Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the Homestead Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20th 1862.  This momentous legislation had been written by the Republican Speaker of the House, Galusha Grow, and passed by the GOP-controlled 37th Congress. This measure was in the platform of the 1860 Republican National Convention. One hundred sixty million acres of public land in the Plains states were allocated to more than a million homesteaders. They agreed to settle there and improve the land. Page 75 of   Back to Basics for the Republican Party   explains that Democrats had intended instead to use the area for slave plantations. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate the Emancipation Party's civil rights achievements. Even after Republicans had abolished slavery and extended citizenship to African-Americans, Democrats prevented most from voting. To overcome this Slavery Party evil, a GOP-controlled 41st Congress passed the 15th Amendment and Republican-controlled legislatures approved it. May 19th 1870, twenty thousand African-Americans paraded through Baltimore to celebrate ratification. They carried banners featuring President Ulysses Grant and Vice President Schuyler Colfax as well as African-American Republican leaders Frederick Douglass and Hiram Revels. There was also a statue of Abraham Lincoln. 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 futur...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republicans taking out the trash. May 19th 1862, the House of Representatives of the GOP-controlled 37th Congress impeached a Democrat federal judge. West Hughes Humphreys was a former Tennessee state legislator and attorney general. During the Civil War, this slave-owner had accepted a Confederate judgeship. Nonetheless, he did not bother to resign his U.S. government commission. Directing the prosecution was John Bingham, an Ohio Republican later principal author of the 14th Amendment. Within weeks, the Senate convicted Humphreys. President Abraham Lincoln replaced him with a Tennessee Unionist. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Watson Carvosso Squire, born May 18th 1838. Graduating from Wesleyan University, he became a secondary school principal. Outbreak of civil war, Squire enlisted as lieutenant with the 19th New York Volunteer Infantry. After several battles, he studied at Cleveland Law School. Late 1862, he re-enlisted as captain with the Ohio Sharpshooters. His regiment fought at Nashville and Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. Squire worked for the Remington Arms Company fourteen years. He moved to Seattle in 1879. President Chester Arthur named him territorial governor. Statehood achieved, the legislature elected him to first of two U.S. Senate terms. Achievements included developing the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards and, in retirement, founding two banks. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights his...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the origin of Air Force One. That designation refers to a call sign rather than a particular aircraft. May 18th 1954, a four-engine Lockheed Constellation with Dwight Eisenhower aboard was flying from DC to Charlotte. Its call sign was Air Force 8610, based on the plane’s tail number. Traffic control confused it with a nearby flight, Eastern Air Lines flight 8610. To avoid any repeat and possible tragedy, the Secret Service and the military decided that any flight carrying the President would be designated  Air Force One . 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 Vide...