Throughout the 20th century, the Republican Party benefited from a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how Eisenhower came in to stop the Korean War. Think of how Nixon was elected to stop the mess in Vietnam.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I was younger, I thought of myself as a Nixon Republican because he was the anti-Communist.
I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21 because he promised to get us out of the Korean War.
After Vietnam, the Democrats became fundamentally the anti-military as a party.
Experience helped Richard Nixon, but it didn't save him, and it certainly wasn't a blanket endorsement. He blundered terribly in dealing with Vietnam.
I've been a Republican since age 13, when we got our first television set, and I saw the Republican National Convention on television. And President Eisenhower was talking about personal responsibility, about opening the door for opportunity and that people could really take care of themselves without a lot of government intrusions.
Ronald Reagan wasn't in the establishment of the Republican Party either, nor was Richard Nixon.
Kennedy is remembered as a success mainly because of what came after: Johnson and Vietnam. Nixon and Watergate.
In the late '60s, Senator Charles E. Goodell, Republican of New York, spoke out against the Vietnam War, bringing on the wrath of the Nixon administration and, as it turned out, the disaffection of conservative voters.
The Republican promise is for policies that create economic growth. Republicans believe lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budgets, a solvent Social Security and Medicare will stimulate economic growth.
Eisenhower was quite supportive of Kennedy and Johnson in terms of foreign policy.