Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the Connecticut GOP’s first convention. A preliminary meeting in February 1856 had called for Republicans "to oppose the extension of Slavery and resist all attempts to convert it into a national interest, when the Constitution recognizes it only as a local and State institution; to maintain the rightful jurisdiction of the Union, over the Territories, and to defend the rights of the people therein." March 12th, delegates met at Union Hotel in Hartford to establish an organizational structure. They named insurance executive James Bunce central committee chairman. He then served as delegate for the national convention.  The platform was brief yet powerful. "You have been appointed to responsible duties in the cause of freedom. Action — prompt, energetic, decisive action — is demanded. "O...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Gale Norton, born in Wichita, March 11th 1954. Education was from University of Denver and University of Denver Law School. Initially a Libertarian, she became a Republican during the Reagan administration. Norton worked at the free-market Hoover Institution, then at the Department of Agriculture. Her next position was Associate Solicitor at the Department of the Interior. In 1990, she won first of two terms as Colorado's attorney general. "I believe strongly that we need to get beyond rhetoric, beyond industry and environmentalists fighting with each other, and seriously solve problems." President George W. Bush named her Secretary of the Interior. Norton took pride in being the "leading advocate for expanding oil and gas drilling and other industrial interests in the West." Following this, she worked for an...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight Republican support for technological advancement. In 1901, the GOP-controlled 56th Congress passed a law for establishing a National Institute of Standards and Technology, to oversee weights and measures. The bill had been introduced by Republican Representative James Southard. March 11th, President William McKinley appointed Samuel Stratton the agency’s first director. Treasury Secretary Lyman Gage asked tasked this eminent physicist with drafting the legislation. Until the Reagan administration, the NIST was known as the National Bureau of Standards. 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  ww...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Harriet Tubman, born enslaved on Maryland’s eastern shore. Having escaped northward in her twenties, she returned home several times to rescue relatives and other African-Americans. During the Civil War, Tubman served as scout for Union forces. Senator William Seward sold her land, at a discount, as a residence for freedmen. A friend recalled: "I remember very clearly Harriet saying, and repeating, very often, that she did not know Lincoln. It was a deep sorrow and regret of her later years. She never recovered from that in any way." Years later, President William McKinley obtained for her a military pension. Tubman also worked for women’s voting rights alongside Republican suffragists. She died on March 10th 1913. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute John Martin, born March 10th 1839. He apprenticed as printer for a Pittsburgh newspaper. Age nineteen, the anti-slavery activist relocated to Kansas and published his own newspaper,  Freedom's Champion . Martin helped establish both the state GOP and the state government. He was delegate for the 1860 Republican National Convention and a state senator.   Outbreak of Civil War, a Republican governor commissioned him lieutenant colonel of the 8th Kansas Infantry. His regiment fought at Perryville, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge. Promoted to colonel, he was elected mayor of Atchison. Martin chaired his county GOP, attended several more national conventions and served as national committeeman. He founded the Kansas Historical Society. Enthusiastic support by military veterans won him the governorship in 1884 and 1886. H...