Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Jesse Dwight Locker, born in Cincinnati, May 31st 1891. He earned undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University. Back home, the young attorney worked as a janitor while building his practice. Locker led the North Ward Progressive Republican Club and the Lincoln-Douglass Republican Club. He also endeavored with various charities. In 1941, he won first of six terms on the city council, rising to become its president. In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower named him ambassador to Liberia. A cerebral hemorrhage struck him down two years later. His foremost diplomatic accomplishment was negotiating for use of the principal airport by U.S. airlines. 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 honor Elizabeth Farrington, born in Japan to American parents, May 30th 1898. As a child, she attended schools in Tennessee and Texas and California. Relocating to Hawaii followed graduation from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism. Beginning as a reporter, Farrington published the Honolulu Star-Bulletin fifteen years. She was League of Republican Women president from 1946 to 1948 and National Federation of Women's Republican Clubs president from 1949 to 1953. This tireless activist was delegate at the GOP's 1952 national convention. In 1954, her husband died, during his sixth term as congressional delegate. Prompted by the territorial governor, Farrington ran for the vacancy. She won first of two terms, and on her second day in office met with President Dwight Eisenhower to advocate statehood. Back to Basics for ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Located in northwest Ohio, it is the nation’s oldest presidential library. General Webb Hayes founded it on May 30th 1916 to honor his father. The 31-room facility contains more than ninety thousand documents, objects and images. It sits on 25 acres of parkland. President and Mrs. Hayes are buried there. 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 my Substack about this article. Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for t...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I lament an outrage perpetrated by the Virginia Slavery Party. May 29th 1902, a new state constitution went into effect. A convention heavily dominated by Democrats had written it, to implement white supremacy. This new document replaced the truly progressive constitution of 1870, which had been written by Republicans. Chairing the convention was a Confederate army veteran. The most influential delegate went on to promote the New Deal for FDR. Democrats succeeded in reducing African-American voter registration by eighty-six percent. They also imposed racial segregation on public schools. 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.grandoldpartisa...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republican respect for the free exercise of religion. May 29th 1909, William Howard Taft became the first president to address a Jewish congregation. He spoke at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh. Taft noted that the synagogue leader was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt: "I esteem it a great privilege to appear before this intelligent and patriotic audience — at the instance of your leader, your Rabbi, who was a warm friend of my predecessor, and who, I am glad to think, has transferred his friendship for the time to me. "I am not altogether out of place in a Jewish tabernacle, for the church that I attended in Cincinnati, in my boyhood and young manhood, was immediately next to the Jewish tabernacle of the Reverend Dr. Wise; and there were times in the history of both churches when there was an exchange between the pulpits. I am glad to be h...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Patricia Saiki, born May 28th 1930. She taught school after graduating from the University of Hawaii. Entry to politics was establishing a teacher's chapter of the state government employees association. In 1968, Saiki won first of the three state house terms. There followed two terms in the state senate. After this, she chaired the Hawaii GOP. Her effective leadership helped President Reagan carry the state for his re-election. In 1986, she won first of two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. President George H. Bush named her administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Saiki was the first Asian-American to head a federal agency. In 2014, she returned to chair the Hawaii Republican Party, with a back to basics message. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republi...