Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the role of technology in the 1864 presidential election. Abraham Lincoln seeking another term, Republicans welcomed an opportunity to receive three more electoral votes. The GOP-controlled 38th Congress decided to approve statehood for Nevada, though its population numbered a mere forty thousand. Hurriedly, local delegates wrote a proposed constitution. October 26th , less than two weeks before Election Day, the text was sent by telegraph from Carson City to Washington. Tapping out 16,543 words took seven hours. There being no direct link, the message went to Salt Lake City then Chicago then Philadelphia then Washington. The longest telegram to date enabled statehood five day later. As things turned out, Nevada’s votes were not needed for Lincoln to win, but the Silver State did help the GOP achieve ratification of its 13t...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight Republican opposition to the Democratic Party's slave system. October 25th 1858, Senator William Seward warned of an inevitable clash between freedom and tyranny:  "Our country is a theater which exhibits in full operation two radically different political systems—the one resting on the basis of servile or slave labor, the other on the basis of voluntary labor of freemen. The slave system is one of constant danger, distrust, suspicion and watchfulness. It debases those whose toil alone can produce wealth and resources for defense to the lowest degree of which human nature is capable—to guard against mutiny and insurrection; and thus wastes energies which otherwise might be employed in national development and aggrandizement. Shall I tell you what this collision means? They who think that it is accidental, unnecessary, t...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Levi Lincoln, born in Massachusetts, October 25th 1782. He studied law after graduating from Harvard. His real estate ventures gave Worcester its downtown layout. A park he created is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Politicking began with terms in both houses of the legislature. Lincoln was elected Governor in 1825 and then won another eight one-year terms. His administration focused on economic development. He next won three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Whig President William Henry Harrison appointed him collector for the Port of Boston. There followed two state senate terms. In 1848, Levi Lincoln hosted his fourth cousin, Abraham Lincoln, who was on a speaking tour for Zachary Taylor, the Whig presidential nominee. He cast an electoral vote for President Lincoln’s re-election. Back to Basics for the...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Noah Brooks, born in Maine, October 24th 1830. Having moved to Illinois in 1856, the abolitionist campaigned for the Republican presidential nominee and became friends with Abraham Lincoln. Settling in Washington during the Civil War as a newspaper reporter, he steadfastly defended the administration. Brooks was known to be "the most appealing and lovable friend the Lincolns had in the White House." He probably would have been presidential secretary in a second term. Three months after the tragedy at Ford's Theater, he published Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln . His book Washington in Lincoln's Time became a classic biography. In later years, Brooks published the first novel about baseball and The Story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights histor...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Thomas Turner, born in Rhode Island, October 24th 1810. He worked his way up from ship deck hand to store clerk to president of an insurance company. His political career began as a state legislator. Turner joined the RIGOP when friends of freedom established the party. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1857 and then Governor two years later. He cast an electoral vote for Abraham Lincoln. The new President appointed him collector of internal revenue. Later years focused on managing a bank and a railroad. "His urbanity, kindness, and integrity were proverbial." 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...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Nina Otero-Warren, born near Albuquerque, October 23rd 1881. After studying at a prestigious college in St. Louis, she moved to Santa Fe when President William McKinley appointed her cousin Territorial Governor. While twelve years the city’s school superintendent, Otero-Warren upgraded facilities and increased teacher salaries. Her stance on bilingual education was innovative for the time: "English language instruction in the classroom, teacher sensitivity to different cultures, Spanish instruction through the arts." This conscientious activist led the way toward New Mexico ratifying the 19th Amendment, and for women’s voting rights. Her grassroots approach included participation by Hispanic women. In 1919, a Republican Governor named her to the Board of Health. In 1922, Otero-Warren won the GOP nomination for Congress but lost the general electi...