History
The Lincoln Club sprang from the ashes of Richard Nixon’s defeated 1962 gubernatorial bid. Many of the former Vice President’s supporters believed his bitter primary battle with conservative state Senator Joe Schell mortally wounded his general election prospects, handing Democrat Pat Brown a second term as governor.
Several of Nixon’s Orange County supporters made up their minds to never again allow such destructive internecine warfare. They reached out to their erstwhile foes in the Schell camp and founded an organization to build Republican strength by lowering the intensity of intra-party warfare and making party politics more orderly and business-like. They called it The Lincoln Club of Orange County in honor of the first Republican president and his devotion to the Union.
From the 1966 election of Ronald Reagan as governor to the political resurrection of Richard Nixon (once a member himself) all the way through to the recall of Gray Davis, the Lincoln Club has been a leader in the Republican party’s most important local, state and national causes.
Founders
The Lincoln Club’s founders were the county’s leaders of enterprise, people like Beckman Instruments founder Arnold O. Beckman, Knott’s Berry Farm founder Walter Knott and Sy Fluor of the FLUOR Corporation.
While these men had backed different candidates for the GOP nomination, they agreed on the party’s fundamental principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and the rule of law. They were convinced that only a united Republican Party could advance those principles against an increasingly liberal Democratic Party which was then at the height of its power.
Philosophy
The Lincoln Club is not a political group. It is a business organization which tackles politics. We are entrepreneurs and CEOs who want to make government safe for business. We revere the tradition of individual liberty unique to America. We are Republicans who believe that the party must unabashedly advocate its beliefs.
Members of The Lincoln Club are committed to freeing business from strangulation by taxation and regulation, not just for philosophical reasons but because of our experience in building businesses. We know that a free marketplace unfettered by onerous taxes and red tape is the greatest engine of opportunity the world has ever known. We want all Americans to enjoy the success our members do.
Of course, fighting government expansion is a never-ending task. It started with a small group of individuals who met in Philadelphia more than two centuries ago. They bet it all on freedom; they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
The work will not be finished in our generation or in any other. The Lincoln Club is part of the tribute which this generation pays to the founders’ spirit.
To learn more, view our statement of ethics (make “statement of ethics” a link to another page in the site, one that has the following text below).
STATEMENT OF ETHICS
A member of The Lincoln Club of Orange County shall not engage in any activity which might result in, or create the appearance of resulting in, any of the following:
Using the prestige or influence of the club for the individual's private gain or the private gain of another, or both;
Using confidential information acquired by involvement in the club for the individual's private gain or the private gain of another, or both; or
Receiving or accepting, directly or indirectly, any gift, money, service, gratuity, favor, entertainment, hospitality, loan, or any other item of value from anyone who desires the support, endorsement, or influence of the club under circumstances from which it reasonably could be inferred that the gift was intended to influence or reward the person involved.
A member of The Lincoln Club of Orange County may not use or make any written or oral reference to his or her membership in the club in any business endeavor, any political contest, or any race for office, or upon becoming an elected official.
No federal, state, or county elected official, and no mayor of any city, may be a member of The Lincoln Club of Orange County. If a member is elected to any of the foregoing offices, he or she must resign as a member and remain inactive until he or she relinquishes the office.
In addition, while The Lincoln Club of Orange County encourages qualified men and women to run for political office, the Board of Directors shall not admit to membership any applicant whom the board determines wishes to join the club primarily in order to promote his or her candidacy for an elected office.
The Lincoln Club of Orange County is not a chamber of commerce or an industrial association; the Board of Directors shall not admit to membership any applicant whom the Board determines wishes to join the club primarily in order to expand his or her network of business contacts.