Since the Republican Party's inception, its candidates have dominated the presidency. The U.S. has experienced some of its worst catastrophes under Republican leaders.
The Republican Party formed in 1854 from the Whigs, Free-Soilers and some minor parties. Its first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, lost to Democrat James Buchanan in 1856 (Kennedy et al, Vol. I 258), but in 1860 Republicans ran Abraham Lincoln against a divided Democratic Party and won. Lincoln’s presidency marks the beginning of “The Republican Syndrome,” which is: “When something catastrophic happens to American society, a Republican is usually in the office of the presidency.”
This trend started after Lincoln’s election when the South declared itself an independent nation initiating the Civil War (1861-1865). Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freeing all captured prisoners (slaves) in states fighting against the Union, but shortly after the war, Southerner John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln. The Republican Party stayed in power, however, with presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant respectively.
Republicans Turn Conservative
In the presidential election of 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes tied Democrat Samuel J. Tilden in electoral votes as some states’ votes were in question. The dispute lasted into the next year. The two parties worked out “The Compromise of 1877” allowing Hayes to become president in exchange for removing the military districts in the South that were there to protect the rights of African Americans. The “Compromise” gave southerners a free hand in denying the rights of African Americans. This suppression led to the Plessy V. Ferguson case of 1896 initiating legal segregation, which remained in tact until the Civil Rights Movement (Kennedy et al, Vol. II 337, 338).
Republicans and More Catastrophe
In 1928 Americans elected Republican Herbert Hoover to the presidency. In 1929 the Stock Market crashed sending America into its worst depression ever. One could argue that the depression was not totally Hoover’s fault, but the president before him, Calvin Coolidge, was also a Republican. Dwight Eisenhower started America’s direct involvement in Vietnam. His administration financed and militarily supported anti-Communist Leader, Ngo Dinh Diem (Kennedy et al, Vol. II 569), who lost to Communist Leader, Ho Chi Minh. America lost this war along with approximately 56,000 men and $118 billion dollars (606).
Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush
Authorities caught Richard Nixon’s officials placing equipment in the Democratic Party's Watergate complex to spy on their campaign strategies to ensure victory in his reelection bid of 1972. Nixon won the election, but had to resign in 1974 after the Court discovered that he had abused his authority and obstructed justice in an attempt to cover up his dirty acts. For the first time in American history Congress appointed a Vice President, Gerald Ford, to the presidency, whom singer Gil Scott Heron calls "Oatmeal Man," because it seems that all he did was eat oatmeal while in office.
Actor Ronald Reagan got into office in 1980. His idea of good economy was to benefit rich people by giving them tax breaks. He cut social programs and federal grants for college. His domestic policies increased unemployment and poverty, especially in the inner cities (Nash et at 913). It was during his administration that national homelessness began and the gap between the rich and poor drastically increased. George Bush continued Reagan’s policies in 1988.
Bush’s son was in office during 9/11. As part of his response to the Twin Tower crashes, he blatantly lied to the American people about “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq as he started an unnecessary war that continues until today. It was his administration that reacted poorly and inadequately to Hurricane Katrina where hundreds of American citizens in New Orleans died primarily from lack of governmental assistance.
Democrats are not angels. Bad things happen with them in office, too, even after the party’s turn away from conservatism during the Franklin D. Roosevelt years. However, it is not a coincidence that catastrophes happen frequently to American society under Republican presidents.
Sources:
Kennedy, Cohen, Bailey, Piehl. The Brief American Pageant – Vol. I
To 1877 – Sixth Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company,
2004.
--- The Brief American Pageant – Vol. II Since 1865 – Fifth Edition.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
Nash, Jeffrey, Howe, Frederick, Davis, Winkler. The American People –
Fourth Edition. New York, 2003.
