Republican Party (United States)

Political party · 1854–present

The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing populist and neo-nationalist political party in the United States, founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery into American territories. Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 led to the secession of Southern states and the Civil War, and under Lincoln and a Republican-controlled Congress the party led efforts to preserve the Union, defeat the Confederacy, and abolish slavery. It emerged as the main rival of the Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then. The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics around a conservative coalition, and since 2009 a shift toward right-wing populism culminated in the 2016 election of Donald Trump.