Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I acclaim our Party's respect for human rights. October 5th 1988, President Ronald Reagan dedicated the cornerstone of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. "We gather here today, as we have been so eloquently told here, for a solemn, profound, saddening, and yet triumphant occasion. It's an occasion that commemorates all we've lost — the irreplaceable humanity whose monstrous end will ever testify to the hellish depths of human evil. But it's an occasion that commemorates something else as well, it commemorates the seriousness of our intention — as human beings, as Americans, and, in the case of many here today, as Jews — to keep the memory of the six million, fresh and enduring." "We who did not go their way owe them this. We must make sure their deaths have posthumous meaning. We must make sure that from now until the end of days al...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a memorial to our nation’s 19th President. In his hometown of Delaware, Ohio there stands a bronze statue of Rutherford Hayes . It was unveiled at a ceremony on October 4th – his birthday – 2019. The chief fundraiser said of him: "In addition to serving in our government, he volunteered for service in the Civil War despite having three children at home. He also supported the 15th Amendment granting freed African American men the right to vote and was an advocate for prison reform." And the sculptor commented: "You don’t rise from common stock, become a leading general and later president of the United States without a degree of audacity and swagger, and I wanted to project that strength. I put sadness in his eyes because of all that he had experienced during the Civil War. But I also wanted to project him as a visionary, gazing into the future as ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Rutherford Hayes , born near Columbus, October 4th 1822. The scholarly youth excelled at Harvard Law School. His legal practice in Cincinnati defended many slaves fleeing from Kentucky. He entered politics as city councilman. Outbreak of civil war, the Republican governor commissioned him major with the 23rd Ohio Infantry. Also in the regiment were future president William McKinley and future supreme court justice Stanley Matthews. Hayes survived a gunshot wound and rose to brigadier general. In 1864, the state GOP nominated him for Congress. Refusing to leave the battlefield for campaigning, he defeated a pro-Confederate Democrat. During his second term, Hayes was elected governor. Four years out of office, he again won the governorship. For the 1876 presidential election, Republicans found in Rutherford Hayes an ideal candidate –...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Erasmus Peck, born September 16th 1808. After studying medicine at Yale, he practiced in Ohio and won a state house term. During the Civil War, Peck served as Examining Surgeon for the army. This patriotic Republican won a congressional vacancy in 1870, then was re-elected. Receiving his vote were the [anti-] Ku Klux Klan Act and Yellowstone National Park. 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 Video about this article. Here is a TikTok Video about this article. Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party , a history of G...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Rush Clark, born October 1st 1834. He settled in Iowa after studying law and was elected to the state house. During the Civil War, a Republican governor commissioned him lieutenant colonel, tasked with recruiting volunteers and organizing them into regiments. Clark rose to be speaker. In 1876, he won election to Congress. During his second term, he fell ill on the House floor, dying later that day of meningitis. "a man of high sense of honor, irreproachable integrity, sterling patriotism" "ever thoughtful of the happiness and well-being of others " 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 .  He...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Leonard Hall, born on Long Island, October 2nd 1900. His father had been Theodore Roosevelt's coachman before serving as White House librarian. Age twenty-six, the ambitious attorney became a state representative. This was followed by two years as county sheriff. In 1938, he won first of seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. After election of Dwight Eisenhower, the RNC named Hall its Chairman. His tenure oversaw a flourishing of the party. After losing the gubernatorial nomination to Nelson Rockefeller, he was named envoy to the Brussels World’s Fair. said the President: "Leonard Hall has been a great Chairman. Under his guidance and direction, the Republican Party organization has been revitalized and reorganized. Today, largely through his efforts, the party is attracting many thousands of new ...