0584.DTL] Other opponents have questioned some of his business dealings, including a Nigerian deal, where it is claimed Nigerian government officials demanded bribes in return for approval of a $74,000,000 water-pump sale that was mostly financed by US foreign aid. Governor Bush was involved for many years in the case of Terri Schiavo, a woman with massive and irreversible brain damage, who was on a feeding tube for over 15 years, and whose husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, wished to remove the tube. Bush, who is pro-life, signed "Terri's Law", a law passed by the Florida legislature that permitted the Governor to keep Schiavo alive. The law was successfully challenged in court, and ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court on September 23 2004. That decision was appealed to the federal courts, but on January 24 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, thus allowing the Florida court's ruling to stand. Bush took heated criticism from conservatives who were disappointed that he didn't take further action to prevent Schiavo from having her feeding tube removed. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/06/15/schiavo.autopsy.ap/] Despite these critics, Bush has consistently remained popular overall in Florida — a state with more registered Democratic than Republican voters[http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voterreg/pdf/2004/2004genParty.pdf], and an influential and diverse number of independent swing voters, who are broadly recognized as determining the final outcome of every state election. One of the most important goals of Bush's final two years as governor is to secure the FTAA Secretariat for Miami. Supporters of the governor believe he intends Miami to become the "Brussels of the Americas". [http://miamitodaynews.com/news/021219/story1.shtml] Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan. Brogan, a former fifth-grade teacher, principal, and superintendent, served only one term with Bush. After Brogan became a widower and then remarried, he was eager to start a new life with his second wife, so he opted not to serve a second term. Brogan was reelected to a second term in 2002 with Bush and then resigned in March of 2003. He and his new wife moved to Boca Raton, where he serves as president of Florida Atlantic University. Back in Tallahassee, a museum was named in honor of Brogan's late wife, Mary, who died of cancer and, like her husband, was a Florida school teacher.[http://www.thebrogan.org] Following Brogan's resignation, Bush appointed former State Senate President Toni Jennings as lieutenant governor. An Orlando resident, Jennings is reportedly Bush's preferred choice of a successor. While serving as Senate President during Bush's first term, she had disagreed with Bush on a number of issues and people were surprised when she was appointed to the number two post. As governor, Bush serves as the chairman of the Florida Cabinet, a unique state agency which provides collective governance over part of state government.

2002 gubernatorial election

Before Bush's re-election, no Republican in Florida had ever been re-elected to serve a second term as the state's governor. In addition, there was likely no precedent for any governor to be branded by the opposition as its "Number One Target" for removal from office, as Bush was ranked in 2002. This was not merely a statewide effort to oust the Republican governor, but a much-publicized goal of the DNC and its highest leadership during the 2002 election cycle.

The Democratic primary race

Bush almost faced a female candidate, Janet Reno, in the 2002 Florida governor's race. Reno, a well-known Florida native, experienced politician, and former US Attorney General, was a favorite candidate to Florida's most liberal voters. However, a number of other Democratic candidates also wanted to become Florida's next governor, including Bill McBride. A lawyer who owned a law firm in Florida, and a novice candidate, McBride was favored by national Democratic Party leaders in part because of his military background — and perceived ability to attract Florida's conservative voters. Neither McBride nor Reno had any expertise in what polls showed was the top issue to Florida voters: Education. In the ensuing Democratic primary contest (where only Democratic voters could vote, pursuant to state primary laws), circumstances surrounding the razor-thin win by Bill McBride outraged many liberal Democratic voters in South Florida. Several pundits claimed what happened was actually [http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/20/State/Broward_official_apol.shtml far more unfair] than any previously alleged voting irregularities in the state's history. Some voting venues – located in Reno's urban strongholds of Broward County and Dade County, and operated by Democrats elected as county election officials – reportedly opened hours late, and then [http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4043757.htm ignored] Bush's Executive Order, issued at Reno's request, to stay open later to accommodate all voters. As a result of this situation, Bush subsequently used his legal authority as governor to remove Broward County's Election Supervisor from office.

The 2002 election results

In this closely watched Florida governor's race that continuously attracted national attention, Bush was re-elected in November 2002, becoming the first Republican in the state's history to be re-elected as governor. Bush defeated Democratic challenger Bill McBride with 56% to 43%, a greater margin of victory than in Bush's 1998 campaign for the governor's office. Bush also increased the number of counties in his victory column, winning several Florida counties for the very first time. When Bush completes his term in January 2007, he will become only the second Florida governor to complete two full four-year terms in office, the first being Democrat Reubin O'D. Askew. Bush has often publicly said he believes he has the best job in the world as governor of Florida. However, Florida is a state with term limits, preventing Bush from seeking a third term. Bush made political history not only by becoming the first Republican governor to ever win re-election in Florida, but also by being the first Florida governor to select a woman, Toni Jennings, to serve as Florida's lieutenant governor. No woman had ever been appointed or elected to that high office in Florida's executive branch. Nor has any woman served as Florida's governor. Bush has been quoted in local media as saying he is eager to see a woman lead Florida as its governor. Bush is also the first state governor to hold office while having a brother simultaneously serve as the nation's president. Perhaps even more notable to those who like to study election results is the following: back in Bush's initial race for governor in 1994, he lost by the smallest margin of votes in Florida history; however, after running on his first term record in his 2002 campaign for a 2nd term, he won by the largest margin of votes in Florida history.

Political future

Bush is widely considered to be a rising star of the Republican Party; there was some speculation that he might run for President himself in 2008. However, on October 17, 2004, he [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=173616&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 denied interest in running] in the 2008 election. Some have guessed that Bush would run against Florida's current Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, in the 2006 U.S. Senate election. In a November 2005 interview with a German magazine Bush said "there's a vague chance" he would seek the presidency after the 2008 election. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/13/AR2005111300319_pf.html]

Bush's appeal to Florida voters

Bush is very popular among Cubans in Florida (winning 80% of the Cuban vote in 2002), and popular among non-Cuban Hispanics (56% in 2002, equaling the 56% he won statewide). As a longtime [http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/27/State/Gov_Bush_declares_sup.shtml supporter of Israel], Bush also maintains a significant connection to Florida's Jewish voters. He was endorsed in his two winning governor races by a national Jewish publication, and [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:kDW5d7IhqPsJ:www.russstewart.com/4-16-03.htm+%22Jewish+vote%22+AND++%22Jeb+Bush%22+AND+%222002%22&hl=en won 44% of the state's Jewish vote in the 2002 governor's race]. Many black voters support his focus on public education and parental choice in education, and a number of [http://www.rpos.org/ffbr Black Republican clubs] have sprung up in Florida. In his re-election in 2002, Bush surprised critics by [http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/259yvdec.asp?pg=2 winning] the white female vote in the swing-voting battleground of Central Florida's I-4 corridor. Most recently, he has reached out extensively to Florida's Haitian community, [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-chaiti12apr12,0,6244626.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean taking on a unique leadership role] to help rebuild that neighboring country and assist its impoverished people.

Bush's impact on his political party

Bush's appeal to Florida's highly diverse group of voters, along with his groundbreaking second term and success in expanding the so-called "big tent" of the Florida Republican Party, appears to have propelled him into a commanding political position. Nationwide, American conservatives appear to be positive about Bush, seeing him as [http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-454es.html committed] to upholding core conservative principles. Bush strives to personally keep in touch with his base, as when [http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/783970/posts he emailed his thanks] to his most devoted supporters, on a conservative web site, within 24 hours after winning the 2002 governor's race. Throughout his two administrations, Bush's office has touted his record of non-discrimination and rewarding merit, claiming he employs highly qualified women, blacks and other minorities more often in top-level government positions than any previous Florida governor. Republican candidates in Florida seem to have likewise benefited from Bush's leadership, turning the state's Senate and House of Representatives into solid Republican majorities during Bush's time in office. Outside of Florida, fellow Republican leaders throughout the country have sought Bush's aid both on and off the campaign trail. Bush's out of state campaign visits include Kentucky, where Republican challenger Ernie Fletcher [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:J_mxIrEfpMsJ:www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/11/05/loc_kygovernor05k.html+%22Ernie+Fletcher%22+AND+%22Jeb+Bush%22+AND+%222003%22+AND%22campaign%22&hl=en appeared with Bush] and won that state's governorship in 2003, ending a 32-year streak of Democratic governors. On the West Coast, after Democratic Governor Gray Davis was ousted in a California recall vote, Bush [http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story_txt.asp?date=101003&ID=s1422739 dispatched Florida's budget director] to that state to lead an independent audit of California's budget, at the request of the state's newly elected Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bush's on-going interests

Bush has also been active in the neo-conservative Project for the New American Century, whose goal is to promote American global leadership. In addition, since 2004, he has been serving a four-year term as a Board Member for the [http://www.nagb.org/about/nagb.html National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB)]. Created by Congress, this board’s purpose is to establish policy on reports examining K-12 students’ academic progress in America’s public and private schools. In 2008 Bush will be serving on the NAGB educational committee focused on Standards, Design and Methodology.

References


- Freedberg, Syndey P. "Jeb Bush: The Son Rises Away from Dad's Shadow." The Miami Herald, August 15, 1994.
- Huffington, Arianna. [http://www.salon.com/news/col/huff/2002/09/16/war_on_drugs/ "The latest Bush hypocrisy"]. Salon.com, September 16, 2002.
- Viglucci, Andres and Alfonso Chardy. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4221945.htm "Bush and business: Fast success, brushes with mystery"]. The Miami Herald, October 5, 2002.
- Yardley, William. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/4124298.htm "Jeb Bush: His early values shape his politics."] The Miami Herald, September 22, 2002.

External links


- [http://www.jeb.org Official website]
- [http://myflorida.com/b_eog/owa/b_eog_www.html.main_page Office of the Governor]
- [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/collections/governors/about.cfm?id=50 Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida] Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush, Jeb Category:Pro-life politicians ja:ジェブ・ブッシュ simple:Jeb Bush

February 11

February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 323 days remaining, 324 in leap years.

Events


- 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
- 731 - Gregory II ends his reign as Pope.
- 824 - Paschal I ends his reign as Pope.
- 1411 : Peace of Toruń 1411 signed in Toruń, Poland
- 1531 - Henry VIII of England recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
- 1752 - Pennsylvania Hospital, 1st hospital in the United States, opens.
- 1790 - Religious Society of Friends petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
- 1794 - First session of United States Senate open to the public.
- 1808 - Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally.
- 1809 - Robert Fulton patents the steamboat
- 1810 - Napoléon marries Marie-Louise of Austria.
- 1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry gerrymanders for the first time.
- 1814 - Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union
- 1826 - University College London is founded under the name University of London.
- 1837 - American Physiological Society organizes in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1840 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera La Fille du Régiment receives its first performance in Paris.
- 1843 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi receives its first performance in Milan.
- 1855 - Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam.
- 1858 - The Blessed Virgin Mary reputedly appears to Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.
- 1861 - American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
- 1873 - King Amadeus I of Spain abdicates.
- 1889 - Meiji constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet of Japan convenes in 1890
- 1895 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled on 10 January,1982 .
- 1902 - Police assault universal suffrage demonstrators in Brussels.
- 1903 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna.
- 1905 - Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos.
- 1908 - Australia regain the Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory over England.
- 1916 - Emma Goldman arrested for lecturing on birth control.
- 1919 - Friedrich Ebert (SPD), elected President of Germany.
- 1928 - 1928 Winter Olympic Games open in St. Moritz, Switzerland
- 1929 - Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
- 1937 - A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers Union.
- 1938 - BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R. (The play which coined the term "robot").
- 1941 - First Gold record presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
- 1943 - General Dwight Eisenhower selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- 1945 - Yalta Conference ends.
- 1948 - John Costello succeeds Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach of Ireland.
- 1953 - President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
- 1953 - The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
- 1961 - Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem.
- 1963 - The Beatles tape 10 tracks for their first album, including "Please, Please Me".
- 1964 - At the Washington, DC Coliseum, The Beatles have their 1st live appearance in the United States.
- 1964 - Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- 1964 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
- 1968 - Israeli-Jordanian border clashes.
- 1968 - Madison Square Garden III closes and Madison Square Garden IV opens in New York City
- 1971 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
- 1973 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
- 1978 - Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
- 1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seizes power in Iran.
- 1981 - 100,000 gallons (380 m³) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers
- 1983 - President Ronald Reagan declares Thomas Edison's birthday National Inventor's Day
- 1986 - Rights activist Anatoly Sharansky, released by the USSR, leaves the country.
- 1987 - Philippines constitution goes into effect.
- 1990 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win heavyweight boxing crown.
- 1990 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
- 1991 - UNPO, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, forms in The Hague, Netherlands.
- 1999 - Pluto, a planet with an irregular orbit, changes from the eighth to ninth planet furthest from the sun. It had been the eighth furthest since 1979.
- 2006 - The UK's ITV plans to start broadcasting its new children's channel.

Births


- 1377 - King Ladislas of Naples (d. 1414)
- 1380 - Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist (d. 1459)
- 1466 - Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (d. 1503)
- 1535 - Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
- 1568 - Honoré d'Urfé, French writer (d. 1625)
- 1649 - William Carstares, Scottish minister (d. 1715)
- 1657 - Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (d. 1757)
- 1755 - Albert Christoph Dies, German composer (d. 1822)
- 1764 - Marie-Joseph de Chenier, French poet (d. 1811)
- 1774 - Hans Jarta, Swedish political activist (d. 1847)
- 1776 - Joannis Capodistrias, Greek governor of Troezen (d. 1836)
- 1800 - William Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer (d. 1877)
- 1802 - Lydia Child, American novelist and abolitionist (d. 1880)
- 1812 - Alexander Hamilton Stephens, American Confederate Vice President (d. 1883)
- 1813 - Otto Ludwig, German writer and critic (d. 1865)
- 1819 - Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American composer (d. 1890)
- 1821 - Auguste-Édouard Mariette, French Egyptologist (d. 1881)
- 1830 - Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf, musician (d. 1913)
- 1833 - Melville Weston Fuller, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
- 1839 - Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist and chemist (d. 1903)
- 1847 - Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor and businessman (d. 1931)
- 1860 - Rachilde, French author (d. 1953)
- 1869 - Helene Kroller-Muller, Dutch museum founder and patron of the arts (d. 1939)
- 1869 - Else Lasker-Schüler, German writer (d. 1945)
- 1873 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian singer (d. 1938)
- 1874 - Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born composer (d. 1949)
- 1874 - Elsa Beskow, Swedish author (d. 1953)
- 1887 - John van Melle, South African writer (d. 1953)
- 1891 - J.W. Hearne English cricketer (d. 1965)
- 1894 - Alfonso Leng, Chilean composer (d. 1974)
- 1898 - Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born physicist and peace activist (d. 1964)
- 1900 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (d. 2002)
- 1902 - Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect and designer (d. 1971)
- 1903 - Hans Redlich, Austrian composer (d. 1968)
- 1904 - Sir Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
- 1908 - Vivian Ernest Fuchs, English geologist and explorer (d. 1999)
- 1909 - Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
- 1909 - Joseph Mankiewicz, American director (d. 1993)
- 1912 - Roy Fuller, English writer (d. 1991)
- 1914 - Matt Dennis, American singer
- 1915 - Patrick Leigh Fermor, English author
- 1917 - Sidney Sheldon, American author
- 1919 - Eva Gabor, Hungarian-born actress (d. 1995)
- 1919 - Eddie Robinson, American football coach
- 1920 - King Farouk I of Egypt (d. 1965)
- 1920 - Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1920 - Daniel "Chappie" James Jr., American general
- 1920 - Paul Peter Piech, American artist (d. 1996)
- 1921 - Lloyd Bentsen, American politician
- 1925 - Peter Berger, British admiral
- 1925 - Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1926 - Paul Bocuse, French chef
- 1926 - Alexander Gibson, British conductor
- 1926 - Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor
- 1931 - Larry Merchant, author and boxing commentator
- 1932 - Jerome Lowenthal, American pianist
- 1934 - Mel Carnahan, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1934 - Tina Louise, American actress
- 1934 - Mary Quant, English fashion designer
- 1934 - John Surtees, British race car driver
- 1935 - Bent Lorentzen, Danish composer
- 1936 - Burt Reynolds, American actor
- 1937 - Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer
- 1938 - Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer
- 1938 - Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and dictator
- 1939 - Gerry Goffin, American lyricist
- 1939 - Jane Yolen, American author
- 1941 - Sergio Mendes, Brazilian musician and songwriter
- 1953 - Philip Anglim, American actor
- 1953 - Jeb Bush, American politician
- 1956 - Catherine Hickland, American actress
- 1956 - Didier Lockwood, French jazz violinist
- 1961 - Mary Docter, American speed skater
- 1961 - Carey Lowell, American actress
- 1962 - Sheryl Crow, American musician
- 1963 - Diane Franklin, American actress
- 1964 - Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and professional wrestler
- 1967 - Hank Gathers, American basketball player (d. 1990)
- 1969 - Jennifer Aniston, American actress
- 1973 - Varg Vikernes, Norwegian musician (Burzum)
- 1974 - D'Angelo, American singer
- 1976 - Brice Beckham, American actor
- 1977 - Mike Shinoda, American singer (Linkin Park)
- 1979 - Brandy Norwood, American singer
- 1980 - Natasha Bobo, American actress
- 1980 - Matthew Lawrence, American actor
- 1981 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- 1987 - Bowman Dickson, American singer (Boyz II Men)

Deaths


- 641 - Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium
- 731 - Pope Gregory II
- 821 - Saint Benedict of Aniane
- 824 - Pope Paschal I
- 1141 - Hugo of St. Victor, German philosopher and theologian
- 1160 - Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Japanese general (b. 1123)
- 1503 - Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII of England (b. 1466)
- 1626 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (b. 1552)
- 1650 - René Descartes, French philosopher (b. 1596)
- 1685 - David Teniers III, Flemish painter (b. 1638)
- 1713 - Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor of Indai (b. 1664)
- 1755 - Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (b. 1675)
- 1762 - Johann Tobias Krebs, German composer (b. 1690)
- 1763 - William Shenstone, English poet (b. 1714)
- 1797 - Antoine Dauvergne, French composer (b. 1713)
- 1829 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (b. 1795)
- 1862 - Elizabeth Siddal, British poet and artist (b. 1829)
- 1868 - Léon Foucault, French astronomer (b. 1819)
- 1879 - Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
- 1917 - Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (b. 1872)
- 1931 - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (b. 1854)
- 1939 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
- 1940 - John Buchan, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1875)
- 1945 - Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter (b. 1891)
- 1948 - Sergei Eisenstein, Latvian film director (b. 1898)
- 1959 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)
- 1960 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
- 1963 - Sylvia Plath, American writer (b. 1932)
- 1968 - Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1888)
- 1972 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)
- 1973 - Hans D Jensen, German physicist, Nobel Prize physicist (b. 1907)
- 1976 - Lee J Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
- 1976 - Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (b. 1894)
- 1977 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
- 1978 - James B Conant, American chemist and university president (b. 1893)
- 1978 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1982 - Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
- 1982 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Ben Abruzzo, American businessman and balloonist (b. 1930)
- 1985 - Henry Hathaway, American actor and director (b. 1898)
- 1985 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American composer (b. 1901)
- 1986 - Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)
- 1989 - George O'Hanlon, American actor and director (b. 1912)
- 1993 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1922)
- 1994 - Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
- 1994 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (b. 1930)
- 1994 - William Conrad, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1996 - Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)
- 1996 - Cyril Poole, English cricketer (b. 1921)
- 1996 - Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)
- 1997 - Barry Evans, English actor (b. 1943)
- 1997 - Don Porter, American actor (b. 1912)
- 2000 - Roger Vadim, French director (b. 1928)
- 2002 - Frank Crosetti, baseball player (b. 1910)
- 2002 - Barry Foster, British actor (b. 1968)
- 2005 - Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances


- Catholicism - Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes
- World Day of the Sick
- National Foundation Day in Japan (See Holidays of Japan.)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/11 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050211.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 10 - February 12 - January 11 - March 11 -- listing of all days ko:2월 11일 ms:11 Februari ja:2月11日 simple:February 11 th:11 กุมภาพันธ์

Republican Party (United States)

:This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. For the earlier Republican Party, see Democratic-Republican Party (United States). The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for "Grand Old Party"), is a political party and is one of the two major political parties in the United States (the other being the Democratic Party). The party was first established in 1854 by Northerners who were opposed to the spread of slavery. In the modern political era, the GOP is usually considered the more socially conservative and economically neoliberal of the two major parties. The current President of the United States, George W. Bush, is the party leader. Since 2002 the Republican Party has held a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It also controls a majority of governorships, and a majority of state legislatures. The official symbol of the Republican 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 [http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Year=2003&Month=November&Date=7]. In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots. The party tends to hold both conservative and libertarian stances on social and economic issues. Major policies that the party has recently supported include the 2003 Iraq War and across-the-board tax cuts. It has sought business deregulation, gun ownership rights, free trade and a partial privatization of Social Security. It favors the death penalty, calls for restricted access to abortion, and opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage. The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and "moderate" and "conservative" factions compete for power to frame platforms and select candidates. The "conservatives" are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The "moderates" tend to dominate the party in New England, and are well represented in all states. In the 1940s and 1950s under such leaders as Thomas Dewey, Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Rockefeller they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since Barry Goldwater defeated them in 1964 they have been less powerful, though they were well represented in the cabinets of all Republican presidents.

History and trends

Birth

Both Ripon, Wisconsin, and Jackson, Michigan, claim the honor of setting up the first statewide Republican party organization in 1854. Delegates In Jackson, Michigan on July 6, 1854 declared their new party opposed to the expansion of slavery into new territories, as permitted by the proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act.They selected a state-wide slate of candidates. The Republican Party is not to be confused with the Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson or the National Republican Party of Henry Clay. Besides opposition to slavery, the new party drew on the previous traditions of the members, most of whom had been Whigs, and some of whom had been Democrats or members of third parties especially the Free Soil Party, and American Party. Since its inception, its chief opposition has been the Democratic Party, which was formed in the 1830s. American Party–1865).]] John C. Frémont ran as the first Republican nominee for President in 1856, using the political slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont." Although Frémont's bid was unsuccessful, the party showed a strong base. It dominated in New England, New York and the northern Midwest, and had a strong presence in the rest of the North. It had almost no support in the South, where it was roundly denounced in 1856-60 as a divisive force that threatened civil war. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 ended the domination of the fragile coalition of pro-slavery southern Democrats and conciliatory northern Democrats which had existed since the days of Andrew Jackson. Instead, a new era of Republican dominance based in the industrial and agricultural north ensued. Republicans still often refer to their party as the "party of Lincoln" in honor of the first Republican President.

Late nineteenth century

With the end of the Civil War came the upheavals of Reconstruction. Republicans at first welcomed president Andrew Johnson; the Radical Republicans thought he was one of them and would take a hard line in punishing the South. Johnson however broke with them and formed a loose alliance with moderate Republicans and some Democrats. The showdown came in the Congressional elections of 1866, in which the Radicals won a sweeping victory and took full control of Reconstruction, passing key laws over the veto. Johnson was impeached by the House, but acquitted by the Senate. In 1868 the Republicans united around Ulysses S. Grant. In 1872 the party split, as Liberal Republicans detested Grant's corruption and thought that Reconstruction had succeeded and should be ended. Many of the founders of the GOP joined the movement, as did many powerful newspaper editors. They nominated Horace Greeley, who gained unofficial Democratic support, but was defeated in a landslide. Reconstruction came to an end when the contested election of 1876 was handed to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes who promised, through the unofficial Compromise of 1877 to withdraw federal troops from control of the last three southern states. The region then became the Solid South, giving overwhelming majorities of its electoral votes and Congressional seats to the Democrats until 1964. The GOP, as it was now nicknamed, split into "Stalwart" and "Half-Breed" factions, but policy differences were slight; in 1884, "Mugwump" reformers split off and helped elect Democrat Grover Cleveland. As the Northern post-bellum economy mushroomed with industry and immigration, and prosperous agriculture, support for hard money (i.e. gold), high tariffs, and high benefits for veterans became Republican policy. From 1960 to 1912 the Republicans took advantage of the association of the Democrats with "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion". Rum stood for the liquor interests and the tavernkeepers, in contrast to the GOP, which had a strong dry element. "Romanism" meant the Catholics, especially the Irish, who staffed the Democratic party in every big city, and whom the Republicans denounced for political corruption. "Rebellion" stood for the Confederates who tried to break the Union in 1861, and the Copperheads in the North who sympathized with them. Demographic trends aided the Democrats, as the German and Irish Catholic immigrants were Democrats, and outnumbered the English and Scandinavian Republicans. During the 1880s and 1890s, the Republicans struggled against the Democrats' efforts, winning several close elections and losing two to Grover Cleveland (in 1884 and 1892). 1892 faction of the Republican Party.]]

Early twentieth century

The election of William McKinley in 1896 is widely seen as a resurgence of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a realigning election. He relied heavily on industry for his support and cemented the Republicans as the party of business; his campaign manager, Ohio's Marcus Hanna, developed a detailed plan for getting contributions from the business world, and McKinley outspent his rival William Jennings Bryan by a large margin. This emphasis on business was in part mitigated by Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley's successor after assassination, who engaged in trust-busting. Roosevelt did not seek another term in 1908, instead endorsing Secretary of War William Howard Taft as his successor, but the widening division between progressive and conservative forces in the party resulted in a third-party candidacy for Roosevelt on the Progressive, or "Bull Moose" ticket in the election of 1912. He finished ahead of Taft, but the split in the Republican vote resulted in a decisive victory for Democrat Woodrow Wilson, temporarily interrupting the Republican era. The party controlled the presidency throughout the 1920s, running on a platform of opposition to the League of Nations, high tariffs, and promotion of business interests. Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were resoundingly elected in 1920, 1924, and 1928 respectively, but the Great Depression cost Hoover the presidency with the landslide election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excepting the two-term presidency of Republican Dwight Eisenhower.

Second half of the twentieth century

Dwight Eisenhower.]] The post-war emergence of the United States as one of two superpowers and rapid social change caused the Republican Party to divide into a conservative faction (dominant in the West and Southeast) and a liberal faction (dominant in New England) – combined with a residual base of inherited progressive Midwestern Republicanism active throughout the century. A Republican like U.S. Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio represented the Midwestern wing of the party that continued to oppose New Deal reforms and continued to champion isolationism. Thomas Dewey represented the Northeastern wing of the party that was closer to liberalism and internationalism. In the end, the isolationists were marginalized by those who supported a strong U.S. role in opposing the Soviet Union throughout the world, as embodied by President Eisenhower. The conservatives made a comeback under the leadership of Barry Goldwater who defeated liberal Nelson Rockefeller as the Republican candidate for the 1964 presidential election. Goldwater was strongly opposed to the New Deal but he rejected isolationism and containment, calling for an aggressive anti-Communist foreign policy. On social issues Goldwater was a libertarian and did not seek support from the social conservatives. One element of the New Deal coalition was the "Solid South", a term describing the Southern states' reliable support for Democratic presidential candidates. Goldwater's electoral success in the South, and Nixon's successful Southern strategy in 1968 and 1972, represented a significant political turnabout, as Southern whites began moving into the party. Later, the Democratic Party's support for liberal social stances such as abortion, criminal law issues such as abolition of the death penalty, and same-sex marriage drove many former Democrats into a Republican party that was embracing the conservative views on these issues. Conversely, liberal Republicans in the northeast began to join the Democratic Party. In The Emerging Republican Majority, Kevin Phillips, then a Nixon strategist, argued (based on the 1968 election results) that support from Southern whites and growth in the Sun Belt, among other factors, was driving an enduring Republican electoral realignment. Today, the South is still solid, but the reliable support is for Republican presidential candidates, and no Democratic presidential candidate who wasn't from the South has won a presidential election since 1960. realignment, providing conservative influence that continues to the present day.]] Any enduring Republican majority, however, was put on hold when the Watergate Scandal forced Nixon to resign under threat of impeachment. Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon under the 25th Amendment and struggled to forge a political identity separate from his predecessor. The taint of Watergate and the nation's economic difficulties contributed to the election of Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976, a Washington outsider.

Reagan Era, 1980-1992

The trends Phillips described, however, could be seen in the 1980 and 1984 elections of Ronald Reagan - the latter being a landslide in which Reagan won nearly 59% of the popular vote and carried 49 of the 50 states. The Reagan Democrats were Democrats before the Reagan years, and afterwards, but who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 (and for George H. W. Bush in 1988), producing their landslide victories. They were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast who were attracted to Reagan's social conservatism on issues such as abortion, and to his strong foreign policy. They did not continue to vote Republican in 1992 or 1996, so the term fell into disuse except as a reference to the 1980s. The term is not used to describe southern whites who became permanent Republicans in presidential elections. Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster analyzed white ethnic voters, largely unionized auto workers, in suburban Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. He concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw Democrats as champions of their middle class aspirations, but instead saw it as being a party working primarily for the benefit of others, especially African Americans and the very poor. Bill Clinton targeted the Reagan Democrats with considerable success in 1992 and 1996.

Capture the House 1994

House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich-led "Republican Revolution" of 1994 and its Contract With America. It was the first time since 1952 that the Republicans secured control of both houses of U.S. Congress, which, with the exception of the Senate during 2001-2002, has been retained through the present time. This capture and subsequent holding of congress represented a major legislative turnaround, as Democrats controlled both houses of congress for the forty years preceeding 1994, with the exception of the 1981-1987 congresses (in which Republicans controlled the Senate). In 1994, Republican Congressional candidates on a platform of major reforms of government with measures, such as a balanced budget amendment and welfare reform. These measures and others formed the famous Contract with America, which represented the first effort to have a party platform in an off-year election. The Republicans passed some of their proposals, but failed on others such as term limits. Democratic President Bill Clinton opposed many of the social agenda initiatives, though he co-opted the proposals for welfare reform and a balanced federal budget. The result was a major change in the welfare system, which conservatives hailed and liberals bemoaned. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives also failed to muster the two-thirds majority required to pass one of the most popular proposals—a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress. In 1995, a budget battle with Clinton led to the brief shutdown of the federal government, an event which contributed to Clinton's victory in the 1996 election.

Present day

1996 election With the victory of George W. Bush in the closely contested 2000 election, the Republican party gained control of the Presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952, only to lose control of the Senate by one vote when Vermont Senator James Jeffords left the Republican party to become an independent in 2001 and chose to vote with the Democratic caucus. In the wake of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, however, Bush's popularity rose as he pursued a "War on Terrorism" that included the invasion of Afghanistan and the USA PATRIOT Act. The Republican Party fared well in the 2002 midterm elections, solidifying its hold on the House and regaining control of the Senate, in the run-up to the war in Iraq. This marked just the third time since the Civil War that the party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress in a midterm election (others were 1902 and 1934). On November 2, 2004, Bush was re-elected to a second term, receiving 51% of the popular vote and becoming the first presidential candidate to win a majority of the popular vote since 1988. Republicans gained additional seats in both houses of Congress, leaving Democrats again in the minority. The Republican 2004 political platform was titled "A Safer World and a More Hopeful America".[http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf] It expressed commitment to:
- Winning the War on Terror
- Ushering in an Ownership Era
- Building an Innovative Economy to Compete in the World
- Strengthening Our Communities
- Protecting Our Families

Current structure and composition

The Republican National Committee (RNC) of the United States is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as for coordinating fundraising and election strategy. There are similar committees in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties (though in some states, party organization lower than state-level is arranged by legislative districts). It is the counterpart of the Democratic National Committee. The chairman of the RNC, since January of 2005, is Ken Mehlman. The Republican Party also has fundraising and strategy committees for House races (National Republican Congressional Committee), Senate races (National Republican Senatorial Committee), and gubernatorial races (Republican Governors Association).

Factions

Republican Governors Association Defining the views of any "faction" of any large political party is difficult at best, and any attempt to apply labels within a single political party is subject to some oversimplification. Nevertheless, there are several ideological groups recognized by some in the modern-day GOP, including the social conservatives, Republican In Name Only, paleoconservatives, neoconservatives, moderates, fiscal conservatives, Log Cabin Republicans, and libertarians.

Future trends, realignment?

Thus, as of 2006, Republicans will have controlled the White House for 26 of the previous 38 years, and both houses of Congress since 1994 (except for over a year in the Senate), leading some Conservative commentators to speculate about a permanent political realignment along the lines of the presidential election of 1896, in which Mark Hanna helped William McKinley construct a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years — Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political advisor, has been reported to be a keen student of this election. Evidence supporting this view includes Bush's relative success among Hispanic voters, winning 35% of their vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004, although the latter figure has been questioned by some analysts (most notably the anti-immigration Steve Sailer, whose analysis of several exit polls placed Hispanic support for Bush in 2004 at a maximum of 39%), and Bush's victory in 2004 in ninety-seven of the hundred fastest-growing counties in the country, evidence of Republican strength in quickly growing exurbs and in the booming metropolitan areas of the South. By 2010, the United States Census predicts that state population changes will cause states that voted for Bush in 2004 to gain six Congressional seats and electoral votes, while states that voted for Kerry will lose six.[http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/06/checking_in_on_1.html] Others, such as left-wing commentators Ruy Teixeira and John Judis see prospects of a Republican realignment as unlikely, given the relative decrease in the proportion of white and rural voters, who traditionally have supported the GOP, and noting that Democrats have tended to win healthy majorities among Hispanics, African Americans, and city dwellers (among African American voters, Bush — like all recent Republican presidential candidates — lost overwhelmingly both times, though he did manage to increase his support from 9% in 2000 to 11% in 2004). Critics claim that an inconsistency in the views held within the Republican Party, which they see as a dramatic difference between anti-government libertarians and social conservatives, will undermine the Party's success. There are several outreach campaigns to attract more minorities to register Republican. Notably, that the head of the NAACP for Florida's Orange County, Derrick Wallace has responded to GOP outreach efforts by changing his party affiliation to Republican.[http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-maxwell1705nov17,0,2971218.column?coll=orl-news-col] There are other notable minorities who attract other minorities to the GOP. [http://www.gop.com/Teams/AfricanAmericans/]

Presidential tickets

Other noted Republicans

Present-day


- George Allen, Senator from Virginia.
- Howard Baker, Ambassador to Japan and former senator.
- Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi and former chair of the Republican National Committee.
- Michael Bloomberg, media entrepreneur and Mayor of New York City/ RINO.
- Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida.
- Saxby Chambliss, Senator from Georgia.
- Norm Coleman, Senator from Minnesota.
- Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader, from Texas.
- Elizabeth Dole, Senator from North Carolina, former Labor Secretary and Transportation Secretary, and former presidential candidate.
- John Engler, former Governor of Michigan and current head of National Association of Manufacturers.
- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader, from Tennessee.
- Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, from Georgia.
- Phil Gramm, former Senator from Texas.
- Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York/RINO.
- Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State.
- Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, from Illinois.
- Jesse Helms, former Senator from North Carolina.
- Mike Huckabee, current Governor of Arkansas.
- Thomas Kean, former Governor from New Jersey.
- Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State.
- Trent Lott, former Senate Majority Leader, from Mississippi.
- John McCain, Senator from Arizona and former presidential candidate.
- George Pataki, Governor of New York.
- Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota.
- Colin Powell, former Secretary of State.
- Dan Quayle, former Vice President.
- Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Secretary and former Governor of Pennsylvania.
- Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State.
- Dana Rohrabacher, Representative from California.
- Karl Rove, president George W. Bush's chief political strategist and deputy chief of staff.
- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense.
- Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina.
- Rick Santorum, Senator from Pennsylvania and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
- George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury.
- Arlen Specter, Senator from Pennsylvania.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California.
- Theodore Stevens, president pro tempore of the U.S. senate.
- Caspar Weinberger. former Secretary of Defense.
- Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Pete Wilson, former Governor of California.

Historical


- James G. Blaine (1830 - 1893), former Senator from Maine and Presidential candidate
- John Connally (1917 - 1993), a Governor of Texas
- Joseph Gurney Cannon (1836 - 1926), Speaker of the House
- Charles Curtis (1860 - 1936), Vice President
- Charles G. Dawes (1865 - 1951), Vice President
- George Frisbie Hoar (1826 - 1904), Senator from Massachusetts
- Robert G. Ingersoll (1833 - 1899), political activist
- Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924) Senator from Massachusetts
- Joseph McCarthy (1908 - 1957), Senator from Wisconsin and noted anti-communist
- Thomas Brackett Reed (1839 - 1902), Speaker of the House
- Nelson Rockefeller (1908 - 1979), Vice President, Governor of New York, and repeated presidential candidate
- Leland Stanford (1824 - 1893), Governor of California, Senator, and founder of Stanford University
- Robert Alphonso Taft (1889 - 1953), Senator and former presidential candidate
- Strom Thurmond (1902 - 2003), the oldest serving Senator in history (from South Carolina)
- Arthur H. Vandenberg (1884 - 1951), Senator from Michigan
- Earl Warren (1891 - 1974), Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States

Lists


- List of African American Republicans
- List of Latino Republicans
- List of state Republican Parties in the U.S.
- List of Republican National Conventions
- List of liberal U.S. Republicans
- List of Republican celebrities

See also


- Republican National Convention
- College Republicans
- List of Republican Party Presidential nominees
- Republican Liberty Caucus
- Log Cabin Republicans
- Ripon Society
- South Park Republicans
- Rockefeller Republican
- Radical Republican
- International Democrat Union, of which the Republican Party is a member
- Teenage Republicans

External links


- [http://www.rnc.org/ Republican National Committee]
  - [http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf 2004 Platform] (PDF format)
- [http://www.crnc.org/ College Republican National Committee]
- [http://www.savethegop.com/ SavetheGOP.com]
- [http://www.pachyderms.org/ Grand Order of Pachyderm Clubs]
- [http://www.gopwing.com/ National Federation of Republican Assemblies]
- [http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/ Republican Main Street Partnership]
- [http://www.rlc.org/ Republican Liberty Caucus]
- [http://www.RepublicanIssues.com/ Republican Issues Campaign]
- [http://www.GOPToday.com/ Americans for a Republican Majority]
- [http://www.RepublicanLeadership.org/ Republican Leadership Coalition]
- [http://www.GOPinion.com/ GOPinion], conservative news from around the web
- [http://www.yrnf.com/ Young Republican National Federation]
- Thomas Frank, New Statesman, 30 August 2004, [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4703_133/ai_n6247127 "Bush, the working class hero"] - How the Republicans captured the working class vote

Scholarly Secondary Sources


- American National Biography (20 volumes, 1999) covers all politicians no longer alive; online at many academic libraries.
- Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 2006: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (2005) covers all the live politicians with amazing detail.
- Ehrman, John, The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan (2005)
- Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War (1970) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90104191 online at Questia]
- Frank, Thomas. What's the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (2005), an insightful but unflattering appraisal.
- Gienapp, William E. The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856 (1987).
- Gould, Lewis. Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans (2003), the best overview.
- Jensen, Richard. The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888-1896 (1971)
- Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (2001) well balanced scholarly synthesis.