Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan salutes Romualdo Pacheco, born in Santa Barbara, October 31st 1831. He apprenticed in Hawaii as a shipping agent. The savvy entrepreneur later prospered with ranching and mining. In 1857, he was elected a state senator.  Outbreak of civil war, Pacheco declared allegiance to the Union and left the Democratic Party for the GOP. He was elected state senator again in 1861 and state treasurer in 1863. Republican Governor Leland Stanford commissioned him brigadier general, tasked with disarming disloyal militia units.  In 1871, he won the lieutenant governorship. One of his duties was being warden of San Quentin prison. When the legislature elected the Governor a U.S. Senator, Pacheco became California's first Hispanic chief executive. His policy priorities included developing the state university. After his ten months in office, Pacheco won three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. President Benjamin Harrison named him...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates Nevada’s statehood. October 31st 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting the Silver State to the Union. Seven months earlier, the GOP-controlled 38th Congress had passed a law establishing the procedure for statehood. This territory would become a state once he approved its constitution. With a 90% vote, residents had approved the constitution, which banned slavery. They telegraphed the text to Washington. Congress left the decision up to the President to avoid delay. Republicans, knowing their party a majority there, wanted to be able to count on Nevada’s electoral votes for Lincoln’s re-election eight days later. They also sought three additional votes in Congress for passing the 13th Amendment, to abolish slavery. 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 futur...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than SEVENTEEN decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Grand Old Partisan salutes James Wadsworth, born to a prominent New York family, October 30th 1807. Law studies followed Harvard and Yale. Opposing slavery led him out of the Democratic Party, to the Free Soil Party and then the GOP. He cast an electoral vote for the Lincoln/Hamlin ticket. Outbreak of civil war, Wadsworth was commissioned major in the state militia. Competence at First Bull Run led to being promotion to brigadier general, assigned as military governor of Washington, DC. Republicans nominated him for Governor of New York, but this patriot lost, partly by refusing to leave the army in order to campaign. He later commanded troops at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Wadsworth was killed at Battle of the Wilderness. President Lincoln mourned the death of his dear friend. His grandson, also James Wadsworth, became a Republican Senator and Representative. Back ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than SEVENTEEN decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a historic meeting of politics and science. October 30th 1929, Herbert Hoover received famous physicist Marie Curie at the White House. At the ceremony, he gave her a check for $50,000 to buy one gram of radium. Curie would use it to buy this radioactive metal for research. The money had been raised by the women of America. Said the President:   "I am sure that I represent the whole American people when I express our gratification to Madame Curie that she should have honored our country by coming here. We give to her the welcome of a people who are grateful for the beneficent service she has given to all mankind. It is not necessary for me to recount the great fundamental discovery associated with the names of her late husband and herself. The discovery of radium was an outstanding triumph of research in the realm of pure science. It was indeed a great and su...

Grand Old Partisan commemorates a landmark White House event. Page 78 of Back to Basics for the Republican Party describes Abraham Lincoln's meeting with Isabella Baumfree, better known as Sojourner Truth. The renowned abolitionist was famous for helping slaves escape from Democrat-controlled southern states. She had traveled from Michigan to speak with the first Republican President.  In her words: "Upon entering his reception room we found about a dozen persons in waiting, among them two coloured women. I had quite a pleasant time waiting until he was disengaged, and enjoyed his conversation with others; he showed as much kindness and consideration to the colored persons as to the white. One case was that of a colored woman who was sick and likely to be turned out of her house on account of her inability to pay her rent. The president listened to her with much attention, and spoke to her with kindness and tenderness "Abraham Lincoln ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than SEVENTEEN decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Grand Old Partisan highlights Republican fiscal responsibility. October 27th 1975, Gerald Ford delivered a speech at the National Press Club. He noted that decades of Democrat misrule had led New York City to the verge of bankruptcy: "During the last decade, the officials of New York City have allowed its budget to triple. No city can expect to remain solvent if it allows its expenses to increase by an average of 12 per cent every year, while its tax revenues are increasing by only 4 to 5 per cent per year." Wisely, the President refused to burden taxpayers nationwide with the cost of a federal bailout: "Why should all the working people of this country be forced to rescue those who bankrolled New York City's policies for so long — the large investors and big banks?" Infamously, the New York Daily News reported this prudence as: ...