Reading this article about the potential for the Republican Party to split in two if they lose the 2016 presidential election, I began to wonder how the 20th-Century would have played out differently if the Republican Party hadn’t been able to adopt Dwight D. Eisenhower as their standard-bearer and win two presidential elections during the 1950’s. Of course, that’s an immensely complicated question. How would Adlai Stevenson have handled the Korean War or Iran or the CIA or the Civil Rights movement? Imagine a world without Tricky Dick? Without President Kennedy?
But, the main idea is that Eisenhower moderated the right at a very important time and solidified the New Deal. Conservatives have been trying to undo that damage, as they see it, ever since. Yet, over half a century has elapsed since Eisenhower left office, and they haven’t figured out how to repeal the 1950’s, yet. In fact, they seem to think back on the 1950’s as some kind of idyllic age.
In any case, if the Republicans don’t find some kind of moderating hero in the mold of Ike, they may be locked out of the White House for a very long time. And if they lose control of the House despite the favorable way in which the districts are currently drawn, they may not win it back for many years, particularly if the party undergoes more internal fissures.
