Guess which party this platform belonged to.....Democrats? Wrong. The Republican Party of 1956.

Taken from their party platform. My, how far they have fallen.

We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue our insistence on honesty as an indispensable requirement of public service. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears.

We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.

We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.

We also propose:

Legislation to enable closer Federal scrutiny of mergers which have a significant or potential monopolistic connotations;

Procedural changes in the antitrust laws to facilitate their enforcement;

Continuance of the vigorous SEC policies which are providing maximum protection to the investor and maximum opportunity for the financing of small business without costly red tape.

Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: "Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America."

The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees.

Stimulate improved job safety of our workers, through assistance to the States, employees and employers;

Continue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers;

Republican action created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the first new Federal department in 40 years, to raise the continuing consideration of these problems for the first time to the highest council of Government, the President's Cabinet.

To safeguard our precious soil and water resources for generations yet unborn;

To bring sympathetic and understanding relief promptly to farm and ranch families hard hit with problems of drought, flood or other natural disaster, or economic disaster, and to maintain the integrity of these programs by terminating them when the emergency is over;

We believe that working for the Government is not a right but a privilege. Based on that principle we will continue a security program to make certain that all people employed by our Government are of unquestioned loyalty and trustworthiness. The Republican Party will, realistically and in conformity with constitutional safeguards for the individual, continue to protect our national security by enforcing our laws fairly, vigorously, and with certainty. We will act through the new division established to this end in the Department of Justice, and by close coordination among the intelligence services.

We condemn illegal lobbying for any cause and improper use of money in political activities, including the use of funds collected by compulsion for political purposes contrary to the personal desires of the individual.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=25838

... Eisenhower Republicans ... but y'all just can't get yer heads 'round it. BOTH political parties have lurched FAR to the right. Believe it.

You see, the GOP had their John Birch and McCarthy wing ... and the Democrats had their Dixiecrat wing. There were a majority of middle-left in BOTH parties ... until Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and Reagan's war on "welfare Queens" (that Clinton "won"). As the "Democrats" chased after their defectors, they left the liberals unrepresented. The piper WILL get paid. For sure.

Forty years latter, Goldwater doesn't look so bad, does he?

Barry married a liberal Democrat in his last years ... and he died happy. :evilgrin:

He -- the very by-word of American conservatism -- was seen as too liberal for the "modern" Republican Party.

The GOP has drifted far to the right since then. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has felt the need to drift right along with it in order to claim the "center." Those of us who were once mainstream progressives, who have stuck to our ideals, are now classed as extreme left wing.

Bill Milliken (R) was an excellent, mainstream progressive Governor in the State of Michigan ... second only to Soapy Williams (D). I voted for him.

I've not been able to find a Republican (or very many Democrats) worthy of my vote for over 25 years. And it's getting worse.

But people still want to call them liberals or progressive or moderates.

well blow me over, here I thought maybe it was for some other reason that I couldn't understand

Raygun Revolution and they all went nuts to appease the religious wacko voting bloc.

The religious whacko right wingers took over the party at the grassroots level during raygun's term at the precinct level. They literally out lasted the incumbents by arguing every point in minutia. People got tired of kicking dead horses and surrendered the party.

Demonstrates the effectiveness of dog-whistle politicin.

-Hoot

away from the Dems and Reps.

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

-- Letter to Edgar Newton Eisenhower, his brother (1954-11-08)

They were dealing with the New Deal. It was still fresh in people's minds. Today, people have forgotten FDR, the unionists, the social democrats, and the socialists who forged ideas that became the New Deal. They take many of these programs for granted or even see them as redundant.

last of the half-way decent R's there was. The R administrations before him, Hoover, Coolidge and Harding, had set the stage not just for WWII, but the Great Depression as well. They were loved by the money-changers and ensured nothing but misery would follow in their wake. Hoover probably got the worst rap out of the three, but he inherited a mess from Harding and Coolidge. Hoover biggest fault was that he did nothing to break the brunt of the Depression...he figured it would, "just go away". When he did act, one of his first targets were the "Bonus Marchers"...not good.

Eisenhower was somewhat lackadaisical, but he did quite a bit from behind the scenes, when push came to shove. Much of the nations new found post war wealth was spent on infrastructure...the Interstate system being th e most visible. His decision to send the 101st Div into Arkansas, ensured that integration would eventually take place, but like many of his era, he had little respect for blacks.

Looking to what the GOP said they stood for, makes good reading, but it should be understood that the whole "conservative"/"liberal" situation has taken some wild turns over the past few decades. At one time, D's were the party of civil subjugation. Only when the "Dixiecrats" moved to the Right, did we see what we see now. The current GOP is as lackluster as a painted turd, their ideology has become one of hatred and disinformation, they live by instilling fear into others, because they have nothing else. Since the Cold War, there has been an enemy under every rock and behind every tree. When they lost communists, they found Muslims....I wonder who will be next?

the military industrial complex getting too much power whether sought or unsought and I believe you will see a pattern of the beginning of the end of the American Empire. One thing about Eisenhower, he knew our true power lay in our ideals, not the sword, and that turning too many plowshares in to swords would only lead to corruption at the highest levels of government and eventual decline.