Some people would be perfectly content if the Republican Party never existed. Well, it's time to take a cold hard look at what would not have been had the party never existed. In this case, assuming the party never existed, then here is a list of things that would still be in place or never exist:
Slavery – The Republican Party was formed against slavery. If there had never been a Republican Party, then we would still have slavery.
Women's Rights – Forget having the right to work, vote, or even have a woman's voice heard in a legal case. Don't even think of going to college, making money or having any rights in a divorce. Without Republican Party support, women's rights would have never occurred.
Civil Rights – In the first place there would have been no reason for Civil Rights since Slavery would still be in use. Even if by some unknown reason slavery had been abolished without the Republican's work, then Civil Rights would have failed. Democrats argued against Civil Rights. Al Gore, Sr. (that's right Al Gore's dad) was one of the biggest opponents to Civil Rights. Eisenhower (a Republican President) would have never been President and therefore would have never sent the U.S. Army to Little Rock to force a Democrat Governor to allow African American Children to attend public school. There would have been no Civil Rights and certainly no equal education. It should be no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a registered Republican.
Clean Air – Take a deep breath and enjoy. While both Democrats and Republicans have been for and against legislation to keep our environment clean, it was Republican President Nixon who first pushed for and signed the first Clean Air Act into law. This started the work that is still being done for our environment today. Without Republicans, say goodbye to that fresh air!
Interstate Highways- Take your car down an old highway at 55 mph and then drop to 25-30 mph for each small town along the route. Do this from places like Little Rock to Dallas and see how long it takes you to get there because without a Republican President (Eisenhower again) those interstate highways would still be a thing of science fiction.
African American's Right to Vote – Considering that without Republicans African Americans would still be in slavery, it's almost a mute point, but without Republicans, in 1869 African Americans would have never received the right to vote.
Hawaii – love going to Hawaii without a passport? You can forget that since the Republicans pushed for Hawaii to become part of the United States. Without Republicans you would enjoy Hawaii just like taking a trip to any other country.
NASA – While the current Democrats seem intent on destroying the space program, it was a Republican idea and push that started the program thus allowing a later administration under John Kennedy to push for the moon. No more space shuttle, no more space exploration without Republicans.
African American Governors – Republicans sponsored and helped elect the first African American Governor. Without Republicans, this never would have happened.
Hispanics in Government – At some point it would have happened due to population changes, but Republicans had the first Hispanic U.S. Senator and President Reagan had the first Hispanic member of a Presidential Cabinet. No Republicans, likely a different outlook on Hispanics in government.
Japanese American Concentration Camps – It sounds bad, but the fact is the United States locked our own Japanese people, U.S. Citizens, in what was considered concentration camps during World War Two. It was claimed to be for their protection and for the protection of the United States. It took a Republican President to sign an order to release the remaining 120,000 Japanese Americans in those camps (Eisenhower who wasn't elected until 1953!).
The impressive list of accomplishments by the Republican Party and it's leaders goes on and on. Had there never been a Republican Party, it is very likely that many people, women, African Americans, Japanese Americans, and Hispanics to name a few would have never enjoyed the rights our government must provide to them today. There is a common theme on some Republican websites that says “Republican for a Reason,” but in truth most Republicans have been “Republicans with a reason”. At this pivotal time in history, the Republican Party stands ready again to defend American's and their rights because we are Republicans with a reason.
Yes, if there had never been a President Eisenhower, we might not have had 92% marginal tax rates on the highest income brackets!
ReplyDeleteIf there had never been a President Nixon, we would not have had the worst scandal to ever infest the White House where over 20 staffers were convicted of felonies and the president himself resigned rather than face expulsion by the Senate.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your input. Yes, you are certainly right about those things and we could likely point out just as much about the Democratic Party or any other party in history as well.
Regardless of our different party beliefs though, I appreciate you taking the time to read and to comment!