 The only time it did not vote Republican between 1856 and 1960 was in 1912 when the GOP was mortally divided and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt won a majority of the county's ballots.In 1964, when the Republican Party nominated the Southern-oriented Barry Goldwater, Henry County voted Democratic for the first time since 1852, but as was typical for Yankee counties it returned to the Republicans with the selection of the more moderate Richard Nixon.In the 1980s, the transition of the Republican Party into a party largely based around Southern Evangelicals severely alienated its historic Yankee base