The Young Turks was a splinter group of politicians in the United States within the Republican Party during the early 1960s. The group, mostly consisting of Congressmen, who had become disenchanted with the course of the Republican Party, worked within the system to appoint their fellow members into leadership roles, so they could take control of the party. They were considered "rebels" by the traditional Republicans. Gerald R. Ford, who would become President of the United States, rose to prominence as a Young Turk.
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Etymology
There has been no special meaning given or discussed for the group's choice of the name "Young Turks" in any of the biographical collections of the members. The dictionary definition states, "an insurgent or a member of an insurgent group especially in a political party...one advocating changes within a usually established group". The name was inspired by the Young Turks, a Turkish nationalist reform movement in the early twentieth century.
Formation
The group began in the early 1960s as a loose network of younger Republican congressmen. According to an article that appeared in New York Magazine in 1975, Charles E. Goodell of New York and Robert P. Griffin of Michigan got together in January 1963 and came up with a plan to supplant one of the elder statesmen, Charles Hoeven, who was Chairman of the House Republican Conference. They solicited Gerald R. Ford of Michigan as the challenger. Ford agreed and won the ballot, becoming the new Chairman.
It was Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 Presidential election, coupled with heavy losses in the House, that mobilized all the key players to further action. The Young Turks questioned the Republican Party's viability and wanted to change the direction of the Republican Party. Donald Rumsfeld, another member of the group, later wrote about how dire it was, "Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives were reduced to a low of 140 of the 435 Members of Congress. There were so many Democrats that some had to sit in the Republican side of the [a]isle."
The Young Turks decided it was time to take control and replace the top Republican leadership in Congress. They picked Gerald Ford over their other option, Melvin Laird (Wisconsin), to oust the presiding House Minority Leader, Charles Halleck. Their choice of Ford, and his subsequent win, set the stage for Ford to later be tapped as Vice President, and then President by succession.
Members
According to New York, members included: