gop leaders unleash stun level vitriol party successful presidential candidate house speaker paul ryan r-wis. emphatically declare last week ready endorse donald trump party presumptive presidential nominee move unprecedented modern american history trump response ryan may need replace head republican national convention ryan rebuke remind americans trump deeply unpopular particularly among significant number powerful republicans former gop presidential nominee mitt romney belittle gop new leader moral cretin unfit standard bearer former president george w. bush father president george h.w bush say attend gop convention cleveland attack however nothing new political elders lambast party lead presidential contenders throughout u.s. history big difference battle play public past attack largely party backrooms behind close doors sure serious break act public dire result president theodore roosevelt example realize 1912 progressive agenda abandon choose successor william howard taft tr challenge taft republican primaries stand armageddon roosevelt thunder convention battle lord taft prevail roosevelt bolt party run third-party candidate 1912 progressive party ticket ultimately democratic nominee woodrow wilson case however internecine bloodletting take place private preserve appearance party unity make easy heal rifts 1944 republican nominee thomas dewey ignore former president herbert hoover important state funeral october draw national leader ire dewey inner reservoir knowledge draw think hoover sneer friend man wear mustache like without affect mind hoover though seek keep beliefs private former presidents keep mum even see nominee threat legacy 1964 example former president dwight d. eisenhower much regard senator barry goldwater conservative firebrand repudiate eisenhower presidency dime-store new deal nonetheless eisenhower give halt support party anti-goldwater force despite eisenhower contempt arizonan become republican nominee lose landslide president lyndon b. johnson four years early democratic power broke reticent view senator john f. kennedy party lead candidate 1960 conservative inexperienced dislike campaign role joseph kennedy jfk father controversial past addition party leaders worry jfk could win national office catholic primaries truman titular head party tell tv news conference nominee great possible maturity experience -- clear dig jfk relative youth former president beseech party hold broke convention find way avoid nominate kennedy eventually however truman endorse kennedy general election reason gop nominee richard m. nixon bad adlai stevenson democratic nominee 1952 1956 also refuse back kennedy primary even kennedy promise name stevenson secretary state could persuade still party elders scathing criticism jfk confine backroom conversations senate majority leader lyndon b. johnson also want nomination privately mock kennedy scrawny little fellow rickets johnson urge eisenhower oppose kennedy primary contest call senate nobody dangerous man johnson efforts stop kennedy air country real time fact 1960 demonstrate democratic elders able prevent serious rifts destroy party chance secure nomination jfk offer lbj accept second slot ticket resentment party elders toward party nominees often root sense candidate repudiate mentor record 1960 gop presidential race example eisenhower resent vice president nixon implication would offer robust leadership close election day ike ask name instance nixon advice influence presidential decision give week eisenhower reply might think one reverse situation vice president al gore seek distance president bill clinton 2000 presidential campaign gore declare announcement would provide moral leadership defend american family not-so-subtle knock clinton sexual relationship white house intern monica lewinsky bitterness two men fester gore never ask clinton campaign gore lose george w. bush clinton upbraid former vice president run lame visionless campaign current spectacle former senator bob dole likely past republican presidential nominee come convention endorse party standard bearer partly function trump scorched-earth multi-media campaign attack level personally real-time via twitter cable news wound deep could hard heal trump presidential primary campaign apotheosis anti-washington mood grip presidential politics since jimmy carter 1976 white house run one reason trump vanquish foes run gop leadership out-of-touch inept play even party elders less power shape national ticket outsiders ability tear anything smack washington politics-as-usual republican-on-republican hit trump main rival ted cruz contribute fray gop anti-trump former presidents well current former party chairmen congressional leaders much stake fight see legacies party future professional identities power recent decades party elders cling increasingly tenuous position think former majority leader eric cantor lose primary election sarah palin recently note former house speaker john boehner unable control party tea party wing boehner still incense call senator ted cruz r-tex lucifer flesh see ryan trump ferocious public attack could yet come back haunt unlike many past presidential primaries rift might prove irreparable commentary party leaders often dislike nominee public vitriol new