Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I congratulate the Republican Party for its 1964 Civil Rights Act. This landmark legislation was based on the GOP’s 1960 Civil Rights Act, which was based on the GOP’s 1957 Civil Rights Act, which was based on the GOP’s 1875 Civil Rights Act, which was based on the GOP’s 1866 Civil Rights Act. Explained in  Back to Basics for the Republican Party , the 1964 Civil Rights Act was modeled after a draft bill devised by the Republican minority. Only later did Democrats come up with their watered-down version. May 13th, a conference held in the office of Republican Senator Everett Dirksen modified this proposed bill to overcome a Democrat-led filibuster. Along with most other political leaders and media at the time, President Lyndon Johnson credited Dirksen for getting the bill passed: "The Attorney General said that you were very he...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight an organization established by African-American Republicans Ida Wells, Mary Terrell and other civil rights activists. They vowed "to promote equality of rights and eradicate caste or race prejudice among citizens of the United States; to advance the interest of colored citizens; to secure for them impartial suffrage; and to increase their opportunities for securing justice in the courts, education for their children, employment according to their ability, and complete equality before the law." May 12th 1910, at its second annual meeting, the National Negro Committee voted to adopt a new name, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The term "colored" was selected to include all dark-skinned people. In later years, other names were considered – the New Abolitionists, the Lincoln Association and others – but NAACP it remai...

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 ...