Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Thomas Scanlan, born in Ireland, November 10th 1832. He resided in New York before moving to Houston at twenty-one and becoming a merchant. During the Civil War, he prospered by selling cotton across the Mexican border. Peace restored, Scanlan joined the Republican Party. A military governor named him city councilman in 1868 and mayor in 1870. He went on to be elected for two more terms. His administration emphasized infrastructure development. Various paving, drainage and construction projects were supervised personally. This conscientious mayor angered Democrats by hiring Black policemen. Later years, he invested in railroads, streetcars, and water and gas utilities. President Ulysses Grant named him postmaster. His estate financed the landmark Scanlan Building. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I  commemorate the Federal Aid Highway Act. President Warren Harding signed it on November 9th 1921. The bill had been introduced by Colorado Republican Senator Lawrence Phipps and passed by the GOP-controlled 67th Congress. States received 50-50 matching funds from the federal government, and were tasked with maintainance. Highways had a standard quality, with at least two lanes each way. And so began a nationwide system. Three decades later, the Eisenhower administration expanded this program on a vast scale. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Romeo Freer, born November 9th 1846. Enlisting with the 86th Ohio Infantry at fifteen, he was wounded at Battle of Gettysburg. Union restored, this young Republican relocated to West Virginia and studied law.  Freer was elected county prosecutor and cast an electoral vote for Ulysses Grant. The President appointed him Consul in Nicaragua, then land office register in New Mexico. Later years, he was state representative and judge. In 1898, Freer won a congressional term . There followed four years as the state’s attorney general. "He has always been recognized as a champion of the people, and no one can assert that he ever proved disloyal to his friends or betrayed a public trust."  Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The m...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor John Defrees, born in Tennessee, November 8th 1810. Age eight, he moved with his family to Ohio, later studying law with a future Governor and Congressman. He published the first newspaper in northern Indiana, then published the third newspaper in Michigan. Returning to Indiana, Defrees entered politics, winning a state house seat in 1840. Two years later, the Whig was elected to the state senate. In 1846, he bought what is now the Indianapolis Star . Defrees stood at the forefront of Hoosiers opposed to the pro-slavery Democratic Party. First to chair the Indiana GOP, originally known as the People's Party, he was delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention and helped write its platform. President Abraham Lincoln named him Public Printer, a highly influential official. During the Civil War, he vigorously denounced northern Democrat...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I admire Presidents who left our country better than they found it. November 8th 2019, the U.S. Embassy to Germany unveiled a statue of Ronald Reagan. Its rooftop location in Berlin overlooks where he delivered his famous "Tear down this wall" speech. Ambassador Rick Grenell commented that the President’s "willingness to defend people seeking greater freedom around the world remains an inspiration today to Germans, Americans and every human being." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo observed that "We stand on a piece of real estate that was part of the kill zone. It was a no man’s land... President Reagan was an indispensable leader of the signal American mission to defend unalienable rights." Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republican...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the Republican Party symbol, an elephant. According to page 35 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party : "elephants first became associated with the GOP during Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign." P osters during the Civil War depicting patriotic Republican elephants fighting treasonous Democrat donkeys. It was in 1874 that the elephant symbol became a permanent feature. November 7th , the New York Herald published a cartoon by Thomas Nast with an elephant representing the GOP. Republicans soon adopted the animal as their party’s symbol. 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....