Abraham Lincoln's Role In The Republican Party

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Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” Indeed, Lincoln’s accomplishments as a politician earned him a very favorable reputation among Americans. In the election of 1860, Lincoln secured his presidency by amassing the most electoral votes, despite winning the popular vote by a very small margin. In hopes of reuniting a divided country, Old Abe rallied the Union into winning the Civil War. The Liberator gave the war a new purpose and paved way for the abolition of slavery with the impactful Emancipation Proclamation, which touched the hearts of both slaves and abolitionists. Rather than punishing the South for disobedience, Lincoln planned for their peaceful reconstruction and reintegration into the Union. His perseverance …show more content…
By thoroughly analyzing Lincoln’s policies during his presidential term, his endeavors in the Republican platform, and the Republican Party’s development, one could clear up all misconceptions about Lincoln’s GOP membership and assert his true party affiliation.
Firstly, it is of paramount importance to validate Lincoln’s role and presence in the Republican Party. It is interesting to note that while Lincoln had no initial presence in the Republican Party after departing from the broken Whig party, he quickly rose to prominence. Lincoln’s first contributed to the Republican Party by helping Republican politicians write and present speeches. For instance, the Miller Center of Public Affairs states, “After Abraham Lincoln's defeat in the race for the U.S. Senate, he spent the next sixteen months speaking and traveling all over the North making campaign speeches for numerous Republican candidates.” This would be the start of Lincoln’s political career as …show more content…
All these factors present contradictory claims and distort the true party affiliation of the 16th president. Lincoln was indeed the first Republican President to take office in 1860. He ran as a Republican nominee, adopted the views of the Republican platform of 1860, and built his Republican Party into a strong organization. Thus, it is logical to address Lincoln as a Republican of his era. However, Abraham Lincoln is most certainly not a Republican of the present day, as many of his policies would have been rejected by the current GOP for being unreasonably liberal. Satlin states, “But the modern GOP has nothing to do with the party of Lincoln, and the 16th president would probably be horrified by the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Donald Trump.” Satlin’s statement holds some truth, as the ideals of the Republican Party have shifted so dramatically that it would find itself incompatible with Lincoln had he still been alive today. Interestingly, by analyzing Abraham Lincoln’s signed laws and policies, it is evident that his political views share a lot of similarities with modern Democratic ideals. While his policies and actions do infer a more liberal political approach, Lincoln has directly mentioned that he was a conservative. In his Cooper Union Address, a pivotal speech that helped
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