Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republicans taking out the trash. May 19th 1862, the House of Representatives of the GOP-controlled 37th Congress impeached a Democrat federal judge. West Hughes Humphreys was a former Tennessee state legislator and attorney general. During the Civil War, this slave-owner had accepted a Confederate judgeship. Nonetheless, he did not bother to resign his U.S. government commission. Directing the prosecution was John Bingham, an Ohio Republican later principal author of the 14th Amendment. Within weeks, the Senate convicted Humphreys. President Abraham Lincoln replaced him with a Tennessee Unionist. 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Watson Carvosso Squire, born May 18th 1838. Graduating from Wesleyan University, he became a secondary school principal. Outbreak of civil war, Squire enlisted as lieutenant with the 19th New York Volunteer Infantry. After several battles, he studied at Cleveland Law School. Late 1862, he re-enlisted as captain with the Ohio Sharpshooters. His regiment fought at Nashville and Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. Squire worked for the Remington Arms Company fourteen years. He moved to Seattle in 1879. President Chester Arthur named him territorial governor. Statehood achieved, the legislature elected him to first of two U.S. Senate terms. Achievements included developing the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards and, in retirement, founding two banks. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights his...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the origin of Air Force One. That designation refers to a call sign rather than a particular aircraft. May 18th 1954, a four-engine Lockheed Constellation with Dwight Eisenhower aboard was flying from DC to Charlotte. Its call sign was Air Force 8610, based on the plane’s tail number. Traffic control confused it with a nearby flight, Eastern Air Lines flight 8610. To avoid any repeat and possible tragedy, the Secret Service and the military decided that any flight carrying the President would be designated  Air Force One . 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 Vide...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republican sagacity. May 17th 1860, the GOP’s national convention platform spoke for the ages: "The history of the nation has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Republican Party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph." "The maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, is essential to th...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor James Clarkson, born May 17th 1842. Age twelve, he relocated with his family from Indiana to Iowa. Youth focused on the printing trade and farming. He assisted some five hundred African-Americans escaping from slavery. Twice during the Civil War his enlistment was rejected for medical reasons. Peace restored, Clarkson co-founded the Des Moines National Bank. He was "an earnest promoter of the growth and prosperity of the town." It became a railroad hub on his initiative. President Ulysses Grant appointed him local postmaster. President Benjamin Harrison named him First Assistant Postmaster General. He later offered him the ambassadorship to Russia or China. Clarkson was delegate to six Republican National Conventions. He chaired the RNC in 1891 and 1892. President Theodore Roosevelt named him surveyor for the Port of New York. Back to Basics for ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor George Bates, born in Salem, Massachusetts on February 25th 1891. The young Republican was state representative, then mayor. In 1936, Bates won first of seven congressional terms. Lend-lease funding to the British military and food aid for British civilians early during WWII received his support. He died in an airliner crash near Washington DC in 1949. QUOTE – "He labored hard for the city of man without forfeiting his place in the city of God." "a man of expansive human sympathy, completely devoted to the public welfare, truly a great American" A son, William Bates, succeeded him and served nineteen years. Receiving his vote were the GOP’s 1957, 1960 and 1964 Civil Rights Acts. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republi...