Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute William Henry Harrison Kelley, born May 12th 1836. The young farmer relocated from Ohio to Kansas. During the Civil War, he served as captain with the state’s 5th Cavalry. His regiment battled through Missouri and Arkansas. Union restored, Kelley was state representative and director of the penitentiary. President Rutherford Hayes named him to the federal land office. There followed two terms in the state senate. Next, a Re2publican governor appointed him to the livestock commission. In 1889, he won a U.S. House of Representatives vacancy. Receiving his vote were Sherman Antitrust Act, the Land-Grant Colleges Act and the Forest Reserve Act. 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 mo...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I praise Republican opposition to racial discrimination. May 11th 1959, Richard Nixon chaired a meeting of the President’s Committee on Government Contracts. This interagency body had been established by Dwight Eisenhower "for improving and making more effective the nondiscrimination provisions of government contracts." Four hundred religious leaders gathered at a prominent hotel in Washington, DC. At the Vice President’s invitation, Martin Luther King delivered the opening address: "The problem we are dealing with is part of a worldwide problem of man’s failure to apply Judeo-Christian ethics to his every day life. We need not look very far to see the injurious effect that discrimination in employment has upon the psychological and moral life of the victims. To deny any group honest work and fair pay is not only immoral, it is almost mu...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Faith Evans, born in Hawaii , May 11th 1937. Her career began as a registered nurse at a Honolulu hospital. The revered Republican won three state house terms.  In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed her a U.S. Marshal. A decade of service included making court-ordered arrests and transferring federal prisoners. Later years, she was public relations director for an addiction treatment center. At her death in 2014, flags were lowered to half-staff. 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. ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of independence, it was the first World’s Fair held in the United States. Over six months, ten million visitors attended, with participation by thirty-seven countries. On display were innovations in agriculture, art, education and science, horticulture, machinery, manufactures, and mining and metallurgy. This undertaking had been the brainchild of three Republican congressmen: William Kelley, Daniel Morrell and Joseph Hawley. Authorization had been passed by the GOP-controlled 41st Congress. Opening day – May 10th – President Ulysses Grant pressed a button to start a steam engine that powered the facilities. He then addressed an immense crowd: "It has been thought appropriate, upon this centennial occasion, to bring together ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Charles Van Wyck, born in Poughkeepsie, May 10th 1824. He studied law after graduating from Rutgers and was elected county prosecutor. In 1858, he won first of two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He narrowly escaped assassination after delivering a speech that denounced slavery as a "crime against the laws of God and nature."  Outbreak of civil war, Van Wyck enlisted as colonel of the 56th New York Infantry. He was wounded fighting in the Peninsula campaign. Peace restored, his constituents elected him twice more. In 1874, Van Wyck moved to Nebraska. He attended a constitutional convention and won three state senate terms. In 1881, the legislature elected the gallant Republican a U.S. Senator. Lamentably, he closed out his career as Populist candidate for governor, losing to the GOP's nominee. Back to Basics for the R...