Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Kenneth Wherry, born in Nebraska, February 28th 1892. After attending the state university and Harvard Business School, he served in the Navy Flying Corps during WWI. Returning home, this go-getter was salesman and rancher and undertaker and attorney. Wherry entered politics as town councilman, then mayor, then state senator. He later chaired the state GOP. In 1942, he won election to the U.S. Senate and rose to Minority Leader. General Eisenhower invited him to witness evidence of Nazi atrocities. Wherry denounced "creeping socialism" of the Truman administration. Cancer struck him down partway through his second term. He was eulogized as "a valiant fighter for the American way of life." 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 spotlight one of the most important photographs in American history. Abraham Lincoln claimed it helped make him President. Page 34 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party   explains: "Contention for the Republican presidential nomination already underway, Lincoln traveled to New York City, February 27th 1860, to deliver a major address at the Cooper Union. Calmly, logically and convincingly, he demolished the Democrat position on slavery by outlining the history of the crisis from the very origins of the country." Earlier that day, Lincoln had visited a photography studio. There, the renowned Mathew Brady made a classic portrait that would be published throughout the country. It depicted the relatively unknown lawyer as the wise and dignified statesman he truly was. The column symbolized strength and the books, knowledge. Back to Basics for the Rep...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I laud John Locke Scripps, born in Missouri, February 27th 1818. He practiced law before co-founding the Chicago Tribune and working as chief editor. His political allegiance was to the anti-slavery Free Soil Party until the Republican Party emerged. During the 1860 presidential campaign, Scripps published a sixteen thousand word biography of Abraham Lincoln. It helped get him elected. Sources were interviews with the Republican nominee and his associates as well as press accounts of various events. President Lincoln named him postmaster at Chicago. Scripps innovated the practice of distributing mail by streetcar. He and his wife were friends of the First Couple. His cousin Edward established the Scripps media company. John Locke Scripps was remembered as "a man of high scholarly attainments, great purity of character and amiable disposition." Back to B...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Daniel Hastings, born in Pennsylvania, February 26th 1849. Three times, this under-age teen tried to enlist in the Union Army. After working the family farm, he became a high school principal and studied law. Business ventures included coal mining and banking and editing the  Bellefonte Republican  newspaper. Hastings entered politics managing a friend's congressional campaign. He chaired the state GOP's 1887 convention and nominated Senator John Sherman for the presidency at the 1888 Republican National Convention. Over the years, diligence with the state militia brought him to the rank of adjutant general. Effective leadership of recovery efforts after the Jonestown Flood garnered him renown. In 1896, Hastings won the governorship. Highlights of his administration included appointing the first judges to the state supreme court, creating...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I acclaim James O’Hara, born in New York City, February 26th 1844, to a West Indian mother and Irish father. He relocated to North Carolina during the Civil War as a school teacher affiliated with the AME church. O’Hara studied law at Howard University, then returned to attend the North Carolina state constitutional convention. While serving on the NCGOP central committee, he won a state house term and chaired his county board of commissioners. Twice, "pure Democrat villainy" cheated him out of election to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1882, O’Hara won first of two terms. Civil rights legislation was his priority. He succeeded in mandating that female schoolteachers in Washington, DC be paid equally to their male counterparts. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight the Wide Awakes, renowned Republican marching clubs that played an important role in the 1860 presidential election. Their name showed vigilance against the pro-slavery Democrats. Wearing spectacular uniforms, GOP activists held torchlit parades throughout northern states to boost enthusiasm for the Lincoln-Hamlin ticket. This movement began on February 25th, when twelve young Republicans escorted anti-slavery activist Cassius Clay to speak at an event in Hartford, Connecticut. They were able to protect him from attack by Democrat thugs. March 5th, hundreds of Wide Awakes protected Abraham Lincoln at a rally in Hartford. Their appearance caused such an impact that similar groups soon arose. Twenty thousand Wide Awakes marched in New York City, ten thousand in Chicago, and so on. In total, there were some three hundred thousand Wide Awakes. ...