Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I praise William Hunt, born in South Carolina, June 12th 1823. After studying law at Yale, this scion of a political family relocated to New Orleans. Drafted into the rebel army, though opposed to secession, he managed to avoid combat, as a drill instructor, before welcoming Union forces into the city. Peace restored, Hunt joined the GOP and supported its 1867 Reconstruction Act. While state attorney general, he nearly won for governor. For a consolation prize, President Rutherford Hayes named him to the federal bench. President James Garfield appointed him Secretary of the Navy. Hunt created the Office of Naval Intelligence. To replace the obsolete wooden ships left over from the Civil War, he proposed a fleet of sixty-eight steel warships, though Congress reduced that number to ten. Nonetheless, described on page 126 of  Back to Basics for the Republican Party ,  t...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Eli Thayer, born in Massachusetts, June 11th 1819. He studied law after graduating from Brown University. This education pioneer established a school for women. He was town councilman, then state representative. Thayer secured a legislative charter for the New England Emigrant Aid Company, which transported anti-slavery activists to Kansas. His organization helped block Democrat plans to extend slavery there. In 1856, he won first of two congressional terms and was delegate for the 1860 Republican National Convention. Later years focused on a railroad and other businesses. Charles Sumner said the state of Kansas should be named "Thayer". 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 Democ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Leonidas Dyer, born June 11th 1871. He studied law at Washington University and practiced in St. Louis. This conscientious Republican activist earned acclaim for opposing racist Democrat policies. Dyer served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, on the military staff of a future Republican Governor. In 1910, he won first of eleven congressional terms. In 1922, Dyer introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime. Charles Curtis, a future Republican Vice President, sponsored a companion measure in the Senate. His legislation would also have made illegal state or local officials permitting someone to be lynched. Despite support from President Warren Harding, Democrats in the U.S. Senate defeated it with a filibuster. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know a...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate Republicans’ leading role in securing for women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was passed by the GOP-controlled 66th Congress. It then went to the states for ratification. June 10th 1919, first to ratify was Illinois. Both houses of the legislature had Republican majorities. Within hours, Wisconsin and Michigan followed. Ratification came in fourteen months, despite strenuous Democrat opposition. 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. ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate a telecommunications milestone. June 10th 1924 began the 18th Republican National Convention, at Cleveland's public auditorium. It was the first political national convention broadcast over the radio. By then, three million American homes had radios. AT&T set up an informal network with sixteen stations: "An announcer will be in constant attendance with concise and vivid descriptions of the events taking place in the Convention Hall and explanations of the significance of what is going on. The announcer will introduce the various speakers so that the entire matter will be an interesting broadcasting program." New York City stations assembled a rival radio network for the three-day event. Republicans utilized the new medium much more effectively than Democrats. The GOP set up it own radio station, ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain, at Union Station in Washington DC. This project began as an initiative by the Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus. Funding was passed by the GOP-controlled 59th Congress and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. June 8th 1912, more than fifty thousand people gathered for the dedication. In attendance were the Italian and Spanish ambassadors, the papal nuncio, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, Cabinet officers, and other dignitaries. After opening remarks by the Knights of Columbus national director, President William Howard Taft observed: "It is most appropriate in this beautiful place in which the visitor to the country’s capital first sets foot upon the small district that is the only territory in which this great government exercises exc...