The Republican Party

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Created in 1854, the Republican Party in the United States was founded by former members of the Whig Party, Free-Soil Party, Know-Nothing Party, along with some Northern Democrats. The founders became united in opposition of each of their party’s conciliatory attitude on the slavery issue. In 1856, John Charles Fremont became the first Republican presidential candidate. The first Republican elected to the presidency was Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Since the 1856 founding of the Republican Party through 2008, Republican presidents have governed for 85 years in total compared to 67 years for Democratic presidents.

As of August 2009, the United States Senate was comprised of 40 Republicans, 58 Democrats and 2 Independents. In the House of Representatives, there were 178 Republicans and 256 Democrats, along with one vacancy from California’s 10th congressional district.

As of January 2009, there were roughly 55 million registered Republican voters in America compared to approximately 72 million Democrats and 42 million registered Independents.

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