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List of chairs of the Republican National Committee

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Chair of the Republican National Committee
since March 8, 2024
AppointerRepublican National Committee
Term length4 years; renewable
Inaugural holderEdwin D. Morgan
Formation1856
WebsiteOfficial website

The chair of the Republican National Committee is the party chair and de-jure leader of the Republican Party.[1][2]

The chair manages the day-to-day affairs and operations of the Republican National Committee (RNC), prepares and conducts the quadrennial Republican National Convention, promotes the Republican "party brand" and political platform, as well as assists in party fundraising and election strategy.[3]

The current officeholder is Michael Whatley of North Carolina, who took office on March 8, 2024.[4][5]

Chairs of the Republican National Committee

[edit]
List of Republican National Committee chairs
# Chair Term State[6]
1 Edwin Morgan 1856–1864 New York
2 Henry Raymond 1864–1866 New York
3 Marcus Ward 1866–1868 New Jersey
4 William Claflin 1868–1872 Massachusetts
5 Edwin Morgan 1872–1876 New York
6 Zachariah Chandler 1876–1879 Michigan
7 Donald Cameron 1879–1880 Pennsylvania
8 Marshall Jewell 1880–1883 Connecticut
9 Dwight Sabin 1883–1884 Minnesota
10 Benjamin Jones 1884–1888 New Jersey
11 Matthew Quay 1888–1891 Pennsylvania
12 James Clarkson 1891–1892 Iowa
13 William Campbell[7][8] 1892 Illinois
14 Thomas Carter 1892–1896 Montana
15 Mark Hanna 1896–1904 Ohio
Henry Payne (Acting) 1904 Wisconsin
16 George Cortelyou 1904–1907 New York
17 Harry New 1907–1908 Indiana
18 Frank Hitchcock 1908–1909 Ohio
19 John Hill (Acting: 1909–1911) 1909–1912 Maine
20 Victor Rosewater 1912 Nebraska
21 Charles Hilles 1912–1916 New York
22 William Willcox 1916–1918 New York
23 Will Hays 1918–1921 Indiana
24 John Adams 1921–1924 Iowa
25 William Butler 1924–1928 Massachusetts
26 Hubert Work 1928–1929 Colorado
27 Claudius Huston 1929–1930 Tennessee
28 Simeon Fess 1930–1932 Ohio
29 Everett Sanders 1932–1934 Indiana
30 Henry Fletcher 1934–1936 Pennsylvania
31 John Hamilton 1936–1940 Kansas
32 Joseph Martin 1940–1942 Massachusetts
33 Harrison Spangler 1942–1944 Iowa
34 Herbert Brownell 1944–1946 New York
35 Carroll Reece 1946–1948 Tennessee
36 Hugh Scott 1948–1949 Pennsylvania
37 Guy Gabrielson 1949–1952 New Jersey
38 Arthur Summerfield 1952–1953 Michigan
39 C. Wesley Roberts 1953 Kansas
40 Leonard Hall 1953–1957 New York
41 Meade Alcorn 1957–1959 Connecticut
42 Thruston Morton 1959–1961 Kentucky
43 William Miller 1961–1964 New York
44 Dean Burch 1964–1965 Arizona
45 Ray Bliss 1965–1969 Ohio
46 Rogers Morton 1969–1971 Maryland
47 Bob Dole 1971–1973 Kansas
48 George H. W. Bush 1973–1974 Texas
49 Mary Smith 1974–1977 Iowa
50 Bill Brock 1977–1981 Tennessee
51 Dick Richards 1981–1983 Utah
Paul Laxalt (General Chair) 1983–1987 Nevada
52 Frank Fahrenkopf (National Chair) Nevada
Frank Fahrenkopf 1987–1989 Nevada
53 Lee Atwater 1989–1991 South Carolina
54 Clay Yeutter 1991–1992 Nebraska
55 Richard Bond 1992–1993 Missouri
56 Haley Barbour 1993–1997 Mississippi
57 Jim Nicholson 1997–2001 Colorado
58 Jim Gilmore 2001–2002 Virginia
59 Marc Racicot 2002–2004 Montana
60 Ed Gillespie 2004–2006 Virginia
61 Ken Mehlman 2006–2007 District of Columbia
Mel Martínez (General Chair) 2007 Florida
62 Mike Duncan (National Chair) Kentucky
2007–2009
63 Michael Steele 2009–2011 Maryland
64 Reince Priebus 2011–2017 Wisconsin
65 Ronna Romney McDaniel 2017–2024 Michigan
66 Michael Whatley 2024–present North Carolina

Further reading

[edit]
  • Cotter, Cornelius P., and Bernard C. Hennessy, eds. Politics without Power: The National Party Committees (1964) excerpt
  • Heersink, Boris (2023). National Party Organizations and Party Brands in American Politics: The Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1912-2016. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197695104.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-769514-2.
  • Heersink, Boris. "Examining Democratic and Republican National Committee Party Branding Activity, 1953–2012." Perspectives on Politics (2021): 1–18.
  • Heersink, Boris. "Trump and the party-in-organization: Presidential control of national party organizations." Journal of Politics 80.4 (2018): 1474–1482. online
  • Heersink, Boris. "Party Brands and the Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1952–1976." Studies in American Political Development 32.1 (2018): 79–102. online

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Boris Heersink, "Trump and the party-in-organization: Presidential control of national party organizations." Journal of Politics 80.4 (2018): 1474–1482.
  2. ^ Cornelius P. Cotter, and Bernard C. Hennessy, eds. Politics without Power: The National Party Committees (1964) excerpt Archived 2021-10-14 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ Heersink, Boris (2021). "Examining Democratic and Republican National Committee Party Branding Activity, 1953–2012". Perspectives on Politics. 21: 142–159. doi:10.1017/S1537592721000025. ISSN 1537-5927. S2CID 233646493. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  4. ^ Peoples, Steve; Price, Michelle (March 8, 2024). "RNC votes to install Donald Trump's handpicked chair as former president tightens control of party". Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  5. ^ "Republican National Committee". Ballotpedia. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  6. ^ "The Political Graveyard web site, A Database of Historic Cemeteries, accessed July 17, 2006". Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2006.
  7. ^ "Campbell Will Not serve..." The New York Times. July 6, 1892. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  8. ^ "Campbell Picks His Nine..." The New York Times. July 8, 1892. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
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