Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the first convention of the Maryland Republican Party. April 26th 1860, thirty delegates gathered at an auditorium in Baltimore. Presiding was state chairman William Coale, a prominent physician. Montgomery Blair, a GOP co-founder, delivered the keynote address. He observed what "a great and holy cause the Republicans have undertaken to sustain." Democrat thugs surrounded the building and shut down the meeting before a platform could be adopted. Nonetheless, delegates were able to accomplish their most important task – selecting delegates for the upcoming Republican National Convention. During the Lincoln administration, Coale supervised a military hospital and Blair served as Postmaster General. Republicans held their 1864 national convention in Baltimore. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my c...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute John Routt, born April 25th 1826. Growing up in Illinois, he was a carpenter before being elected county sheriff. Outbreak of civil war, the patriotic Republican enlisted as captain with the state’s 94th Volunteer Infantry. His regiment fought at Vicksburg. Ulysses Grant promoted him to colonel. Peace restored, Routt won two terms as county treasurer. President Grant appointed him second assistant postmaster general, then U.S. Marshal. In 1875, he was named territorial governor of Colorado. The new governor oversaw preparations for statehood. Routt also promoted economic development and contended with lawlessness. In favor of women’s suffrage, he invited Susan B. Anthony on a speaking tour. Statehood achieved, Routt won the first two gubernatorial terms. He was delegate for three Republican National Conventions. Later, as a private citizen, investments in sil...

Grand Old Partisan salutes Benjamin Franklin Tracy, born in western New York, April 26th 1830. He began his career as a county prosecutor, and after establishing his local GOP, was re-elected. In 1862, Tracy won a state house seat. He recruited the 109th New York Infantry and commanded it at Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War. He later commanded the 127th (Colored) Infantry and then a prisoner of war camp. Union restored, Tracy served eleven years as a U.S. Attorney. In 1881, a Republican Governor appointed him to the court of appeals. President Benjamin Harrison named him Secretary of the Navy. His foremost achievement was advocating a two-ocean navy that could conduct operations around the world. As a result, the GOP-controlled 51st Congress authorized construction of four modern battleships. In 1898, Tracy chaired the commission to create a five-borough Greater New York City. He lost the subsequent m...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I contemplate the last photo of Abraham Lincoln. April 24th 1865, the President’s body was laid out in his coffin at City Hall in Manhattan. A local photographer was allowed to take pictures. An outraged Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, ordered all copies seized and destroyed. Not until 1952 was a copy discovered, at Springfield, Illinois. Stanton himself was the person who had saved it. Years later, his son gave the photo to Lincoln’s former aide, John Nicolay, who filed it away. 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 ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor James Rogers, the first African-American to be named National Teacher of the Year. He taught American history and black studies in Durham, North Carolina. At a White House ceremony — April 24, 1972 — he received a plaque from President Nixon's daughter, Julie. For the rest of his life, Rogers treasured a photo from that fine day. It is inscribed: To James Rogers, Jr. With happy memories of the Teacher of the Year ceremony and with best wishes always, Julie Nixon Eisenhower 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 ...