Harvey Wiley, father of the Pure Food and Drug Act

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than SEVENTEEN decades of Republican heroes and heroics.

Today, I salute Harvey Wiley, born on an Indiana farm, October 18th 1844. An abolitionist, he served in the state's 137th Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. There followed an M.D. from Indiana Medical College and an M.S. from Harvard University.

His scientific career as state scientist of Indiana and chemistry professor at Purdue University. In 1883, the Chester Arthur administration named him chief chemist at the Department of Agriculture. Wiley was also president of the American Chemical Society. Research focused on the safety of food preservatives.

This health crusader inspired a million women to send the White House letters calling for enhanced food safety. Buoyed by such popular support, Theodore Roosevelt backed the proposed Pure Food and Drug Act, which had been written by a Republican congressman. A presidential message to Congress recommended "that a law be enacted to regulate interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated food, drinks, and drugs."

President Roosevelt named him first Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Wiley certainly earned his nickname, Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act. This achievement he followed with two editions of a book for a general audience titled Foods and Their Adulteration. He lamented that "the opposition to pure foods and drugs arose and fought back with the intensity and zeal worthy of a better cause."

Wiley remained at the FDA another six years, while his staff increased from 110 to 146 and the budget quintupled. Starting in 1912, he headed the consumer laboratories at Good Housekeeping Magazine. His grave is at Arlington National Cemetery. A WWII-era Liberty Ship was named for him.

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. 

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Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.

Each day, his YouTube videos and TikTok videos and Rumble videos and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states.

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