Republican Party, the

One of the two main political parties in the US, which is generally regarded as more conservative than the Democratic Party. It was established in 1854 to oppose slavery, and the first Republican president of the US was Abraham lincoln (1861-65). Its most recent presidents were Ronald Reagan and George Bush (1981-93). The Republican Party tends to support the owners of businesses and industry, and to oppose high government spending on welfare (=help for poor people, people without jobs etc). It represents a wide range of opinions, from fairly conservative to very right wing . It is sometimes called the Grand Old Party or GOP, and its symbol in an elephant .