The Republican Party: From Lincoln’s anti-slavery roots to the populism of Trump

The Republican Party has undergone a significant shift toward right-wing populism since 2016, driven by the rise of Donald Trump. Known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), the organization currently champions an economic platform of mercantilism, tariffs, tax cuts, and deregulation.

On social issues, the party maintains a platform focused on restricting abortion, supporting gun ownership rights, and opposing transgender rights. While its foreign policy remains divided, an "America First" isolationist faction has gained significant influence within the party.

Anti-slavery activists founded the GOP in 1854, initially drawing the majority of its support from the North. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, led the Union to victory in the Civil War and abolished slavery.

Following the Reconstruction era, the party shifted its focus toward business and industrial interests. The GOP began attracting white voters in the South following the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan solidified a long-standing coalition within the party. This alliance brought together free-market advocates, social conservatives, and foreign policy hawks.

The Republican Party is currently undergoing one of the most profound metamorphoses in modern political history. Once defined by its founding mission under Abraham Lincoln to abolish slavery and expand the reach of citizenship, the GOP has evolved into a populist, nationalist vehicle under the dominant influence of Donald Trump.

This ideological shift was not a sudden pivot but a decades-long transition. Its roots can be traced back to the post-civil rights "Southern Strategy," which sought to capture white voters alienated by the Democratic Party’s embrace of social reform. That foundation was later overlaid by the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s, which established free-market orthodoxies and a hawkish, interventionist foreign policy as the party’s core tenets.

However, the rise of the Trump era has effectively dismantled these Reagan-era pillars. The traditional GOP commitment to free trade has been discarded in favor of protectionist tariffs and a neo-mercantilist economic agenda. Similarly, the party’s long-standing role as a global security guarantor has yielded to an "America First" isolationism, creating deep internal rifts over critical policy issues such as military aid to Ukraine.

This transformation reflects a broader systemic realignment in American politics. The primary dividing lines are no longer strictly economic; they have shifted toward cultural, demographic, and geographic cleavages. As Trump’s influence continues to reshape the party's identity, the GOP has moved significantly away from the legacies of Lincoln and Eisenhower. Its future is now inextricably linked to the populist movement he ignited.

For the Vietnamese-American community, the Republican Party holds a complex and multi-layered appeal. For decades, the party’s fierce anti-communist rhetoric—particularly during the Reagan era—forged a deep-seated loyalty among the first generation of refugees. This bond has been reinforced by the GOP’s pro-business focus, as tax cuts and deregulation resonate with the entrepreneurs who power the nail salon industry and phở restaurants in Little Saigons across the country.

However, the rise of Trump-era populism has catalyzed a significant internal rift. While many older voters still support a hardline "America First" approach, younger generations born and raised in the U.S. are increasingly at odds with conservative social stances on LGBTQ+ issues and reproductive rights. Furthermore, the party’s tightening stance on immigration has become a major point of contention, particularly regarding the future of F2B family sponsorships, H-1B visas, and the stability of TPS and EB-5 programs. These shifting priorities, along with concerns over the economic impact on remittances, are widening the political gap and creating a distinct generational divide in how Vietnamese-Americans navigate their future in the United States.