A Lincoln Day Dinner (sometimes called Lincoln Dinner) is an annual celebration of the Republican Party and a fundraising event for Republican Party affiliated organizations at the county level. Traditionally, it is held in February or March depending on the county, and sometimes on Lincoln's Birthday (February 12), although it can be held on any day. It will generally feature a notable person as a speaker. Its counterpart for the Democratic Party is the annual Jefferson–Jackson Dinner. The event is named after

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, the first elected president of the Republican Party who helped found and shape the party. Subsequent to the election of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

(1980), the most popular Republican president since Lincoln, some counties renamed the dinner after Reagan or have added his name to it, resulting in the names Reagan Dinner, Reagan Day Dinner, Lincoln–Reagan Dinner, etc. In particular, this trend is common in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, where the Republican Party essentially absorbed what had previously been the Democratic Party's constituency in a process which began in the 1940s and then lasted through the 1990s (most of this process occurred during the 1960s, when White Southerners who had previously been Democrats began to abandon the party, especially in national elections, because of misgivings about the Democratic Party's increased support for

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

), resulting in the present situation that most of those White Southerners suspicious or disapproving of President Lincoln and sympathetic to the Confederacy have switched from being Democrats to Republicans.Parties swap names on fundraising dinners to reflect modern alignment
/ref> Commenting on this difference in 2005,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

joked, "We don't do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina. It's nothing personal, but it takes a while to get over things," referencing the fact that Lincoln's election led to the secession of South Carolina and other states, which caused the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

.Tell it to the slaves
/ref>

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''Lincoln is Yielding to Reagan: Some counties change name of annual GOP event''
in the

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

{{Ronald Reagan, state=collapsed Republican Party (United States) events Monuments and memorials to Abraham Lincoln in the United States Monuments and memorials to Ronald Reagan Dinner

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