Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute John Wesley Powell, born in New York, March 24th 1834. His farming family moved to Ohio, then Wisconsin, then Illinois. He studied at three colleges and conducted scientific surveys throughout Middle America. Outbreak of civil war, the abolitionist enlisted in the 20th Illinois Infantry, then transferred to the 2nd Illinois Artillery. A bullet wound at Shiloh took his right arm. Remaining in the army, Major Powell fought at Vicksburg and Atlanta. He was among mourners who met President Lincoln's funerary train in Chicago. Peace restored, he taught geology at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University. Powell also curated the state natural history museum. In 1867 and 1868, the tireless professor and his students explored the Rocky Mountains. They collected "a vast amount of material, ranging from rocks to butterflies....

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I memorialize the adventures of Theodore Roosevelt. March 23rd 1909, the former president departed New York City for Africa. He was accompanied by son Kermit and several employees of the Smithsonian Institution. Their purpose was to provide exhibits for the Museum of Natural History, then under construction.  They collected eleven thousand animal specimens and ten thousand other items of scientific interest. The ten-month safari visited Kenya, Congo, South Sudan and Uganda. The event was popularized with toys and knickknacks. Responding to criticism for shooting so many animals, he said: "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned." Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute John Kelso, born near Columbus, March 23rd 1831. He relocated as a child to Missouri. His profession was schoolteacher.  Outbreak of civil war, the young Republican enlisted in a Unionist militia regiment and scouted rebel positions. Captain Kelso fought in several battles. In 1864, he won a term in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 13th Amendment and the 1866 Civil Rights Act received his vote. 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. H...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Tom McCall, born March 22nd 1913. After earning a journalism degree from the University of Oregon, he worked as a newspaper reporter and radio announcer. He served aboard a cruiser in the Pacific during WWII. McCall entered the political arena with three years working for a Republican governor. A decade after losing for Congress, he was elected secretary of state. In 1966, he won first of two terms as governor. His administration successfully balanced conservatism and environmentalism. McCall chaired the state delegation at the GOP's 1972 National Convention. Ronald Reagan called him "an effective, dynamic and constructive force for Oregon and the nation."  Tom McCall Waterfront Park and other sites are named in his honor. By act of the legislature, every March 22nd is  Tom McCall Day . Back to Basics ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate origin of the modern-day Mississippi Republican Party. Ever since Reconstruction, the state GOP had been divided between two factions. And both were small and ineffectual. This sad situation ended March 22nd 1956, at a convention held in the Hinds County Courthouse. Delegates from the Young Republicans united with delegates from Citizens for Eisenhower to gain control over the central committee. This achievement "brought the organization home, for the first time putting responsibility for the party’s management into the hands of those who lived, worked, and raised their families in Mississippi." Elected chairman was businessman Wirt Yerger. He called his victory "the ultimate break with the old-line, racist Southern Democrats who didn't know whether they wanted to be liberal or conservative, but were vocally committed to keeping lo...