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Roosevelt’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court causes conservative backlash in Congress.
An attempt by Roosevelt to “pack” the Supreme Court by adding new justices caused a backlash. Conservatives in both major political parties formed a coalition that opposed further New Deal legislation. Nevertheless, Republicans struggled to overcome Roosevelt's enduring popularity as President. Led by Roosevelt and later by Harry S Truman, the Democrats kept control of the White House for twenty years. -
The American Liberty League is founded to defend conservative values of private property and individual enterprise.
He accepted the liberal ideals of private property and the economics of Adam Smith, but thought that economics should be kept subordinate to the conservative social ethic, that capitalism should be subordinate to the medieval social tradition and that the business class should be subordinate to aristocracy. -
The Supreme Court angers social conservatives with its decision to legalize abortion in Roe v. Wade.
The sexual revolution was another source of conservative concern. The use of the new birth control pill encouraged promiscuity, critics said. Also, after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, anti-abortion forces launched a campaign to overturn that decision. The movement for gay and lesbian rights further angered many conservative Americans. -
Barry Goldwater runs on a conservative platform and loses to LBJ in a landslide.
The growing strength of conservatives in the Republican Party gave Ronald Reagan the GOP presidential nomination in 1980. During the campaign, Reagan seized on growing discontent. His attacks on incumbent Jimmy Carter's handling of the economy were particularly effective. -
Conservative Republicans sweep the historic 1980 election
The Republican sweep of the 1894 Congressional elections presaged the McKinley landslide of 1896, which was repeated in 1900, thus locking the GOP in full control of the national government and most northern state governments. The GOP made major gains as well in the border states. The Fourth Party System was dominated by Republican presidents, with the exception of the two terms of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected as a moderate Republican.
Republican Eisenhower won the presidantail election by a landslide, defeating Democrat Adlai Stevenson and ending two decades of the New Deal Coalition.
