Civil War Memory, Civil Rights, and the Transformation of the GOP

How the Republican Party transformed from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Lee

The Republican House Divided is the first comprehensive study of the relationships between the Republican Party and Civil War memory in the twentieth century. Tim Galsworthy reveals how rival Republicans deployed Civil War memory to support, oppose, and ultimately shape the GOP's transformation, during the civil rights era, into a racially conservative party. Drawing on extensive archival research, Galsworthy underlines how references to the past were vitally important to Republican Party politicians as they negotiated their party's positions toward African American civil rights and attempted to appeal to erstwhile white Southern Democrats. Paying attention to a range of actors—including national party leaders, southern conservatives, prominent progressives, and defiant Black Republicans—he traces the actions of Republican politicians and operatives from across the party's ideological and geographical spectrums as they struggled to control and direct party messaging, strategy, and policy. The Republican House Divided is a timely work, offering insight into how the "Party of Lincoln" started on the road to becoming the GOP of today.