Episode 042: Heather Cox Richardson, A History of the Republican Party

by Liz CovartAugust 11, 2015

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Is the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln?

The United States has entered presidential primary season, which means it won’t be long before a Republican presidential candidate or a reporter mentions the birth of the ‘Grand Old Party’ in 1854 and its association with Lincoln.

Today, we explore the history of the Republican Party with Heather Cox Richardson, Professor of History at Boston College and author of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with an historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

In this episode, we explore the history of the Republican Party with Heather Cox Richardson, Professor of History at Boston College and author of To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.

During our exploration, Heather reveals how historians can write and speak about politics and the recent past with objectivity; the early republic origins of the Republican Party; And, why, over the course of its history, the ideology of the Republican Party has swung between progressivism and conservatism.

What You’ll Discover

Was the Republican Party the party of Abraham Lincoln?
How Heather came to write a history about the Republican Party
How Heather retained her objectivity while writing a book that discusses the near past
Origins of the Republican Party and its platform
The role land speculation and inheritance practices played in founding Republican ideology
Details about the Northwest Ordinance
Overview of Abraham Lincoln’s family history
How Abraham Lincoln and his colleagues implemented their vision for America between 1860 and 1865
Why the Republicans created the Income Tax in 1861
What happens to the Republican Party and its vision after Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865
The politics of Andrew Johnson
Details about Reconstruction
Civil Rights Act
Freedmen’s Bureau Act
The impact Theodore Roosevelt had on Republican Party ideology
Why the Republican Party has swung between progressivism and conservatism throughout its history
How the Republican Party responded to the Great Depression
Dwight D. Eisenhower as a Dewey Republican
Information about Eisenhower’s “Middle Way”
Taft Republican ideology
How and why Movement Conservatives linked civil rights with communism
The John Birch Society

1874 Thomas Nast cartoon featuring the first notable appearance of the Republican elephant

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Time Warp Question

In your opinion what might have happened if John Wilkes Booth hadn’t shot and killed Abraham Lincoln? Would the Republican Party have avoided the ideological shifts between championing the rights of ordinary men vs. those of the the elite and big business? Or would these shifts simply have manifested later than 1865?