Would Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt recognize the Republican Party?

[tpfkaw]

Yeah, the main differences between the 19th-century Republicans and the modern Republicans are as follows:

1. 19th-century Republicans favored a very high tariff.
2. 19th-century Republicans universally favored the gold standard or at least a silver standard.
3. 19th-century Republicans were extremely bigoted toward immigrant groups (Irish, Southern and Eastern Europeans, Chinese, etc.) and favored strict quotas and outright immigration bans, and also (owing mainly to the attitudes of the time) had attitudes towards blacks and other racial minorities ranging from what would be considered today highly-bigoted paternalism to outright white nationalism.
4. 19th-century Republicans favored the prohibition of alcohol.

The differences between the 19th-century Democrats and the modern Democrats are as follows:

1. 19th-century Democrats were hostile to heavy taxation and regulation of industry.
2. 19th-century Democrats were extremely hostile to central banking and favored strict adherence to the gold standard even more than the Republicans, until William Jennings Bryan (who still favored a silver standard).
3. 19th-century Democrats were strongly opposed to the doctrine of "internal improvements" funded by the federal government (albeit divided on the issue of internal improvements funded by state governments).
4. 19th-century Democrats strongly favored decentralization and states' rights.
5. 19th-century Democrats favored a strict construction of the constitution.
6. 19th-century Democrats (owing mainly to the attitudes of the time) had attitudes towards blacks and other racial minorities ranging from what would be considered today highly-bigoted paternalism to outright white nationalism (in the North) and from highly-bigoted paternalism to violent hatred (in the South).
7. 19th-century Democrats were strongly anti-imperialist and anti-militarist (with the aberration of Polk), and generally opposed all attempts at colonialism or foreign entanglements.
8. 19th-century Democrats were generally suspicious of the civil service and favored strong measures to eliminate corruption in it.

etc. etc.

It's pretty obvious which of the two has changed more.

[rob in cal]

I'm going to guess that on the immigration issue, both would not be too supportive of the "color blindness" of today's policies, which are leading to the emergence of a hispanic majority in several states.  I think both would be much closer to Pat Buchanan on this issue than Romney or W, or Gingrich etc all of whom support the current levels of legal immigration and don't seem concerned about the demographic/racial implications of it all.

[Brandon H]

Lincoln would have been quite happy with the results of the Bush presidency, particularly the fact that the U.S. got into several wars and passed the Patriot Act. I'm sure he would also be happy with Obama for getting involved in even more wars and passing the infinite detention provision in the NDAA. He's probably jealous there was no Guantanamo Bay for prisoners when he was president. On the other hand, he would probably be surprised at how willing to yield to the Supreme Court modern presidents have been.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Lincoln would be very plse that Obama is prez and do more concerning global warming and the green house effect, conservationalist. Jackson would go along with the Southen Democrats and join them.

[Person Man]

A good way to ask this question is whether the Republican Party today is a linear progression of the Repubican Party in its frst 50 years of existence or if it is effectively now just made up of racists who used to be democrats.