Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Rutherford Hayes , born near Columbus, October 4th 1822. The scholarly youth excelled at Harvard Law School. His legal practice in Cincinnati defended many slaves fleeing from Kentucky. He entered politics as city councilman. Outbreak of civil war, the Republican governor commissioned him major with the 23rd Ohio Infantry. Also in the regiment were future president William McKinley and future supreme court justice Stanley Matthews. Hayes survived a gunshot wound and rose to brigadier general. In 1864, the state GOP nominated him for Congress. Refusing to leave the battlefield for campaigning, he defeated a pro-Confederate Democrat. During his second term, Hayes was elected governor. Four years out of office, he again won the governorship. For the 1876 presidential election, Republicans found in Rutherford Hayes an ideal candidate –...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Erasmus Peck, born September 16th 1808. After studying medicine at Yale, he practiced in Ohio and won a state house term. During the Civil War, Peck served as Examining Surgeon for the army. This patriotic Republican won a congressional vacancy in 1870, then was re-elected. Receiving his vote were the [anti-] Ku Klux Klan Act and Yellowstone National Park. 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 an Instagram Video about this article. Here is a TikTok Video about this article. Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party , a history of G...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Rush Clark, born October 1st 1834. He settled in Iowa after studying law and was elected to the state house. During the Civil War, a Republican governor commissioned him lieutenant colonel, tasked with recruiting volunteers and organizing them into regiments. Clark rose to be speaker. In 1876, he won election to Congress. During his second term, he fell ill on the House floor, dying later that day of meningitis. "a man of high sense of honor, irreproachable integrity, sterling patriotism" "ever thoughtful of the happiness and well-being of others " 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 .  He...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Leonard Hall, born on Long Island, October 2nd 1900. His father had been Theodore Roosevelt's coachman before serving as White House librarian. Age twenty-six, the ambitious attorney became a state representative. This was followed by two years as county sheriff. In 1938, he won first of seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After election of Dwight Eisenhower, the RNC named Hall its Chairman. His tenure oversaw a flourishing of the party. After losing the gubernatorial nomination to Nelson Rockefeller, he was named envoy to the Brussels World’s Fair. said the President: "Leonard Hall has been a great Chairman. Under his guidance and direction, the Republican Party organization has been revitalized and reorganized. Today, largely through his efforts, the party is attracting many thousands of new ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Patricia Diaz Dennis, born in New Mexico, October 2nd 1946. She studied at UCLA and Loyola Law School. Her career began at a law firm, followed by a utility and the American Broadcasting Company. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed Dennis to the National Labor Relations Board. Three years later, he named her to the Federal Communications Commission. She was Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs during the George H. Bush administration. In 2005, Girls Scouts of the USA named the former scout their chairperson. Dennis has been hailed as "a longstanding leader and groundbreaking role model." 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 futu...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate a visit by Dwight Eisenhower to the site of the GOP’s first-ever state convention. October 1st 1952, the presidential nominee and his wife Mamie visited seven Michigan cities in a day. One of those campaign stops was at Jackson. Forty thousand people gathered to see the presidential nominee. The mayor presented him with a wooden elephant he had carved. Eisenhower viewed a commemorative boulder where friends of freedom had gathered so long ago. "I had heard of the Republican rock. I always believed it was a lonely rock. I pictured it in the middle of a river or a lake or something. Instead, look what I found!" Four music bands then accompanied Eisenhower in a parade to a nearby park, where he gave a speech, mostly about foreign policy. Back to Basics for ...