The
Rockefeller Republicans, otherwise called
Liberal Republicans, were members of the
Republican Party (GOP) in the 1940s-1970s who held moderate to
liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of
Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of the United States (1974–1977). Rockefeller Republicanism has been described as the last phase of the "Eastern Establishment" of the GOP, which had been led by New York governor
Thomas E. Dewey. The group's powerful role in the GOP came under heavy attack in 1964 and it lost most of its influence. At a discouraging point in the 1964 California primary campaign against
Barry Goldwater, political operative
Stuart Spencer called on Rockefeller to "summon that fabled nexus of money, influence, and condescension known as the Eastern Establishment. 'You are looking at it, buddy,' Rockefeller told Spencer. 'I am all that is left.'"