Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I denounce Democrat devilry. August 21st 1863, Slavery Party militants attacked a town which been founded by anti-slavery activists. Hundreds of gunman descended upon Lawrence, Kansas. They slaughtered nearly two hundred men and boys. Among the dead was the Republican mayor. A friend of freedom targeted who managed to escape was James Lane, a Republican U.S. Senator. Another survivor was former slave Blanche Bruce, who went on to be a Republican U.S. Senator. Leading the assault was William Quantrill. He later plotted to murder President Abraham Lincoln. Decades later, Harry Truman delivered one of his first speeches where Quantrill's Raiders held their reunions. 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 abou...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight  The Prayer of Twenty Millions , an editorial published on August 20th 1862. Its author, Horace Greeley, criticized President Lincoln for not having yet issued an emancipation proclamation: "As the first servant of the Republic, charged especially and preeminently with this duty, that you EXECUTE THE LAWS… you are strangely and disastrously remiss in the discharge of your official and imperative duty with regard to the emancipating provisions of the new (Second) Confiscation Act. Those provisions were designed to fight Slavery with Liberty... All attempts to put down the Rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile." Page 71 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party  explains that Lincoln had already drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, but was waiting for a good opportunity to issue it. In the ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor George Noonan, born August 20th 1828. Age twenty-four, he moved from New Jersey to Texas and practiced law. The region where he settled was populated by German immigrants who opposed slavery. Though a Unionist, Noonan was elected a state judge during the Civil War. Peace restored, he joined the Republican Party and remained on the bench another three decades.   In 1894, Noonan won a term in the U.S. House of Representatives. His most influential supporter was George Jackson, a prominent African-American Republican and rancher. 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 I...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Mansfield Tyler, born into slavery on August 19th 1826. His master, a preacher and distant relative, permitted him a basic education – illegal at the time. Age eighteen, he was taken from Georgia to Alabama. After the Civil War, he became a preacher himself and for a decade presided over the state's Colored Baptist Church Convention. Tyler joined the Republican Party and in 1870 won for the state house. Twenty-six years, the "studious, industrious, devout, urbane" reverend chaired the board of trustees of Selma University. This institution conferred on him a Doctorate of Divinity "in recognition of his Christian manliness, his faithful labors, and his knowledge of the word of God." Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know abo...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Jacob Benton, born August 19th 1814. He taught school, then studied law. His political career began in the New Hampshire state house. He was delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention. During the Civil War, Benton was a brigadier general with the militia. Peace restored, he won two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Receiving his vote were GOP achievements including the Reconstruction Acts, the 15th Amendment and the [anti-] Ku Klux Klan 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 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 ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate our party’s respect for women’s rights. After being arrested in 1872, Susan B. Anthony boasted that she had voted for "the Republican ticket – straight." This event is explained on page 119 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party . August 18th 2000, Donald Trump hosted a ceremony on the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment. Introduced by a Republican Senator and passed by a GOP-controlled Congress, this landmark achievement guaranteed women the right to vote. There was a surprise: Today, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) posthumously to Susan B. Anthony, a peerless advocate for women’s suffrage, for a wrongful and unjust conviction stemming from the only vote she ever cast in an election. As we commemorate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment—known as the ...