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Edward Perkins, veteran African-American Ambassador

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Edward Perkins, born in Louisiana, June 8th 1928. After three years in the Army and the Marines four years, he earned a BA from University of Maryland, then an MA and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from University of Southern California. Perkins joined the Foreign Service during the Nixon administration. President Ronald Reagan named him Ambassador to Liberia and then to South Africa. President George H. Bush appointed him Director General of the Foreign Service, then Ambassador to the United Nations. His next assignment was Ambassador to Australia. 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...

Charles Bonaparte, eminent Republican Statesman

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Charles Bonaparte, born in Baltimore, June 9th 1851. His grandfather was the first Emperor Napoleon’s brother. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Bonaparte became a prominent activist with the National Municipal League, the Reform League, the Board of Indian Commissioners and the National Civil Service Reform League. He resolutely defended African-Americans from Democrat oppression. In a classic address at Catholic University, Bonaparte noted that "a scholar may be specially interested in some particular field of knowledge, but he is indifferent to none. He knows how to value every successful effort to master truth; how to look beyond the little things of science to the great things – God's handiwork as seen in nature, God's mind as shadowed in the workings of the minds of men." Twelve years a fr...

Alonzo Edgerton, resolute Republican Colonel and Senator and Judge

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Alonzo Edgerton, born in upstate New York, June 7th 1827. After graduating from Wesleyan University, he taught school while studying law. He relocated to Minnesota in 1855. While a county prosecutor, Edgerton won election to the state senate. Outbreak of civil war, he recruited a company of volunteers and enlisted as captain. Leadership ability merited promotion to Colonel of the 67th U.S. Colored Infantry. In 1871, a Republican governor named Edgerton railroad commissioner. This he followed with a state house term. In 1881, another Republican governor appointed him a U.S. Senator for seven months. President Benjamin Harrison named him to the federal bench. 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 De...

the Chicago Suffrage Parade

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the Chicago Suffrage Parade. That city was site of the 1916 Republican National Convention. June 7th, five thousand women braved a thunderstorm to march through downtown. Elevating the mood were a brass band and an elephant symbolizing the GOP.  They were welcomed at the auditorium by Republican Senator William Borah. Their goal was a platform plank in support of women’s right to vote. The convention did indeed endorse women’s suffrage. 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. He...

President Trump at the D-Day 75th Anniversary

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I extol President Donald Trump's speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day: "President Macron, Mrs. Macron, and the people of France; to the first lady of the United States and members of the United States Congress; to distinguished guests, veterans and my fellow Americans: We are gathered here on Freedom’s Altar. On these shores, on these bluffs, on this day 75 years ago, 10,000 men shed their blood, and thousands sacrificed their lives, for their brothers, for their countries and for the survival of liberty. Today, we remember those who fell, and we honor all who fought right here in Normandy. They won back this ground for civilization. 9,388 young Americans rest beneath the white crosses and Stars of David arrayed on these beautiful grounds. Each one has been adopted by a French family that thinks of him as their own. They come fro...

Israel Washburn, the first-ever Republican Congressman

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Israel Washburn, born June 6th 1813. The young attorney served in the Maine legislature. In 1850, as a Whig, he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives. During a second term, this civil rights activist played a pivotal role in formation of the Republican Party. Outraged by a Democrat scheme to extend slavery into the western territories, he chaired a meeting of thirty congressmen, who called on all friends of freedom to unite politically. Washburn was the first Member of Congress to declare himself a Republican. Civil war looming, Washburn won the governorship. His administration vigorously supported the Union military effort. President Abraham Lincoln later appointed him collector of customs. Israel had equally prominent brothers – a Congressman, a Senator, a Governor, an Ambassador, and a naval hero. He was eulogized as "a pillar of integrity, loyalty...

the Democrats' blacks-in-the-back-of-the-bus law

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate a major civil rights advance. June 5th 1956, Frank Johnson and another federal judge ruled in favor of Rosa Parks. The decision Browder v. Gayle struck down a notorious Democrat law. No longer in Montgomery, Alabama would Blacks have to ride in the back of the bus. Johnson, a life-long Republican, had been appointed to the federal bench by President Dwight Eisenhower. He went on to support Martin Luther King against racist Democrats. 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. Here is ...