The right wing Republicans were always awful

Trump is merely a continuation. Believing otherwise is ahistorical. Whether being evil is a historical norm is another issue

The first iteration of the Republican party started noble enough. Wanting to free slaves and such. The second iteration was pro-business, workers be damned. The third iteration was isolationist, pro-tariff, and sometimes even pro-hitler. To the point that Prescott Bush, George W Bush’s grandfather, did business with the nazis

The fourth iteration was Ike and Nixon trying to fit into the new deal consensus with an occasional goldwater/john birch type waiting in the wings. The fifth iteration was pro business, invade everyone with Reagan/Bush/Bush.

The sixth and most current iteration reminds me most of the third iteration Isolationist, pro tariff, and yes sometimes pro-hitler

All this to say, saying the republicans were ever “sane” is incorrect. The stability of the system was based on agreement to suppress women and people of color. Now that they have more say the system is crumbling

With the exception of the abolitionist, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt