Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Leonidas Dyer, born June 11th 1871. He studied law at Washington University and practiced in St. Louis. This conscientious Republican activist earned acclaim for opposing racist Democrat policies. Dyer served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, on the military staff of a future Republican Governor. In 1910, he won first of eleven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1922, Dyer introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime. Charles Curtis, a future Republican Vice President, sponsored a companion measure in the Senate. This legislation would also have made illegal state or local officials permitting someone to be lynched. Despite support from President Warren Harding, Democrats in the U.S. Senate defeated it with a filibuster. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The mo...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republicans’ leading role in securing for women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was passed by the GOP-controlled 66th Congress. It then went to the states for ratification. June 10th 1919, first to ratify was Illinois. Both houses of the legislature had Republican majorities. Within hours, Wisconsin and Michigan followed. Ratification came in fourteen months, despite strenuous Democrat opposition. 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 about this article. ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate a telecommunications milestone. June 10th 1924 began the 18th Republican National Convention, at Cleveland's public auditorium. It was the first political national convention broadcast over the radio. By then, three million American homes had radios. AT&T set up an informal network with sixteen stations: "An announcer will be in constant attendance with concise and vivid descriptions of the events taking place in the Convention Hall and explanations of the significance of what is going on. The announcer will introduce the various speakers so that the entire matter will be an interesting broadcasting program." New York City stations assembled a rival radio network for the three-day event. Republicans utilized the new medium much more effectively than Democrats. The GOP set up it own radio station, ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain, at Union Station in Washington DC. This project began as an initiative by the Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus. Funding was passed by the GOP-controlled 59th Congress and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. June 8th 1912, more than fifty thousand people gathered for the dedication. In attendance were the Italian and Spanish ambassadors, the papal nuncio, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, Cabinet officers, and other dignitaries. After opening remarks by the Knights of Columbus national director, President William Howard Taft observed: "It is most appropriate in this beautiful place in which the visitor to the country’s capital first sets foot upon the small district that is the only territory in which this great government exercises exc...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I hail Eugene Hale, born June 9th 1836. After nine years as county prosecutor, in 1867 he was elected to the Maine legislature. Following year, he won first of five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Receiving his vote were the [anti-] Ku Klux Klan Act, Yellowstone National Park, and the 1875 Civil Rights Act. Hale declined nomination for Postmaster General from President Ulysses Grant. President Rutherford Hayes offered to appoint him Secretary of the Navy. In 1881, the legislature elected him to first of five U.S. Senate terms. Hale married the daughter of Zachariah Chandler, co-founder of the Republican Party. One of his sons also became a U.S. Senator and another, Third Assistant Secretary of State in the William Howard Taft administration. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of ...