🧨 The GOP’s Long March Toward Fascism

Before the world knew the full horror of Auschwitz, the American right was already flirting with fascism. In the 1930s, prominent Republicans and industrialists expressed admiration for Hitler and Mussolini—not despite their authoritarianism, but because of it. Wall Street titan Prescott Bush (father of George H.W. Bush) was implicated in business dealings with Nazi-linked companies (Aris, 2004). The American Liberty League, backed by DuPont and other right-wing magnates, sought to undermine FDR’s New Deal and even supported fascist sympathies in Europe (Wolfskill, 1962).

During WWII, while soldiers bled to stop fascism abroad, elements of the GOP remained skeptical of international intervention. After the war, Republicans pivoted—not to root out fascism, but to rebrand it. Franco’s Spain, a dictatorship that survived with Nazi help, became a Cold War ally under Republican presidents. Eisenhower embraced Franco in 1959. Nixon and Ford continued the charade. Anti-communism was the excuse. Fascism was simply rebranded as “friendly authoritarianism.”

Fast forward to today: The mask is off.

Donald J. Trump is not a break from Republican history—he’s the logical result. A man who praises dictators, threatens journalists, weaponizes religion, demands loyalty over law, and incites insurrection. The GOP’s defense? Silence. Obedience. Or open cheers.

This isn’t about left vs. right. It’s democracy vs. dictatorship.
And history has already shown us what happens when fascism becomes useful again.

References (APA):

  • Aris, B. (2004). How Bush’s grandfather helped Hitler’s rise to power. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar
  • Wolfskill, G. (1962). The Revolt of the Conservatives: A History of the American Liberty League, 1934–1940. Houghton Mifflin.
  • Preston, P. (2012). The Spanish Holocaust. W.W. Norton.
  • U.S. Department of State. (1975). Toasts of the President and Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain at a State Dinner in Madrid. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu