Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Samuel Crawford, born April 10th 1835. Graduating from Cincinnati Law School, he relocated to Kansas. He attended the state GOP's founding convention and won election to the legislature. Outbreak of civil war, Crawford enlisted as captain with the 2nd Kansas Infantry. His regiment battled through Missouri and Oklahoma. He was promoted and assigned to command the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and then the 2nd Kansas (Colored) Infantry. September 1864, the twenty-nine year old colonel was nominated for governor. Returning home to accept the nomination, Crawford soon volunteered for active duty to help Union forces repel a Confederate incursion. He won the election while in the field. His administration oversaw economic growth and infrastructure development. He easily won re-election. A day after his successor was elected, Crawford resigned in order to ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Francis Stockbridge, born April 9th 1826. He clerked at a Boston dry goods store before opening a lumberyard in Chicago. Age twenty-five, the ambitious entrepreneur built sawmills at Kalamazoo. His business interests extended to manufacturing and mining. In 1882, Stockbridge bought much of Mackinac Island, in order to construct a magnificent hotel. He assembled a railroad and a steamship company and a management company for the project, then selected the architect and approved the design. Made famous by the movie  Somewhere in Time , this Grand Hotel is a national treasure. Stockbridge served in both houses of the legislature. In 1887, this entrepreneurial Republican won first of two terms as U.S.Senator. Colleagues knew him to be "intelligent and painstaking legislator, wise and safe counselor, truest of friends." Back to Basics for ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Lafayette Head, born April 9th 1825. He settled in New Mexico after fighting several battles along with the 2nd Missouri Infantry during the Mexican war. President Millard Fillmore appointed him a U.S. Marshal. He later served in the territorial legislature. Establishment of Colorado in 1861 placed his ranch and flour mill in that territory. Head accompanied a delegation of Utes and Apaches to meet President Lincoln. He helped build the state’s oldest Catholic church. Head won election to the Colorado territorial legislature and wrote part of the state constitution. Upon statehood in 1876, this Republican businessmen was elected Lieutenant Governor. He attended the GOP’s 1880 national convention. 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 t...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Walter Harriman, born in New Hampshire, April 8th 1817. He became a preacher after five years teaching school. The young Democrat served in both houses of the legislature. During the Civil War, a Republican Governor commissioned him Colonel of the state’s 11th Volunteer Infantry. He led his regiment at many battles in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia. Peace restored, Harriman joined the GOP and was elected secretary of state. In 1867, he won first of two gubernatorial terms. Priorities of his administration were economic development, public education and fiscal responsibility. President Grant named him Naval Officer for the Port of Boston. 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 appreciate Republicans who established the oldest hospital in the nation's capital, Providence. Battlefield casualties filling up the Washington Infirmary during the Civil War, there was need for a civilian hospital. Invited by President Lincoln, nuns from the Daughters of Charity began tending to District residents in June 1861. The GOP-controlled 37th Congress appropriated initial funding. The GOP-controlled 38th Congress passed a charter for Providence Hospital, and President Lincoln signed it into law on April 8th 1864. Site of the original building, razed decades ago, is now Providence Park on Capitol Hill. The more recent facility, from 1956, is in DC's Brookland neighborhood. 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 th...

Grand Old Partisan spotlights an incident unreported by the media at the time. April 7th 1968, Richard Nixon met with Coretta Scott King to offer his condolences. Her husband, Martin Luther King, had been murdered three days earlier. A family member took photographs, then the two chatted privately fifteen minutes. They had known each other since meeting in 1957. Nixon attended the funeral later that day. 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. Michael Zak is author of  Back to Basics...