Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I attest to Republican virtue and Democrat vice. June 25th 1868, the GOP-controlled 40th Congress passed the Omnibus Southern States Admission Act. Democrat President Andrew Johnson had vetoed it, but Republicans voted to override. Under this law, for re-admittance to the Union, secessionist states would have to ratify the 14th Amendment and guarantee civil rights of African-Americans. This is why Johnson objected. Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Arkansas were soon re-admitted. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute James Edwards, born near Jacksonville, June 24th 1927. After serving in the navy during WWII, he studied dentistry and set up a practice in Charleston. While a Republican congressional district chairman, Edwards narrowly lost a special election for the House of Representatives. He then was elected state senator. In 1974, he won the governorship. A highlight of his tenure was the Education Finance Act. President Ronald Reagan appointed him Secretary of Energy. This he followed with seventeen years as president of the Medical University of South Carolina. Edwards was eulogized as "a Palmetto gentleman who sought only the best solutions for his community, state, and nation." Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know ab...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight origin of the Republican Elephant and Democrat Donkey. Page 35 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party  explains that elephants first became associated with the GOP during Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign. The donkey symbol began with depicting the first Democrat president, Andrew Jackson, as a jackass. June 24th 1862, those two symbols appeared together for the first time. The midterm election campaign underway, a poster showed a patriotic Republican elephant protecting the nation from a treasonous Democrat donkey. The donkey is named Jeff, for Jefferson Davis – the Confederate president and former Democrat senator. He leads an army of rebel jackasses. 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 w...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor John Jay, grandson of the famous Founder, born June 23rd 1817. He was elected president of the New York Young Men's Antislavery Society. While in private legal practice, Jay defended many escaped slaves, working on a celebrated case with future Republican President Chester Arthur. He presided at several Free Soil conventions and was that party's candidate for state attorney general. In 1855, he co-founded the New York GOP. Jay observed: "The platform of the Republicans, as adopted at Philadelphia on the 18th of June, 1856, is at once so simple and comprehensive as to admit all Americans, who are in favor of restoring the Government to the principles of Washington, and putting a final stop to the extension of slavery, without compromising their individual preferences, on the other political questions which naturally exist in our government, but...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Arthur Mellette, born near Indianapolis, June 23rd 1842. Outbreak of civil war, he enlisted with the 9th Indiana Infantry. Peace restored, he studied law and was elected county attorney. Next, this young Republican won two state house terms. Mellette relocated to Dakota Territory in search of a healthier climate for his ailing wife. As the territory's Republican National Committeeman, he supported Benjamin Harrison, a friend from way back, for the 1888 presidential nomination.  The incoming chief executive named him Governor of Dakota Territory. Upon statehood, he was elected Governor of South Dakota. Mellette County is named for him. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Barbara Vucanovich, born June 22nd 1921. Her father was an army general from New York and her mother, a Mexican-American from California. Age twenty-eight, she relocated to Nevada. Vucanovich volunteered for Paul Laxalt’s unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1964 and his successful 1974 campaign, then worked at his district office. She was delegate at two Republican National Conventions. In 1982, this "warm-hearted trailblazer" won first of seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. She helped write the Contract with America . GOP colleagues named her to a leadership position, conference secretary. 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.grandold...