Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor John Mott, born near Raleigh, May 7th 1834. He studied medicine in Philadelphia, then returned home to set up a practice. During the Civil War, he opposed the Confederacy, being steadfast in zeal for the Union. Peace restored, this entrepreneurial-minded doctor managed a railroad. Political involvement began in 1866, with election to the state house. Mott joined the North Carolina GOP at its formation. President Ulysses Grant appointed him a federal tax collector. Starting in 1876, he chaired the state party ten years. Under his firm leadership, Republicans strongly contested Democrat dominance and oppression. At times, he allied with Populists to win close elections. Miffed at having lost out for a U.S. Senate nomination, Mott endorsed the Democrats’ 1896 presidential nominee. Later years, he promoted hydroelectric inve...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the 1960 Civil Rights Act. Dwight Eisenhower signed the bill on May 6th. This law improved on the Republican Party's 1957 Civil Rights Act. Republican House Leader Charles Halleck and Republican Senate Leader Everett Dirksen deserve much of the credit for passage. Slavery Party opposition was considerable. In contrast, all Republican Senators and all but fifteen Republican Representatives voted in favor. Page 188 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party  explains that at the President's insistence, it made "any obstruction of voting rights a federal crime." Another measure extended the tenure of the Civil Rights Commission. In a signing statement, President Eisenhower lamented that Democrats had blocked his recommendation for better enforcement provisions. This would have to wait for the 1964 Civil Rights ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republican reverence for religion. May 6th 1955, Dwight Eisenhower addressed the Washington Hebrew Congregation, in the nation’s capital. The occasion was dedication of a new 2200-seat synagogue. said the President: "God gave rights to you and your neighbor. It is well to remember this also: you may not protect those rights only for yourself; you must protect them for all, or your own will be lost. "A few moments ago, before this service began. I was privileged to meet some of the distinguished members of this congregation in the library. Several of them voiced a word of amazement that the President of the United States should attend a service of a faith not his own and in spite of other preoccupations come both to the religious service and to the dedication of this great temple. I personally think that this is natura...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute William Parker, born in New Hampshire, May 5th 1847. Age fourteen, he enlisted in the Union army. Battlefield courage merited promotion to lieutenant. Peace restored, he studied at George Washington University and practiced law in the nation’s capital.  President Ulysses Grant named him federal tax collector for Colorado, and later, U.S. Attorney for the territory. In 1877, Parker moved to Deadwood, South Dakota. This adventurous Republican was delegate to the territorial constitutional convention. He also served in the legislature. Statehood achieved in 1889, Parker won election to the state house. He was elected to Congress in 1906, serving a year before death. It was observed of him: "In the performance of duty none can stand higher." Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Repu...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Evan Kemp, born in New York City, May 5th 1937. At age twelve began the symptoms of muscular atrophy. Despite this misfortune, he graduated from Washington and Lee University and University of Virginia School of Law. Kemp worked at the Internal Revenue Service and then the Securities and Exchange Commission. He won a lawsuit against the SEC for being refused a promotion on account of using a wheelchair. Leaving government employ in 1980, he became executive director of the Disability Rights Center. Ronald Reagan named him to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and George H. Bush elevated him to chairman.  Kemp was instrumental in passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by President Bush. He died in 1997, "satisfied that he had helped to make the world a bit more accepting of people like him." B...