How Conservatives Won

For most of the Republican Party’s lifetime, conservatives weren’t dominant. When it first appeared, the GOP was actually comprised of progressive reformists. Gradually, the Democratic Party took on that mantle, culminating with Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal. While very popular, a backlash to FDR’s social democratic beliefs was brewing. The declaration of “The Conservative Manifesto” in 1937 signaled their arrival, and starting in the 1950’s things started to change as conservatives within the Republican party began their march toward power. They used the following strategies to take over a party, and then the…