When did it happen?

[Melchior]

When did the Republican Party morph into the party of war, big government, and religion? Did it start after Ronald Reagan? With the Bush legacy? Did it start with 9/11?

When did the neoconservatives and evangelicals become the major influences of the party?

I just started reading a very interesting book, called American Theocracy (http://www.americantheocracy.net/). It seems to cover these questions and I'm hoping it can answer them.

[Brandybuck]

I think it's been a slow steady decline over 75 years.

[Silverback]

Big government? War? Religion? In the GOP?

That started with Lincoln.

[Craig_R]

When did the neoconservatives and evangelicals become the major influences of the party?

I just started reading a very interesting book, called American Theocracy (http://www.americantheocracy.net/). It seems to cover these questions and I'm hoping it can answer them.

during regans admin, many neocons in his admin. watched a video on neocons on youtube and kristol was bragging about how regan was hard to convince to move towards the neocon agenda but they did it.

regan was the first to embrace evangelicals aslo.

[Kuldebar]

If I had to pin down a critical time in the past century, I'd say after Eisenhower left office and let's not forget his farewell speech (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwightdeisenhowerfarewell.html).

But, let's not forget that the Democratic Party has changed tremendously as well, largely thanks to FDR.

But, we can go back to Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt and on backward to Lincoln for the start of some very alarming trends and outrages.

A good book on the subject:

Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom (http://www.mises.org/store/Reassessing-the-Presidency-The-Rise-of-the-Executive-State-and-the-Decline-of-Freedom-P109C0.aspx)

[NewEnd]

George Bush I.

Gulf war
reneged on no new taxes

[Kregener]

Silverback nailed it for you.