How the Know-Nothings, Free Soilers and other third parties shaped US politics

Elon Musk’s plan to create a new political party puts him in the company of a long line of business and political titans looking to upend the two-party system that has dominated U.S. politics since almost the beginning. From the Anti-Masonic Party in the early 1800s to last year’s ill-fated No Labels, nascent political parties have been a near-constant feature of U.S. politics. Some are impactful, others ephemeral, but few endure for long. Though the Republican and Democratic parties have had a lock on political power since the Civil War, they have remade themselves over and over, often when faced with the prospect of losing voters to third parties.