Conservative Coalition

Examples of Conservative Coalition in the following topics:

• Domestic Conservatism

  • Roosevelt's New Deal faced great opposition from conservative Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
  • The counterattack first came from conservative Democrats, led by presidential nominees John W.
  • Senator Josiah Bailey (D-NC) released the "Conservative Manifesto" in December 1937, which marked the beginning of the "conservative coalition" between Republicans and southern Democrats.
  • The Conservative Coalition generally controlled Congress until 1963; no major legislation passed which the Coalition opposed.
  • Conservatives in the East and South were generally interventionists, as typified by Henry Stimson.

• Conservative Resurgence

  • Many Southern whites were frustrated by the social changes after the Civil War and formed conservative political organizations.
  • By the mid 1870s, the Conservative Democrats had aligned with the national Democratic Party, which enthusiastically supported their cause, even as the national Republican Party was losing interest in Southern affairs.
  • Often, these parties called themselves the "Conservative Party" or the "Democratic and Conservative Party" in order to distinguish themselves from the national Democratic Party and to obtain support from former Whigs.
  • The planters and their business allies dominated the self-styled "conservative" coalition that finally took control in the South.
  • Conservative reaction continued in both the North and South; the "white liners" movement to elect candidates dedicated to white supremacy reached as far as Ohio in 1875.

• The Transformed South

  • By the mid 1870s, the Conservative Democrats had aligned with the national Democratic Party, which enthusiastically supported their cause even as the national Republican Party was losing interest in Southern affairs.
  • The planters and their business allies dominated the self-styled "conservative" coalition that finally took control in the South.
  • Historian Walter Lynwood Fleming ideas are a typical example of the conservative interpretation of Reconstruction.
  • Conservative reaction continued in both the North and South; the "white liners" movement to elect candidates dedicated to white supremacy reached as far as Ohio in 1875.
  • Summarize the reactions of conservative whites to the newly protected status of African Americans

• Challenges to the New Deal

  • However, the Second Deal (1934/5-1938) provoked much more fervent criticism, particularly in conservative circles.
  • It also united conservatives in both parties.
  • The court-packing plan strengthened conservative opposition to the New Deal.
  • Known as the Conservative Coalition (at the time, the term "conservative" referred to the opponents of the New Deal and did not imply any specific party affiliation), it initiated a conservative alliance that, with modifications, shaped Congress until the 1960s.
  • In 1937, Bailey released a "Conservative Manifesto" that presented conservative philosophical tenets, including the line "Give enterprise a chance, and I will give you the guarantees of a happy and prosperous America."

• Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

  • However, the Republican Party inside each state was increasingly torn between the more conservative scalawags on one side and the more Radical carpetbaggers with their black allies on the other.
  • In most cases, the carpetbaggers won out, and many scalawags moved into the conservative or Democratic opposition.
  • During Reconstruction, scalawags formed coalitions with black freedmen and Northern newcomers to take control of state and local governments.
  • The coalition controlled every former Confederate state except Virginia, as well as Kentucky and Missouri (which were claimed by the North and the South) for varying lengths of time between 1866 and 1877.
  • During the 1870s, many scalawags left the Republican Party and joined the conservative-Democrat coalition.

• The New Right

  • In the United States, the New Right refers to two historically distinct conservative political movements.
  • With Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980 the modern American conservative movement took power.
  • He brought together a coalition of economic conservatives, who supported his supply side economics; foreign policy conservatives, who favored his staunch opposition to Communism and the Soviet Union; and social conservatives, who identified with his religious and social ideals.
  • For these and other efforts, Reagan was attacked by liberals at the time as a dangerous warmonger, but conservative historians assert that he decisively won the Cold War.
  • Capitol in 1981, an early example of his administration's conservative economic policies.

• The Religious Right

  • By the 1980s, the Religious Right made substantial gains in United State politics, as conservative Democrats were alienated by their Party's support for liberal social views.
  • Under this leadership, the new Religious Right combines conservative politics with evangelical and fundamentalist teachings.
  • Americans for Robertson accumulated a mailing list of several million conservative Christians interested in politics, and this mailing list formed the foundation for the new organization.
  • Thus, the Christian Coalition was actually planned long before Pat Robertson's run for president.
  • Forty-nine state chapters were also created as independent corporations within their states, including the Christian Coalition of Texas.

• Divided Government

  • Even as President Obama won reelection in 2012, the U.S. government became increasingly divided between liberals and conservatives.
  • It also helped spawn the Tea Party, a conservative movement that emerged from the right wing of the Republican Party and pulled the traditional conservative base further to the right.
  • Soon after Obama began his second term that month, a coalition of conservative activists led by former Reagan administration Attorney General Ed Meese (who is also an emeritus fellow of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation) began developing plans to defund the Affordable Care Act.
  • The Republican-led House of Representatives, in part pressured by conservative senators such as Ted Cruz and conservative groups such as Heritage Action (a sister organization of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation), offered several continuing resolutions with language delaying or defunding the Affordable Care Act.
  • It was formed by a group of Congressmen (many of whom are also part of the Republican Study Committee, another conservative House group) as a smaller and more active group of conservatives.

• Toward Permanent Unions

  • The American Federation of Labor was a coalition of national unions that proved durable enough to influence national politics.
  • It was a coalition of many national unions, and helped to resolve jurisdictional disputes, created citywide coalitions that helped coordinate strikes, and after 1907 became a player in national politics, usually on the side of the Democrats .
  • The conservative Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 weakened the unions.
  • Unions formed a backbone element of the New Deal Coalition and of Modern liberalism in the United States .

• Republican Turmoil & Democratic Resurgence

  • Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992; with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings, reelection initially looked likely.
  • Conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan challenged Bush for the Republican nomination, and shocked political pundits by finishing second, with 37% of the vote, in the New Hampshire primary.
  • Bush responded by adopting more conservative positions on issues, in an attempt to undermine Buchanan's base.
  • Conservative Republicans point to Bush's 1990 agreement to raise taxes in contradiction of his famous "Read my lips: no new taxes" pledge as reason for his defeat.
  • In raising taxes, Bush alienated many members of his conservative base, losing their support for his re-election.