James Lynch, first African-American to hold statewide office in Mississippi


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

Today, I honor James Lynch, born in Baltimore to a slave and her white owner. He became an AME minister for an Illinois church, then during the Civil War served as chaplain with several Union regiments. January 1865, this eloquent preacher was among twenty prominent African-Americans who met at Savannah with Secretary of War Stanton and General Sherman.

Peace restored, Lynch relocated to Mississippi. The state GOP's founding convention elected him its vice president. He twice was elected secretary of state and voted to re-nominate Ulysses Grant at the 1872 Republican National Convention.

Lynch worked tirelessly for "fidelity to the Union and political equality to the colored race." December 18th 1872, at age thirty-four, death cut short his promising career. To honor him, the GOP-controlled legislature appropriated funds for a monument. Years later, a Democrat-controlled legislature tried to have his coffin dug up and removed from the otherwise all-white cemetery.

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.

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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