Thurlow Weed, early Republican strategist
Grand Old Partisan salutes Thurlow Weed, born in upstate New York, November 15th 1797. He served as a militia quartermaster during the second war against Britain.
Completing an apprenticeship to a printer, he was foreman at one newspaper then editor at another. Established in 1830, his Albany Evening Journal became the nation's most influential Whig Party publication. In contrast to the backward-looking Democrats, the Whigs tended to look forward, to a commercial and manufacturing economy. And, unlike the pro-slavery Democrats, many Whigs opposed slavery.
Two terms in the state house being the extent of his political career, Weed achieved acclaim as pundit and organizer. He advanced the careers of three Whig presidents: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. He also managed the political career of New York's William Seward, first as Whig Governor and then as Republican Senator. This anti-slavery activist co-founded the New York Republican Party and championed John Fremont for the 1856 GOP presidential nomination.
"Weed moved as the great captain, with ceaseless activity and noiseless step, receiving their reports and giving new instructions in his peculiar whisper, now and then taking one into a corner of the room for secret talk, or disappearing with another through a side door for transactions still more secret."
Seward had been the front-runner at the 1860 Republican National Convention. Though heartbroken that his friend lost the nomination to the more electable Abraham Lincoln, it was Weed who called on delegates to make his nomination unanimous. Impressed by meetings with the President-elect, he editorialized:
"His mind is at once philosophical and practical. He sees all who go there, hears all they have to say, talks freely with everybody, reads whatever is written to him; but thinks and acts by himself and for himself. Our only regret is that Mr. Lincoln could not have taken the helm of state as successor to Mr. Buchanan on the first Monday of December."
The new President sent him to Europe to shore up support for the Union cause. Weed thought the Emancipation Proclamation too hasty and the Radical Republicans too radical. Nevertheless, Lincoln consulted with him on various occasions. His influence faded after the Civil War due to his support for the Democrat president, Andrew Johnson.
"He possessed a geniality and tact that drew all to him, and it is said that he never forgot a fact or a face."
Two terms in the state house being the extent of his political career, Weed achieved acclaim as pundit and organizer. He advanced the careers of three Whig presidents: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. He also managed the political career of New York's William Seward, first as Whig Governor and then as Republican Senator. This anti-slavery activist co-founded the New York Republican Party and championed John Fremont for the 1856 GOP presidential nomination.
"Weed moved as the great captain, with ceaseless activity and noiseless step, receiving their reports and giving new instructions in his peculiar whisper, now and then taking one into a corner of the room for secret talk, or disappearing with another through a side door for transactions still more secret."
Seward had been the front-runner at the 1860 Republican National Convention. Though heartbroken that his friend lost the nomination to the more electable Abraham Lincoln, it was Weed who called on delegates to make his nomination unanimous. Impressed by meetings with the President-elect, he editorialized:
"His mind is at once philosophical and practical. He sees all who go there, hears all they have to say, talks freely with everybody, reads whatever is written to him; but thinks and acts by himself and for himself. Our only regret is that Mr. Lincoln could not have taken the helm of state as successor to Mr. Buchanan on the first Monday of December."
The new President sent him to Europe to shore up support for the Union cause. Weed thought the Emancipation Proclamation too hasty and the Radical Republicans too radical. Nevertheless, Lincoln consulted with him on various occasions. His influence faded after the Civil War due to his support for the Democrat president, Andrew Johnson.
"He possessed a geniality and tact that drew all to him, and it is said that he never forgot a fact or a face."
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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