Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan salutes James Madison Wells, born near Shreveport, January 7th 1808. He studied in Connecticut and Kentucky and at Cincinnati Law School, before returning home to manage the family plantations. Years later, a Whig governor appointed him county sheriff. Wells denounced secession, and during the Civil War fought against Confederates. Escaping to Union-controlled territory, he organized the Unconditional Union Club of West Louisiana. In 1864, this patriot won the lieutenant governorship. Twelve months later, the governor resigned when the GOP-controlled Unionist legislature elected him a U.S. Senator. Deeming that action premature, Congress refused to seat him. Nonetheless, Wells became Governor. Though not fully supportive of civil rights for African-Americans, he did insist on their right to vote. Under provisions of the Reconstruction Act, General Phillip Sheridan removed him from office for failing to quell Democrat rioting. ...

Grand Old Partisan commend the GOP’s dedication to advancing freedom. January 6th 1864, Representative Isaac Arnold spoke for all Republicans, then and now. The title of his speech: the Power, Duty, and Necessity of Destroying Slavery "You can have no permanent peace while slavery lives. Your contest with it is to the death. Your implacable enemy now reels and staggers. Strike the decisive blow. You could not if you would, and you ought not if you could, make terms of compromise with slavery." Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see  www.grandoldpartisan.com .  Here is a  YouTube Video  about this article. Here is a  TikTok Video  about this article. Here is an  Instagram Video  about this article. Here is my  Substack ...

Grand Old Partisan honors Charles Sumner, born in Boston, January 6th 1811. This skilled orator graduated from Harvard Law School. He is one of four heroes on the cover of Back to Basics for the Republican Party .  In 1851, a coalition of Free Soil Party and Whig Party and a few Democrats elected him to the U.S. Senate. When the Republican Party formed, Sumner convinced many congressmen to join this Grand New Party. In 1856, a Democrat congressman beat him nearly to death on the Senate floor for speaking against slavery. During the Civil War, Senator Sumner avidly backed the Lincoln administration and was a close family friend. While chairing the Foreign Relations Committee, he, not Secretary of State Seward, was most responsible for avoiding war with Britain over the Trent Affair. At a meeting with Andrew Johnson to plead for the rights of emancipated slaves, that Democrat President showed his disdain for African...

Grand Old Partisan spotlights a Republican contribution to what would become the Equality State . January 5th 1865, Representative James Ashley introduced legislation to establish a territorial government for the area south of Montana and north of Colorado. He proposed naming it "Wyoming" – after the scenic valley in Pennsylvania popularized by a famous poem. Congress did not take action on his bill for more than three years, but the name stuck. Other names were considered – Lincoln and Cheyenne and Shoshone, among others – but Wyoming it would be. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see  www.grandoldpartisan.com .  Here is a  YouTube Video  about this article. Here is a  TikTok Video  about this article. Here is an...

Grand Old Partisan honors George Washington Carver, born on a Missouri slave plantation during the Civil War. He attended elementary school in Kansas and secondary school in Minnesota. Artistic appreciation for plants led him to study botany at Iowa State University. His best friend there was professor James Wilson. This former Republican Congressman later popularized his scientific advances while serving as Secretary of Agriculture for three Republican Presidents. Carver wrote a thesis on human modification of plants. He remained at Iowa State for a master’s degree, then joined the faculty. His research on plant diseases earned him nationwide respect. In 1897, Republican civil rights activist Booker T. Washington hired Carver to head the agricultural department at Tuskegee Institute. Over forty-seven years, the "Black Leonardo" made countless beneficial discoveries. Especially noteworthy were industrial uses for the peanut. He advocated c...

"a man of education and culture and character, an all-weather Republican, strong with the people of his race and an honor to them" Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than SEVENTEEN decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Robert Pelham, born in Virginia, January 4th 1859. While studying in Detroit, he began editing a newspaper owned by a Republican Senator. He later published his own newspaper, which promoted political activism by African-Americans. Organizations receiving his support were the National Afro-American League and the American Negro Academy. Pelham held several important government posts, such as oil inspector and water inspector. Sergeant-at-arms for the 1896 Republican National Convention, President William McKinley named him to the federal land office. Thirty-seven years at the census bureau, he invented tabulating machines and rose to head a statistics department. After retiring, this virtuoso published a newspaper focused on the ...