A Republican Renaissance: Jack Kemp and the Supply-Side Revolution, 1974-1981 Open Access

Abstract

While the modern Republican Party is associated with supporting tax cuts, this has not always
been the case. In the immediate post-New Deal era, Republicans often eschewed tax cuts because
they viewed them as leading to budget deficits. Beginning in the 1970s, a conservative vanguard
of economists worked to change the Republican's aversion to tax cuts. These economists
advocated supply-side economics, an unconventional theory that stated among many things that
if the government lowered tax rates, it would paradoxically raise tax revenues as it would
stimulate the economy. The public face of this movement was Jack Kemp, a young and rising
congressman from eastern New York. I will argue that Jack Kemp was able to rebrand the
Republican Party by changing its economic ideology and through courting unconventional
constituencies.

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………..………………............1
Chapter 1: The GOP and the Balanced Budget Ideal…………...……...............5
Chapter 2: Jack Kemp: Political Entrepreneur……………………….…...……........21
Chapter 3: Building the Supply-Side Coalition……………………...………....….....26
Chapter 4: Supply-Side Economics and the Reagan Revolution………………..36
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………............…….43
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….............…45

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, United States
Keyword	Republican Supply-Side Economics Tax Jack Kemp
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Crespino, Joseph, Emory University
Committee Members	Strahan, Randall, Emory University Allitt, Patrick, Emory University

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