New York Young Republican Club

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New York Young Republican Club
PresidentGavin Mario Wax
Founded1911
HeadquartersNew York City
IdeologyConservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism
Mother partyRepublican Party
National affiliationYoung Republican National Federation (YRNF)
Websitehttps://nyyrc.com

The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40 in New York City. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States,[1][2] founded in 1911 with predecessor organizations going back to 1856.[3] The Club is affiliated with and officially recognized by the New York State Young Republicans [4] and the Young Republican National Federation, as well as the county,[5] state, and national Republican committees.

New York City Republican organizations were once a bastion of moderate Republicans with liberal or centrist views on social issues.[6]

History[]

Founding[]

In April 1911, thirty-two young men, led by a young Manhattan lawyer Benjamin M. Day, along with, Philip J. McCook, Lloyd Carpenter Griscom, Frederick Paul Keppel, Henry W. Goddard, Edward R. Finch, Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr., Lindon Bates Jr., Thomas D. Thacher, Albert S. Bard, and Robert McC. Marsh,[7] formed the New York Young Republican Club. This was an offshoot of the earlier New York Young Men’s Republican Club, founded in 1879, which itself was a descendant of the even earlier New York Young Men’s Republican Union founded in 1856.

The Club’s first public appearance was a dinner held in December 1911. The guest of honor was the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, and the principal speaker was Idaho Senator William Borah.

In 1930, the New York Young Republican Club circulated a questionnaire to its members; of the 649 responses, an overwhelming number (424) supported the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment (which prohibited alcohol), 117 favored modification of the Volstead Act, and only 108 favored enforcement of prohibition.[8]

Dewey administration[]

The New York Young Republican Club was significant to the political network of Governor Thomas Dewey. Club members were important parts of Dewey's campaigns for governor and president, and in 1952 and 1956, Dewey used the Club to promote the presidential campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower.[9] In the 1950s, John V. Lindsay, later mayor of New York City, joined the organization, which was an all-male group at the time.[9] He became vice president of the group in 1951 and (after Eisenhower's win in 1952, became president of the group).[9] During his presidency of the group, Lindsay was involved in an acrimonious internal battle between a faction led by Charles Miller Metzner (to whom Lindsay belonged) and a rival faction led by F. Clifton White and William A. Rusher.[9]

1964 elections[]

In 1964, the New York Times described the Club as "not a large one" but "old and influential in Young Republican affairs."[10] That year, the Club was described as having 1,200 members citywide.[11]

Amid the 1964 Republican presidential contest between New York's Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, a pro-Rockefeller faction won the Club's presidency by a vote of 365-202 over an independent candidate running with conservative support.[10] The group endorsed Rockeller's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination by a 184–6 vote, and endorsed, by a 187–1 vote, the re-nomination of state Senator MacNeil Mitchell, who was facing an insurgent primary challenge from Jacob Javits's nephew Eric Javits.[12] The same year, the Club supported John V. Lindsay's decision to run for re-election as mayor as an independent Republican; the group broke from the leaders of other Young Republican clubs in the city, such as those of City College, New York University, Columbia College, and Fordham University, as well as the Young Women's Republican Club of New York, all of whom condemned Lindsay's decision.[11]

Since 2016[]

After the rise of Donald Trump, the city's Republican groups moved decidedly to the right wing.[6] In December 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Young Republican Club hosted a gala in Jersey City, New Jersey where the participants flouted public health guidelines. Dozens gathered in crowds indoors, did not wear masks, and did not socially distance. Authorities ultimately shut down the party.[13] Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from Florida, and James O’Keefe, a right-wing activist, attended the party. New Jersey's Democratic Governor Phil Murphy criticized it.[14]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "About".
  2. ^ Surico, John (11 August 2015). "A Night Out in New York with the Young Republicans Supporting Donald Trump".
  3. ^ "The Young Men's Republican Union, organized in 1856 as the Young Men's Fremont and Dayton Central Union, have leased the old head quarters". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  4. ^ "Find Your Club". New York State Young Republicans.
  5. ^ "Links - Manhattan Republican Party". www.manhattanrepublicanparty.com.
  6. ^ a b N.Y.C. Was Once a Bastion of G.O.P. Moderates. Then Trump Came Along., New York Times (October 17, 2020).
  7. ^ "Certificate of Incorporation".
  8. ^ Young Republicans Vote Wet in Canvass, New York Times (March 26, 1930).
  9. ^ a b c d Geoffrey Kabaservice, "On Principle: A Progressive Republican" in Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream (Johns Hopkins University Press: 2014: ed. Joseph P. Viteritti), pp. 29-30.
  10. ^ a b City Young G.O.P. Club Election Won by Rockefeller Supporters, New York Times (February 22, 1964), p. 19.
  11. ^ a b State G.O.P. Leader Supports Both Lindsay and Goldwater, New York Times (August 5, 1964).
  12. ^ Young G.O.P. Here Backs Rockefeller for President, New York Times (April 29, 1964).
  13. ^ Rubinstein, Dana (2020-12-03). "Young Republicans Stage Secret Gala, Ignoring Virus Concerns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  14. ^ Associated Press and staff, New Jersey investigates Republican gala over Covid rule breaches, The Guardian (December 5, 2020).

External links[]

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