Rockefeller Republican

{{short description|Political ideology within the US Republican Party}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox political party | name = Rockefeller Republicans | colorcode = {{party color|Republican Party (United States)}} | logo = {{multiple image | total_width = 300 | perrow = 2 | border = infobox | image1 = Nelson Rockefeller.jpg | image2 = President Gerald Ford announcing Vice President nominee Nelson Rockefeller (cropped b).jpg | image3 = Nelson Rockefeller with Henry Kissinger January 3, 1975.jpg | image4 = Nelson Rockefeller at Critical Choices meeting 1133 17 February 28 1975-1-.JPG }} | caption = '''From left to right, top to bottom''':{{flatlist| *Official vice presidential portrait of Rockefeller *President Gerald Ford announcing Rockefeller as his vice president *Rockefeller with Henry Kissinger in January 1975 *Rockefeller talking at Commission on Critical Choices for Americans meeting in February 1975 }} | leader = Nelson Rockefeller | leader1_title = Prominent figures | leader1_name = {{ubl | Edward Brooke | Jacob Javits | Charles H. Percy | William Scranton | Ted Stevens | Lowell Weicker}} | ideology = {{ubl|class=nowrap| |Moderate Republicanism{{sfnm|Kabaservice|2012|1p=xvii|Libby|2013|2p=77|Stebenne|2006|3p=38}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=Marsha E. |title=Defining Rockefeller Republicanism: Promise and Peril at the Edge of the Liberal Consensus, 1958–1975 |journal=Journal of Policy History|pages=336–370|language=en|doi=10.1017/S0898030622000100|date=July 2022|volume=34 |issue=3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> |Economic interventionism{{sfn|Baldi|2012|p=51}}{{sfn|Price|2021|p=18}} |American Whig Tradition{{sfn|Phillips|2015}}}} Keynesianism | position = Center to center-right{{sfn|Libby|2013|p=77}} | country = the United States }} The '''Rockefeller Republicans''' were members of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in the mid–20th century who held moderate to liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York from 1959 to 1973 and Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977. Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and the industrial Midwestern states (with their larger moderate-to-liberal constituencies), while they were rare in the South and the West.<ref>Reiter (1981)</ref>

The term refers to "[a] member of the Republican Party holding views likened to those of Nelson Rockefeller; a moderate or liberal Republican".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rockefeller_republican|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030000/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rockefeller_republican|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 7, 2017|title=Rockefeller Republican {{!}} Definition of Rockefeller Republican in English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English|access-date=October 31, 2017}}</ref> Geoffrey Kabaservice states that they were part of a separate political ideology, aligning on certain issues and policies with liberals, while on others with conservatives and on many with neither.{{refn|group=nb|"In fact, moderate Republicanism was a separate political and ideological viewpoint that found adherents in all parts of the country, among members of all racial and ethnic groups, and along all points of the socioeconomic spectrum. It overlapped on some issues with liberals, on others with conservatives, and on still others with neither."{{sfn|Kabaservice|2012|p=xvii}}}} Luke Phillips has also stated that the Rockefeller Republicans represent the continuation of the Whig tradition of American politics.{{sfn|Phillips|2015}}

Rockefeller Republicanism has been described as the last phase of the "'''Eastern Establishment'''" of the GOP that had been led by New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. The group's powerful role in the GOP came under heavy attack during the 1964 primary campaign between Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater. At a point before the California primary, political operative Stuart Spencer called on Rockefeller to "summon that fabled nexus of money, influence, and condescension known as the Eastern Establishment". Rockefeller replied, "You are looking at it, buddy; I am all that is left".{{sfn|Smith|2014|p=xxi}}

Michael Lind contends that the ascendancy of the more conservative fusionist wing of the Republican Party,{{sfn|Lind|1997|pp=53-54}} beginning in the 1960s with Goldwater and culminating in the Reagan Revolution in 1980, prevented the establishment of a Disraelian one-nation conservatism in the United States.{{sfn|Lind|1997|pp=45-46}}{{sfn|Lind|1997|pp=55}} The phrase "Rockefeller Republican" has come to be used in a pejorative sense by modern conservatives, who use it to deride those in the Republican Party that are perceived to have views which are too liberal, especially on major social issues.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=63}} The term was adopted mostly because of Nelson Rockefeller's vocal support of civil rights and lavish spending policies.{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=63}} Historian Justin P. Coffey has contended that Rockefeller's liberalism is a myth,{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=64}} with former Vice President Spiro Agnew also stating: "A lot of people considered Rockefeller very liberal and very dovish on foreign policy, but he was not. He was harder than Nixon, and a lot more hawkish about the mission of America in the world."{{sfn|Coffey|2015|p=64}}

Rockefeller Republicans have largely ceased to exist with the label mostly used as an epithet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2013/10/18/rockefeller-republicans-a-dying-breed/|title=Tea Party hunting extinct beast|work=NY Post|date=October 18, 2013}}</ref> On a national level, the last significant candidate for president from the liberal wing of the party was John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent in 1980 and garnered 6.6% of the popular vote. Despite their national decline, moderate Republican officeholders continue to win local elections, particularly in the Northeast, into the 21st century; examples include governors Bill Weld and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Phil Scott of Vermont, and Larry Hogan of Maryland.

== Political positions == In domestic policy, Rockefeller Republicans were typically center to center-right economically;{{sfn|Libby|2013|p=77}} however, they vehemently rejected conservatives like Barry Goldwater and their ''laissez faire'' economic policies while holding beliefs in social policies that were often culturally liberal. They typically favored a social safety net and a continuation of New Deal programs but sought to run these programs more efficiently than the Democrats.{{sfn|Baldi|2012|p=51}} Although Rockefeller Republicans opposed socialism and government ownership, and were strong supporters of big business and Wall Street, they supported some regulation of business; rather than increasing regulation of business, they advocated for developing a mutually beneficial relationship between public interests and private enterprise, drawing comparisons and similarities to the French dirigisme or the Japanese developmental state.{{sfn|Baldi|2012|p=51}} They espoused government and private investments in environmentalism, healthcare, and higher education as necessities for a better society and economic growth in the tradition of Rockefeller.{{sfn|Alsop|2016|p=169}} They were strong supporters of state colleges, trade schools, and universities with low tuition and large research budgets, and also favored investments in infrastructure such as highway projects.{{sfn|Phillips|2015}}

Many supported the idea of a national health insurance program,{{sfn|Gritter|2018|p=26}} with Nelson Rockefeller himself describing healthcare as "a basic human right".{{sfn|Rockefeller|1968|p=77-78}} President Eisenhower, during his first term, tried to reform healthcare and implement expanded health insurance coverage.{{sfn|Gritter|2018|p=26}}{{sfn|Price|2021|p=33 & 290}} In the 1970s, Richard Nixon also tried to enact universal health insurance{{sfn|Price|2021|p=10, 329 & 342}} with the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) Act;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2015/11/the-nixon-comprehensive-health-insurance-plan/|title=The Nixon Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan|publisher=Richard Nixon Foundation|date=November 5, 2015|access-date=February 25, 2023}}</ref> Republican New York Senator Jacob K. Javits concurrently sponsored a bill providing "Medicare for All".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/15/archives/medicare-for-all-is-asked-by-javits.html|title=MEDICARE FOR ALL IS ASKED BY JAVITS|work=The New York Times|date=April 15, 1970 }}</ref> In 1971, eight Republicans in Congress co-sponsored a bill called the "Health Security Act", which would have led to the creation of a national health insurance system covering every individual in the country.<ref>Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 92nd Congress, First Session, Volume 117-Part 1; January 21, 1971 to February 1, 1971 (Pages 3 to 1338), Pages 284 and</ref>

Reflecting Nelson Rockefeller's tradition of technocratic problem solving, most Rockefeller Republicans were known to have a pragmatic and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and governance while advocating for a broad consensus rather than a consolidation of support. Also welcoming an increased public role for engineers, doctors, scientists, economists, and businesspeople over politicians in crafting policies and programs. As a result, many Rockefeller Republicans were major figures in business, such as auto executive George W. Romney and investment banker C. Douglas Dillon. In fiscal policy, they favored balanced budgets and were not averse to raising taxes in order to achieve them. Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush once called for Congress to "raise the required revenues by approving whatever levels of taxation may be necessary". Rockefeller Republicans differed on spending, with Nelson Rockefeller himself described as a big spender and Thomas Dewey noted for being more fiscally prudent.{{sfn|Micklethwait|Woolridge|2005|page=29}}

A critical element was their support for labor unions,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,891420,00.html|title=LABOR: Right to Work|work=Time Magazine|date=April 11, 1955}}</ref> the building trades especially appreciating the heavy spending on infrastructure. In turn, the unions gave these politicians enough support to overcome the anti-union rural element in the Republican Party. As the unions weakened after the 1970s, so too did the need for Republicans to cooperate with them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://captimes.com/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-mitt-romney-vs-republican-family-values/article_1992b1b8-a83c-5d71-8fc3-6633bb6cb2ed.html|title=John Nichols: Mitt Romney vs. Republican family values|work=The Cap Times|date=November 6, 2011}}</ref> This transformation played into the hands of the more conservative Republicans, who did not want to collaborate with labor unions in the first place and now no longer needed to do so to carry statewide elections.<ref>Rae. ''Decline and Fall of the Liberal Republicans: 1952 to the Present'' (1989)</ref>

In foreign policy, they tended to be Hamiltonian, espousing internationalist{{sfn|Alsop|2016|p=169}} and realist policies, supporting the United Nations and promoting American business interests abroad. Most wanted to use American power in cooperation with allies to fight against the spread of Communism and help American business expand abroad.

== History == === Origins === The two major political parties throughout American history had been coalitions of interest groups rather than ideological vehicles.{{sfn|Kabaservice|2012|p=xvi}} As recently as the 1960s, the Republican Party had contained large numbers of moderate and even liberal representatives. Geoffrey Kabaservice states that the form of conservatism which is now equated to the Republican party did not even exist until the 1950s, and remained a minority faction for many years afterward.{{sfn|Kabaservice|2012|p=xvi}} In 1854, several disparate groups coalesced together to form the Republican party. Apart from abolitionists and Northern industrialists and financiers, many were former members of the Whig Party.{{sfn|Price|2021|p=13}} The Whigs had advocated an economic program known as the American System which called for an activist government especially in the construction of national infrastructure or "internal improvements", and support for a national bank.{{sfn|Price|2021|p=13}} The Rockefeller Republican lineage can be traced back to this tradition of a more activist and reformist federal government.{{sfn|Phillips|2015}}{{sfn|Price|2021|p=13-14}}

=== Aftermath of the New Deal === The impact of the great depression upended the party coalitions and voting blocs leading to the New Deal Coalition and subsequent electoral dominance of the Democratic Party. The success of the New Deal and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's popularity during World War II meant that the Republican Party suffered several major electoral defeats and had become the minority party in congress. Thomas E. Dewey, the Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954 and the Republican presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948, believed that the Republican party could not survive if it repealed the policies implemented during the Depression to assure economic security for the average family.{{sfn|Price|2021|p=18}} As the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the 1940s and early 1950s, Dewey battled conservative Republicans from the Midwest led by Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, known as "Mr. Republican." However, Taft did not oppose what he perceived as essential government intervention, including federal support for education and a minimum income for individuals and families.{{sfn|Price|2021|p=18}}

With the help of Dewey, General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Taft for the 1952 Republican primaries and became the presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Eisenhower coined the phrase "Modern Republicanism" to describe his moderate vision of Republicanism. After Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York, emerged as the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party, running for President in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Rockefeller Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in 1964 when conservatives captured control of the Republican Party and nominated Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for president.

=== Evolution ===

Other prominent figures in the GOP's Rockefeller wing included Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush, Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer, Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott, Illinois Senator Charles H. Percy, Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield, New York Senator Jacob Javits, Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, Nelson's younger brother (who was somewhat of an aberration in the conservative, heavily Democratic South), Edward Brooke of Massachusetts,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-04/edward-brooke-served-in-a-different-era-of-senate-politics|title=Edward Brooke Served in a Very Different Era of Senate Politics|last=Giroux|first=Gregory|work=Bloomberg News|date=January 4, 2015}}</ref> John Chafee of Rhode Island and Lowell Weicker of Connecticut.<ref name=":0" /> Some also consider President Richard Nixon, who was influenced by this group, to be a bona fide member of the Rockefeller wing.<ref>Halberstam, David (1993). ''The Fifties''. The Random House Publishing Group. New York. {{ISBN|0-449-90933-6}}. pp. 312–315.</ref>

Although Nixon ran against Rockefeller from the right in the 1968 primaries and was widely identified with the cultural right of the time, he adopted several Rockefeller Republican policies during his time as President, such as approving the Environmental Protection Agency (despite also vetoing the Clean Water Act, which was ultimately implemented through a Congressional override), supporting and creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, tolerating the panoply of post-Great Society welfare programs (amid his administration's failed attempts to implement "creative and innovative social legislation"<ref>{{cite web | title=Welfare Reform Begins with Nixon Administration » Richard Nixon Foundation | Blog | date=September 10, 2013 | url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2013/09/welfare-reform-begins-nixon-administration/ }}</ref> by dismantling the Office of Economic Opportunity and implementing the Daniel Patrick Moynihan-designed Family Assistance Plan, which would have supplanted the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, and later Medicaid and SNAP), imposing congressionally-approved wage and price controls and notably announcing his adherence to Keynesian economics in 1971.{{sfn|Reeves|2002|p=295}} The men had previously reached the so-called Treaty of Fifth Avenue during the presidential primaries of 1960, whereby Nixon and Rockefeller agreed to support certain policies for inclusion in the 1960 Republican Party Platform.

=== Opposition and decline ===

Nelson Rockefeller was an influential voice within the Republican Party, but he never had the level of support of Goldwater or Nixon. However, even that level of influence began to decline with the election of Nixon to the presidency in 1968.<ref name="Hammond-2016" />

Their Democratic counterparts were the Blue Dog Democrats.{{sfn|Barabas|Javens|2022|p=10}} On a number of issues, the Rockefeller Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats agreed more with each other than they did with more extreme members of their own party.{{sfn|Barabas|Javens|2022|p=15}}

==== Southern strategy ==== {{Main|Southern strategy}}

It declined further, when Nixon's Southern strategy brought former Democratic voters in the Southern states over to the Republican side, and cemented those gains in 1972 and beyond.<ref name="Hammond-2016" /> The term ''Rockefeller Republican'' was never appreciated from the conservative wing of the party, and as the voices of the Reagan right grew in the 1970s and eventually captured the presidency in 1980, it was looked down upon even more as a pejorative.<ref name="Hammond-2016">{{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Scott John |last2=Roberts |first2=Robert North |last3=Sulfaro |first3=Valerie A. |date=April 25, 2016 |title=Campaigning for President in America, 1788–2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=275– |isbn=978-1-4408-5079-0 |oclc=1049172306 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8LWCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA275}}</ref>

==== 1960s and 1970s ==== {{Further|Nelson Rockefeller#Presidential campaigns}}

Barry Goldwater crusaded against the Rockefeller Republicans, beating Rockefeller narrowly in the California primary of 1964. That set the stage for a conservative resurgence, based in the South and West in opposition to the Northeast Rockefeller wing. However, the moderate contingent recaptured control of the party and nominated Richard Nixon in 1968. Easily reelected in 1972, Nixon was replaced as President upon his resignation by the moderately conservative Republican Gerald Ford. After Vice President Rockefeller left the national stage in 1976, this faction of the party was more often called "moderate Republicans" or Nixonians in contrast to the conservatives who rallied to Ronald Reagan. Four years after nearly toppling the incumbent Ford in the 1976 presidential primaries, conservative Ronald Reagan won the party's presidential nomination at the 1980 Republican National Convention and served two terms in the White House.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==== Reaganism and the Bushes ====

During the 1980s, Barry Goldwater, a leading conservative, partly aligned with the liberal side of the GOP due to his libertarian views on abortion and gay rights.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldberg |first1=Robert Alan |title=Goldwater |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vczSHAAACAAJ |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300072570 |access-date=January 3, 2022}}</ref>

By 1988, the Republicans had chosen Prescott Bush's son George H. W. Bush as its presidential candidate on a conservative to moderate platform. Bush's national convention pledge to stave off new taxation were he elected president ("Read my lips: no new taxes!") marked the candidate's full conversion to the conservative movement and perhaps the political death knell for Rockefeller Republicanism as a prevailing force within party politics. But Bush did have some ideology similar to them, such as in environmental policy, immigration, and being internationalist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Straddling divide between GOP moderates and conservatives, Bush was last of a kind |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/moderate-republican-internationalist-george-h-w-bush-was-last-kind-n870461 |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=NBC News |date=December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Social effects on decline ====

Ethnic changes<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-01 |title=A City Transformed: The Racial and Ethnic Changes in Philadelphia Over the Last 20 Years |url=https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2011/06/01/a-city-transformed-the-racial-and-ethnic-changes-in-philadelphia-over-the-last-20-years |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=pew.org |language=en}}</ref> in the Northeast may have led to the demise of the Rockefeller Republican.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grigsby Bates |first=Karen |date=14 July 2014 |title=Why Did Black Voters Flee The Republican Party In The 1960s? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705162006/https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s |archive-date=5 July 2015 |website=NPR}}</ref> Many Republican leaders associated with this title were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants like Charles Mathias of Maryland. Liberal New York Republican Senator Jacob Javits, who had an Americans for Democratic Action rating above 90% and an American Conservative Union rating below 10%, was Jewish. As time went on, the local Republican parties in the Northeast tended to nominate Catholic candidates who appealed to middle class social values-laden concerns, such as George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, Al D'Amato, Rick Lazio, Tom Ridge, Chris Christie and others, who in many cases represented the party's diversity more on the basis of religion and were often otherwise like their Protestant conservative counterparts on policy.

With their power decreasing in the final decades of the 20th century, many moderate Republicans were replaced by conservative and moderate Democrats, such as those from the Blue Dog or New Democrat coalitions. Michael Lind contends that by the mid-1990s the liberalism of President Bill Clinton and the New Democrats were in many ways to the right of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, and John Lindsay, the Republican mayor of New York City in the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Up From Conservatives|last=Lind|first=Michael|page=263}}</ref> In 2009, CNN published an analysis describing how liberal and moderate Republicans had declined by the start of the 21st century.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Silverleib|first=Alan|date=May 6, 2009|title=Analysis: An autopsy of liberal Republicans|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/06/liberal.republicans/|access-date=July 8, 2018|website=CNN}}</ref> In 1997, in an interview with Geoff Kabaservice, Elliot Richardson noted that people didn't understand that the Clinton administration was to the right of the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/22/donald-trump-james-comey-investigation-watergate-republicans-215175/|title=How Watergate Helped Republicans—And Gave Us Trump|website=Politico |date=May 22, 2017 }}</ref> In 2010, Scott Brown was elected to the Senate to fill the seat once held by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy. He was considered to be a moderate Republican in a similar mold as Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna35235106|title=Scott Brown, 41st GOP senator, sworn in|date=February 4, 2010|work=msnbc.com|access-date=July 7, 2018}}</ref> However, by middle of the century's second decade, only Senator Susan Collins of Maine remained as a moderately liberal Republican representing New England at the federal level.

During the 2008 election, Barack Obama successfully drew support from some Republicans and moderate conservatives due to his charismatic communication style, appeals for national unity, and frustration with the existing political establishment. Many of these crossover voters—sometimes referred to as "Obamacons" or "Obama Republicans"—crossed party lines for specific reasons.

==== Challenges from the Tea Party movement ==== {{Main|Tea Party movement}}

In 2010, several moderate Republicans lost their primaries or were challenged by the Tea Party movement. In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, lost her GOP primary to conservative Tea Party challenger Joe Miller.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/170224-sen-lisa-murkowski-concedes-shock-defeat-in-gop-alaska-primary/|title=Sen. Lisa Murkowski concedes shock defeat in GOP Alaska primary|last=D'Aprile|first=Shane|date=September 1, 2010|work=TheHill|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> The Tea Party's campaign organization "helped Miller portray the senator as too liberal for the state".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Condon|first=Stephanie|date=September 1, 2010|title=How Alaska's Joe Miller Managed Stunning Upset over Lisa Murkowski|work=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-alaskas-joe-miller-managed-stunning-upset-over-lisa-murkowski/|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> Despite her primary defeat, Murkowski was reelected after waging a successful write-in campaign.

Mike Castle, a moderate former Governor and Representative of Delaware, lost his primary to conservative "insurgent" Christine O'Donnell, who depicted Castle as being too liberal.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zeleny|first=Jeff|date=September 14, 2010|title=G.O.P. Insurgents Win in Del. and N.Y.|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/us/politics/15elect.html|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> An op-ed of ''The Washington Post'' made the assertion that Castle's loss marked the end of the party legacy of Nelson Rockefeller.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/15/AR2010091502969.html|title=E.J. Dionne Jr. – Mike Castle's defeat – and the end of moderate Republicanism|last=Dionne|first=E. J. Jr.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 16, 2010|access-date=July 8, 2018|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Senator John McCain survived a primary in 2010, but his Tea Party opponent J. D. Hayworth accused him of being insufficiently conservative.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hamby|first1=Peter|last2=Brusk|first2=Steve|last3=Streitfeld|first3=Rachel|last4=Simon|first4=Jeff|last5=Preston|first5=Mark|date=August 25, 2010|title=McCain wins Senate primary in Arizona|work=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/24/tuesday.primaries/index.html|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> A few years after, in 2014, the Arizona Republican Party censured McCain "for a record they called too 'liberal{{'"}}.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 26, 2014|title=Arizona Republicans censure John McCain for being too "liberal"|work=CBS News|agency=Reuters|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arizona-republicans-censure-john-mccain-for-being-too-liberal/|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>

In upstate New York, GOP-nominated Dede Scozzafava was opposed by mainstream conservatives within the Republican Party during her election bid for a congressional district: "National PACs upset with Scozzafava's support of the federal stimulus, EFCA, same-sex marriage and abortion rights poured on money and attacks".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://observer.com/2009/11/the-collapse-of-dede-scozzafava-moderate-republican/|title=The Collapse of Dede Scozzafava, Moderate Republican|date=November 1, 2009|work=Observer|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> She was pressured to drop out of the race, and when she did the Republican National Committee endorsed Tea Party-backed Doug Hoffman.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Peters|first=Adam Nagourney and Jeremy W.|date=November 1, 2009|title=Dede Scozzafava, Republican, Quits House Race in Upstate New York|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/nyregion/01upstate.html|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>

=== 2010s revival in the Northeast === In 2014, socially liberal, fiscally conservative Republicans in the Rockefeller tradition were elected governor of Maryland (Larry Hogan) and Massachusetts (Charlie Baker). In 2016, New Hampshire (Chris Sununu) and Vermont (Phil Scott) also elected moderates.<ref name="Salzmann-2018">{{Cite news|last=Salzmann|first=Karl J.|date=June 27, 2018|title=Popular Republicans: The New England Enigma|work=National Review|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/06/new-england-republicans-popular-conservative-roots/|access-date=July 7, 2018}}</ref> According to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight and polling by Morning Consult, the quartet consistently rank among the most popular governors in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-every-senator-ranks-according-to-popularity-above-replacement-senator/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508153537/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-every-senator-ranks-according-to-popularity-above-replacement-senator/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 8, 2019|title=How Every Senator Ranks According To 'Popularity Above Replacement Senator'|last=Rakich|first=Nathaniel|date=May 8, 2019|website=FiveThirtyEight|language=en-US|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=McCormack|first=John|date=August 8, 2019|title=Why Republican Governors Are More Popular|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/08/26/why-republican-governors-are-more-popular/amp/|access-date=August 10, 2019|website=National Review}}</ref> In 2018, Baker was re-elected by a 2:1 margin, receiving more votes than Elizabeth Warren, who was also running for re-election. The ''National Review'' wrote that year, "A kind of Rockefeller Republicanism seems to be rising once again in recent years" in New England and the Northeast.<ref name="Salzmann-2018" />{{better source needed|reason=Fails to support the claim; weak source (opinion piece by intern). See Talk.|date=December 2022}}

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker "is socially liberal ... . He is pro-choice and has long supported gay marriage". In Vermont, the voters elected Phil Scott as Governor. Describing himself, Governor Scott stated: "I am very much a fiscal conservative. But not unlike most Republicans in the Northeast, I'm probably more on the left of center from a social standpoint. ... I am a pro–choice Republican."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hohmann|first=James|date=December 25, 2016|title=Governors lead a Republican renaissance in New England|work=Press Herald|agency=The Washington Post|url=http://www.pressherald.com/2016/12/25/governors-lead-a-republican-renaissance-in-new-england/|access-date=November 21, 2017}}</ref> In 2017, ''The Washington Post'' described Larry Hogan, another Republican governor in a deep-blue state, as "a moderate Republican who is focused on jobs and the economy".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/why-marylands-popular-republican-governor-is-in-the-doghouse-with-maryland-conservatives/2017/08/26/d404fe2a-881e-11e7-a94f-3139abce39f5_story.html|title=Why Maryland's popular Republican governor is in the doghouse with Maryland conservatives|last=Wiggins|first=Ovetta|date=August 26, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=November 21, 2017|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

== Modern usage == The term "Rockefeller Republican" has become somewhat archaic since Nelson Rockefeller died in 1979. ''The Atlantic'' has referred to the election of Northeastern Republicans as being similar to "Rockefeller-style liberal Republicanism", even though the label is not necessarily used by the candidates themselves.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ball|first=Molly|author-link=Molly Ball|date=March 2015|title=The Bluest Republican|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/the-bluest-republican/384969/|access-date=November 21, 2017}}</ref> The Rockefeller Republican label has sometimes been applied to modern politicians, such as Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who served as a Republican in the Senate, was elected that state's governor as an independent, and later became a Democrat and briefly sought that party's 2016 presidential nomination.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feldmann|first=Linda|date=August 14, 2006|title=Trouble for centrists: Is the Hill headed for a sharper split?|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0814/p01s02-uspo.html|access-date=February 23, 2016|website=The Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> Some more conservative members of the Republican Party use the label in a derisive manner, along with other labels such as RINOs, i.e. Republicans in Name Only,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Spencer|first=Dave|date=September 19, 2016|title=Take It from a Rockefeller (Republican), We Can Revive the GOP|work=Politico Magazine|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/donald-trump-2016-rockefeller-republican-214260/|access-date=October 31, 2017}}</ref> or The Establishment.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Buchanan|first=Pat|date=September 17, 2010|title=Rockefeller Republicans|website=RealClearPolitics|url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/17/rockefeller_republicans_107193.html|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>

Christine Todd Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey, referred to herself as a Rockefeller Republican in a speech about Rockefeller at Dartmouth College in 2008.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|last=Whitman|first=Christine Todd|author-link=Christine Todd Whitman|others=The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences|title=Nelson Rockefeller: Still Influencing People, Christine Todd Whitman|url=http://beta.academicearth.org/lectures/nelson-rockefeller-still-influencing-people-christine-todd-whitman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223045123/http://beta.academicearth.org/lectures/nelson-rockefeller-still-influencing-people-christine-todd-whitman|archive-date=February 23, 2013|access-date=August 17, 2012|website=Academic Earth|publisher=Dartmouth College}}</ref> Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, who is a registered Democrat, referred to himself as a "Rockefeller Republican" in a CNBC interview in April 2012.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dauble|first=Jennifer|date=April 25, 2012|title=First On CNBC: CNBC Transcript: Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO Lloyd Blankfein Speaks With Gary Kaminsky Today On CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2012/04/25/first-on-cnbc-cnbc-transcript-goldman-sachs-chairman-ceo-lloyd-blankfein-speaks-with-gary-kaminsky-today-on-cnbc.html|access-date=February 23, 2016|website=CNBC}}</ref> The retired four-star generals Colin Powell and David Petraeus have both described themselves as "Rockefeller Republicans".<ref>Steve Coll, [https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/08/080908fa_fact_coll "The General's Dilemma: David Petraeus, the pressures of politics, and the road out of Iraq"]. ''The New Yorker''. September 8, 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/10/19/obama-mccain-election-oped-cx_rs_1020salam.html|title=The Obama Generation|last=Salam|first=Reihan|date=October 20, 2008|work=Forbes|access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF9031E5FCB111&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D|title=Powell's liberal stances hurt him, conservative says|date=November 9, 1995|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|via=Nl.newsbank.com|access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref>

In 2012, the GOP nominated Mitt Romney for president, a former governor who had described himself as moderate and progressive in 2002. Running for governor of Massachusetts, he said of himself: "I'm not a partisan Republican. ... I'm someone who is moderate, and ... my views are progressive."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/romney-in-2002-called-his-views-progressive/|title=Romney in 2002 called his views "progressive"|last=Condon |first=Stephanie |date=December 13, 2011 |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> In his 1994 Senate campaign, Romney distanced himself from Ronald Reagan, noting that he was an independent during the Reagan presidency.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jacobson|first=Louis|date=May 17, 2012|title=Mitt Romney once distanced himself from Ronald Reagan, but no longer|work=Politifact|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/may/17/mitt-romney/mitt-romney-once-distanced-himself-ronald-reagan-n/|access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> One of his 2012 primary opponents, Newt Gingrich, even referred to Romney as a "Rockefeller Republican" in order to draw a contrast between Romney's former self-description and his own.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 16, 2011|title=Gingrich calls Romney 'Rockefeller Republican'|work=Times Herald|agency=The Associated Press|url=http://www.timesherald.com/article/JR/20111016/NEWS06/111019749|url-status=dead|access-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024234117/https://www.timesherald.com/article/JR/20111016/NEWS06/111019749|archive-date=October 24, 2017}}</ref> However, in his own words during the 2012 campaign Romney described himself as a "severely conservative" Republican.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/romney-calls-himself-severely-conservative-republican-governor-katrina-trinko/|title=Romney Calls Himself a 'Severely Conservative Republican Governor' |last=Trinko |first=Katrina |date=February 10, 2012|work=National Review |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref>

At the 1988 Republican National Convention, Donald Trump was asked by Larry King on CNN: "You might be classified as an Eastern Republican, Rockefeller Republican. Fair?", to which Trump replied: "I guess you can say that".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVjwYcOwT_w|title=Larry King interviews Donald Trump (1988 Republican convention)|date=January 12, 2016 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump was described as both a modern-day Rockefeller Republican (by some conservative writers)<ref>{{cite web|work=National Review|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/424753/donald-trumps-empire-state-role-model-michael-barone|title=Donald Trump's Empire State Role Model|date=September 29, 2015 |last=Barone |first=Michael |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Trump, Christie and the Revival of GOP Moderates|work=The American Conservative|date=February 26, 2016 |last=McConnell |first=Scott |url=http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trump-christie-and-the-revival-of-the-gop-moderates/ |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Washington Examiner|title=Trump: Not Ryan, not Reagan, but maybe the new Nixon|date=May 12, 2016 |last=Antle, III |first=W. James |url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-not-ryan-not-reagan-but-maybe-the-new-nixon/article/2591108 |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> and as the heir to the Goldwaterite opposition to the Rockefeller Republicans.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Time|title=What Happened to Republicans Who Rejected Their Party's Nominee in 1964|url=https://time.com/4338450/republican-barry-goldwater-donald-trump-1964/|date=May 19, 2016 |last=Rothman |first=Lily |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/donald-trump-2016-rockefeller-republican-214260/|title=Take It from a Rockefeller (Republican), We Can Revive the GOP|last=Spencer |first=Dave |date=September 19, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=CNN|title=Is Donald Trump another Barry Goldwater?|date=March 2, 2016|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/01/opinions/trump-vs-goldwater-zelizer/index.html |last=Zeiter |first=Julian |access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, Bill Weld announced that he would consider a challenge to President Trump for the Republican nomination.<ref>{{cite web|last=Naylor|first=Brian|date=February 15, 2019|title=Former Gov. Bill Weld Considers A Republican Primary Challenge To Trump|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/15/695100977/former-republican-gov-bill-weld-considers-a-primary-challenge-to-trump|access-date=February 16, 2019|website=NPR}}</ref> Bill Weld has been described as a moderate Republican,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/us/politics/bill-weld-trump-2020.html|title=Bill Weld Will Challenge Trump for 2020 Republican Nomination|last=Burns|first=Alexander|date=February 15, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/04/us/1990-campaign-weld-hopes-personality-his-opponent-s-will-help-him-massachusetts.html|title=The 1990 Campaign; Weld Hopes Personality (His Opponent's) Will Help Him in Massachusetts|last=Butterfield|first=Fox|date=November 4, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and has been likened to Rockefeller.<ref>{{cite web|last=Harrington|first=Chip|date=February 3, 2016|title=Why I chose to switch from the Democratic Party to Massachusetts GOP (Guest Viewpoint)|url=http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/02/chip_harrington_chooses_massachusetts_gop.html|access-date=March 30, 2019|website=The Republican (MassLive.com)}}</ref> At the 2020 Republican convention, Weld received just one of the 2,550 delegate votes, which represented 2.35% of Republican primary voters and caucus-goers.<ref name=tgp>{{cite web |title=The Green Papers |url=https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/R |access-date=February 13, 2020}}</ref>

==Former officeholders==

=== U.S. Presidents === * Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th U.S. President<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/159039/dwight-eisenhower-moderate-conservative-presidency-sane-republican-party|title= When the Republican Party Was Sane|last=Bartlett|first=Bruce|date=August 24, 2020|magazine=The New Republic|access-date=March 23, 2025|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== U.S. Vice Presidents === * Nelson Rockefeller, 41st U.S. Vice President and 49th Governor of New York

=== U.S. Secretaries of State === * Henry Kissinger<ref>https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2023/11/kissinger-enjoyed-close-ties-nelson-rockefeller-30</ref><ref>https://www.fpri.org/article/2023/12/henry-kissinger-and-the-american-century/</ref>

===U.S. Senators=== * Edward Brooke, former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.timescolonist.com/edward-brooke-liberal-republican-and-1st-black-popularly-elected-to-us-senate-dies-at-95-1.1703570|title=Edward Brooke, liberal Republican and 1st black popularly elected to US Senate, dies at 95|last=Wingfield|first=Sylvia|date=January 3, 2015|work=Times Colonist|access-date=December 20, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=December 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221134645/https://www.timescolonist.com/edward-brooke-liberal-republican-and-1st-black-popularly-elected-to-us-senate-dies-at-95-1.1703570|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Clifford Case, former U.S. Senator and Representative from New Jersey<ref>{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=March 7, 1982|title=Ex-Senator Clifford P. Case, 77, Is Dead|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/obituaries/ex-senator-clifford-p-case-77-is-dead.html|access-date=August 28, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * John Chafee, former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island<ref>{{Cite news|last=Clymer|first=Adam|date=October 26, 1999|title=John Chafee, Republican Senator and a Leading Voice of Bipartisanship, Dies at 77|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/26/us/john-chafee-republican-senator-and-a-leading-voice-of-bipartisanship-dies-at-77.html|access-date=December 21, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * Jacob Javits, former U.S. Senator and Representative from New York<ref>Taranto, Stacie (July 18, 2017) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/07/18/the-senate-health-care-battle-isnt-what-you-think/ "The Senate health-care battle isn’t what you think"] ''The Washington Post''</ref> * Charles Percy, former U.S. Senator from Illinois<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/politics/charles-percy-former-illinois-senator-is-dead-at-91.html|title=Charles Percy, Former Ill. Senator, Is Dead at 91|website=The New York Times |date=September 17, 2011 }}</ref> * Hugh Scott, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and Senate Minority Leader<ref name="Feingold-2014">{{cite book |last1=Feingold |first1=Henry L. |title=American Jewish Political Culture and the Liberal Persuasion |date=2014 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=Syracuse, New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4KiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |isbn=978-0815652441 |oclc=872672645 |page=163 |quote=The list of so-called Rockefeller Republicans touched by a liberal sensibility—like Jacob Javits (New York), Richard S. Schweiker, Hugh Scott, and Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania), Clifford P. Case (New Jersey), Edward Brooke (Massachusetts), and Lowell Weicker Jr. (Connecticut)—favored by Jewsh voters is fairly long. |quote-page=163}}</ref> * Arlen Specter, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania ''(switched parties to Democratic)''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rucker|first=Philip|date=October 14, 2012|title=Arlen Specter dies; he was Pennsylvania's longest-serving senator|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/arlen-specter-dies-he-was-pennsylvanias-longest-serving-senator/2012/10/14/4b428a96-c5dc-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html|access-date=November 13, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> * Ted Stevens, former U.S. Senator from Alaska<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 4, 2021|title=Ted Stevens Foundation|url=https://twitter.com/TedStevensFndn/status/1400886012339838977|access-date= 2022-11-19}}</ref><ref name="rockyak">{{Cite news|last=Times|first=NY|date=April 5, 1964|title=Rockefeller Camp Claims Victory At District Convention in Alaska|language=en-US|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/05/archives/rockefeller-camp-claims-victory-at-district-convention-in-a-laska.html|access-date= 2022-11-19}}</ref> * John Warner, former U.S. Senator from Virginia<ref>{{cite web|last=Putman|first=Eileen|date=May 26, 2021|agency=The Associated Press|title=John Warner, longtime Virginia senator and ex-husband of Elizabeth Taylor, dies at 94|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/26/john-warner-longtime-virginia-republican-senator-dies-94/7444723002/|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=USA Today}}</ref> * Lowell Weicker, former U.S. Senator and 85th Governor of Connecticut ''(switched parties to A Connecticut Party, then became an Independent)''<ref>{{cite news|last=Fenster|first=Jordan|date=December 8, 2019|title=Do moderate Republicans have a place in Connecticut politics?|url=https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Do-moderate-Republicans-have-a-place-in-14886722.php|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=Connecticut Post|language=en-US|archive-date=October 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024101754/https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Do-moderate-Republicans-have-a-place-in-14886722.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Roger C. |date=12 November 2021 |title=Commentary: Rockefeller Republicans a thing of the past |work=San Antonio Express-News |url=https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Rockefeller-Republicans-a-thing-of-past-16615993.php |access-date=24 March 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vacchiano |first= Andrea |date=28 June 2023 |title=Lowell Weicker, former Connecticut governor and US senator, dead at 92 |work=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lowell-weicker-former-connecticut-governor-us-senator-dead-92 |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref> * Charles Goodell, former U.S. Senator from New York<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Goodell, the Republican congressman from New York who... - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/01/21/Charles-Goodell-the-Republican-congressman-from-New-York-who/8693538203600/?form=MG0AV3 |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>

===U.S. Representatives=== * John Lindsay, former U.S. Representative from New York and Mayor of New York City (switched to the Democratic Party)<ref>Wills, Matthew (October 26, 2015) [https://daily.jstor.org/john-lindsay-one-last-liberal-republicans/ "John Lindsay, Last of the Liberal Republicans"] ''JSTOR Daily''</ref> * George Wallhauser, former U.S. Representative from New Jersey<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|date=August 6, 1993|title=George Wallhauser, An Ex-Congressman And Executive, 93|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/06/obituaries/george-wallhauser-an-ex-congressman-and-executive-93.html|access-date=August 28, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * John B. Anderson, former U.S. Representative from Illinois.'' (Left the party to become Independent as a presidential candidate in 1980)''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://fairvote.org/a_history_of_independent_presidential_candidates/|title=A History of Third Party and Independent Presidential Candidates|last=Foodman|first=Julia|date=July 16, 2019|work=Fair Vote|access-date=January 1, 2025|language=en-US}}</ref>

===State Governors=== * William Cahill, former Governor of New Jersey<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stout|first=David|date=July 2, 1996|title=William T. Cahill, 84, Former Governor|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/02/nyregion/william-t-cahill-84-former-governor.html|access-date=August 28, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Governor William T. Cahill Biography|url=https://governors.rutgers.edu/governor-william-t-cahill-biography/|access-date=August 28, 2020|website=Eagleton Center on the American Governor|language=en-US}}</ref> * Jim Edgar, former Governor of Illinois<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daily Herald opinion: Jim Edgar, 1946-2025: In these dark political times, we all may miss the former governor's legacy of decency more than we know |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/20250915/editorials/daily-herald-opinion-jim-edgar-1946-2025-in-these-dark-political-times-we-all-may-miss-the-forme/ |access-date=2026-02-11 |website=www.dailyherald.com}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Oral History Interview with Jim Edgar Volume I |url=https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Resources/6c09910b-e0d6-40e0-8102-6f891509d58e/download |website=Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Jim Edgar, Illinois' 38th governor |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/1991/ii910112.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208041239/https://www.lib.niu.edu/1991/ii910112.html |archive-date=Feb 8, 2013 |access-date=January 21, 2023 |website=www.lib.niu.edu}}</ref> * Dan Evans, former Governor of Washington<ref>{{cite web|date=September 24, 2018|title=The man who once chased the far-right out of the GOP|url=https://crosscut.com/2018/09/man-who-once-chased-far-right-out-gop|access-date=October 16, 2021|website=Crosscut|archive-date=October 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017001413/https://crosscut.com/2018/09/man-who-once-chased-far-right-out-gop|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Tom Kean, former Governor of New Jersey<ref>{{cite web|date=March 23, 2015|title=The Governor at 80|url=https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/the-governor-at-80/|access-date=August 28, 2020|website=New Jersey Monthly}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Howard Kean|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/thomas_kean.html|access-date=August 28, 2020|website=c250.columbia.edu}}</ref> * Linwood Holton, former Governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/us/linwood-holton-dead.html|title=Linwood Holton, 98, Virginia Governor Who Pushed for Racial Equality, Dies|website=The New York Times |date=November 2021 }}</ref> * William Scranton, former Governor of Pennsylvania<ref>{{cite news |title=Lame Duck Vengeance |last=Safire |first=William |authorlink=William Safire |date=November 15, 1976 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/15/archives/lame-duck-vengeance.html |page=31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Scranton Mourns As Former Governor William Scranton Dies at 96 |last=Van Zuylen-wood |first=Simon |date=July 29, 2013 |website=Philadelphia |url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/07/29/governor-scanton-dies-96/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What Happened the Last Time Republicans Cared About Poverty |last=Zeitz |first=Josh |date=April 20, 2015 |website=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/republican-party-poverty-117157/ }}</ref> * Bill Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts ''(Changed parties to Libertarian, later reregistered as Republican)''<ref>{{cite web|last=Goron|first=Meryl|date=January 14, 2002|title=Weld At Heart|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/5574/index1.html|access-date=March 30, 2019|website=New York}}</ref> * Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey<ref name=":1" /> * George W. Romney, former Governor of Michigan (1963-1969)

==References== === Informational notes === {{reflist|group=nb}}

=== Citations === {{reflist}}

=== General and cited references === * {{cite book|last=Alsop|first=Stewart|year=2016|title=Nixon & Rockefeller: A Double Portrait |publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=978-1-480-44600-7}} * {{cite book|last=Baldi|first=Alipio|year=2012|title=On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=978-1-449-76213-1}} * {{cite journal|last1=Barabas|first1=Jason|last2=Javens|first2=Cristina|date=2022|title=Rockefeller Republicans Redux: Political Moderates on the Right in New York State|url=https://preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/article-details/6259e810ed4d88b8b60c31c4|journal=American Political Science Association|doi=10.33774/apsa-2022-7fg7g}} * {{cite book|last=Coffey|first=Justin P.|year=2015|title=Spiro Agnew and the Rise of the Republican Right|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-440-84142-2}} * {{cite book|last=Gritter|first=Matthew|year=2018|title=Presidents and the Safety Net: From Moderation to Backlash|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-498-58357-2}} * {{cite book|last=Kabaservice|first=Geoffrey|year=2012|title=Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-199-92113-3}} * {{cite book|last=Libby|year=2013|title=Purging the Republican Party: Tea Party Campaigns and Elections|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-739-18764-7}} * {{cite book|last=Lind|first=Michael|year=1997|title=Up from Conservatism|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-684-83186-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/upfromconservati00mich}} * {{cite book|last1=Micklethwait|first1=John|last2=Woolridge|first2=Adrian|year=2005|title=The Right Nation: Why America is Different|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0-141-01536-5}} * {{cite web|url=https://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/10/19/where-are-the-whigs-when-we-need-them/|title=Where Are the Whigs (When We Need Them)?|last=Phillips|first=Luke|date=October 19, 2015|publisher=American Interest|access-date=January 29, 2021}} * {{cite book|last=Price|first=John Roy|year=2021|title=The Last Liberal Republican An Insider's Perspective on Nixon's Surprising Social Policy|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=978-0-700-63205-3}} * {{cite book|last=Reeves|first=Richard|year=2002|title=President Nixon: Alone in the White House|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentnixon00rich|url-access=registration|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-743-22719-0}} * {{cite book|last=Rockefeller|first=Nelson A|year=1968|title=Unity, Freedom & Peace: A Blueprint for Tomorrow|publisher=Random House}} * {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Richard Norton|year=2014|title=On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-50580-5}} * {{cite book|last=Stebenne|first=David L.|year=2006|title=Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-11232-X}}

== Further reading == * Barrett, Marsha E. (2022). "Defining Rockefeller Republicanism: Promise and Peril at the Edge of the Liberal Consensus, 1958–1975". ''Journal of Policy History'' '''34'''(3): 336–370. * Burns, James MacGregor. ''The Deadlock of Democracy''. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: 1967. * [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=1528422 Joyner, Conrad]. ''The Republican Dilemma: Conservatism or Progressivism'' (1963). * Kristol, Irving. "American Conservatism 1945–1995". ''Public Interest'' 94 (Fall 1995): 80–91. * Perlstein, Rick. ''Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus'' (2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=6jb9AgAAQBAJ text search], survey of GOP politics in 1960s. * [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=91954887 Reinhard, David W.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716181946/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=91954887 |date=July 16, 2012 }} ''The Republican Right since 1945'' (1983). * Rae, Nicol. ''Decline and Fall of the Liberal Republicans: 1952 to the Present''. 1989. * Reichley, A. James. ''Conservatives in an Age of Change: The Nixon and Ford Administrations.'' 1981. * Reiter, Howard. "Intra-Party Cleavages in the United States Today". ''Western Political Quarterly'' 34 (1981): 287–300. * [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=29158385 Sherman, Janann] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716181951/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=29158385 |date=July 16, 2012 }}. ''No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith'' (2000). * Smith, Richard Norton. ''On His: Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller'' (2014), a major scholarly biography. * Underwood, James F., and William J. Daniels. ''Governor Rockefeller in New York: The Apex of Pragmatic Liberalism in the United States'' (1982).

== External links == * [http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/ Republican Main Street Partnership] – Republican group interested in building a pragmatic center in the GOP * [http://www.progressiverepublicans.org/ Progressive Republicans] * [http://vftonline.org/XianAnarch/cause/bush/Nixon.html "Liberals Get the Action, Conservatives Get the Rhetoric"] – first chapter of ''Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask'' by Gary Allen

Category:1930s establishments in the United States Category:1970s disestablishments in the United States Category:Centrism in the United States Category:Eponymous political ideologies Category:Factions in the Republican Party (United States) Category:History of the Republican Party (United States) Category:Liberal conservatism Category:Liberalism in the United States Category:Nelson Rockefeller Category:Progressive conservatism Category:Republican Party (United States) terminology