Stephen Hurlbut – Union general and Republican statesman

"As a citizen, as a soldier, as a statesman, as an honorable, upright, noble man, he was respected and loved by all who knew him."
 
Grand Old Partisan salutes Stephen Hurlbut, born in Charleston, South Carolina, November 29th 1815. He worked at the law office of James Petigru, who famously ridiculed the secession movement, and was major in the state militia.

Hurlbut moved to Illinois. Among his new associates was Abraham Lincoln. He attended the 1847 state constitutional convention and was a Whig presidential elector the following year. As a Republican, he won election to the state house in 1858 and 1860.

Soon after the inauguration, President Lincoln sent Hurlbut to Charleston to gauge public sentiment. His report was grim:

"False political economy diligently taught for years has now become an axiom & merchants and business men believe and act upon the belief — that great growth of trade and expansion of material prosperity will & must follow the establishment of a Southern Republic. They expect a golden era, when Charleston shall be a great commercial emporium & control for the South as New York does for the North. Neither is it of any use to appeal to the people — meaning by that term the class of voters engaged in laborious occupations."

"The very features of the Constitution of the Southern Confederacy — which perpetuate the control of the educated and wealthy few, over the uneducated and working many — & are most repulsive to us, are most agreeable to them. In truth there is not in South Carolina any popular thought or power of popular will."

Outbreak of civil war, Hurlbut enlisted as captain with the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Lincoln commissioned him a brigadier general. Courageous leadership at Shiloh and Corinth got him promoted to major general. However, this battlefield valor was overshadowed by accusations of corruption and hostility toward Louisiana's Unionist administration.


Hurlbut was delegate to the 1864 Republican National Convention. He won another term in the state house and co-founded the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as its commander for two years. He cast an electoral college vote in 1868. President Ulysses Grant appointed him ambassador to Colombia. Returning home three years later, he won two congressional terms and voted for the 1875 Civil Rights Act. President James Garfield named him ambassador to Peru.

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.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Your book is a national treasure. I'm always recommending it."

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"
 

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