20 Facts About Rockefeller Republicans

1.

Rockefeller Republicans were members of the Republican Party in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States.

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2.

Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and industrial Midwestern states, with their larger moderate-to-liberal constituencies, while they were rare in the South and West.

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3.

Luke Phillips has stated that the Rockefeller Republicans represent the continuation of the Whig tradition of American politics.

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4.

Rockefeller Republicans replied, "You are looking at it, buddy, I am all that is left".

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5.

The phrase "Rockefeller Republicans Republican" has come to be used in a pejorative sense by modern conservatives, who use it to deride those in the Republican Party that are perceived to have views which are too liberal, especially on major social issues.

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6.

Rockefeller Republicans was harder than Nixon, and a lot more hawkish about the mission of America in the world.

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7.

In domestic policy, Rockefeller Republicans were typically center to center-right economically, however they vehemently rejected conservatives like Barry Goldwater and their laissez faire economic policies while holding beliefs in social policies that were often culturally liberal.

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8.

Rockefeller Republicans opposed socialism and government ownership, and were strong supporters of big business and Wall Street, although they supported some regulation of business; rather than increasing regulation of business, they advocated for developing a mutually beneficial relationship between public interests and private enterprise, drawing comparisons and similarities to the French dirigisme or the Japanese developmental state.

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9.

Rockefeller Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in 1964 when conservatives captured control of the Republican Party and nominated Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for president.

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10.

The men had previously reached the so-called Treaty of Fifth Avenue during the presidential primaries of 1960, whereby Nixon and Rockefeller Republicans agreed to support certain policies for inclusion in the 1960 Republican Party Platform.

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11.

Nelson Rockefeller Republicans was an influential voice within the Republican Party, but he never had the level of support of Goldwater or Nixon.

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12.

The term Rockefeller Republicans Republican was never appreciated from the conservative wing of the party, and as the voices of the Reagan right grew in the 1970s and eventually captured the presidency in 1980, it was looked down upon even more as a pejorative.

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13.

Barry Goldwater crusaded against the Rockefeller Republicans, beating Rockefeller narrowly in the California primary of 1964.

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14.

Rockefeller Republicans was considered to be a moderate Republican in a similar mold as Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

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15.

In 2010, several moderate Rockefeller Republicans lost their primaries or were challenged by the Tea Party movement.

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16.

Rockefeller Republicans was pressured to drop out of the race, and when she did the Republican National Committee endorsed Tea Party-backed Doug Hoffman.

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17.

In 2014, moderate Rockefeller Republicans were elected governor of Maryland and Massachusetts.

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18.

The National Review wrote that year, "A kind of Rockefeller Republicans Republicanism seems to be rising in recent years" in New England and the Northeast.

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19.

Term "Rockefeller Republicans Republican" has become somewhat archaic since Nelson Rockefeller Republicans died in 1979.

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20.

The Atlantic has referred to the election of Northeastern Republicans as being similar to "Rockefeller-style liberal Republicanism", even though the label is not necessarily used by the candidates themselves.

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