Richard Field – Republican Senator and Federal Judge and Big Fan of Abraham Lincoln

Grand Old Partisan honors Richard Field, born December 31st 1803. After two terms in the New Jersey state house, he was named attorney general by the Whig governor. He later returned to his alma mater, Princeton University, as a law professor.

During the Civil War, Field provided important legal arguments supporting the Union cause. In 1862, the Republican governor appointed him to fill a brief vacancy in the U.S. Senate. President Abraham Lincoln then made him a federal judge.

In 1866, Field delivered a eulogy that expressed our Grand Old Party's appreciation for the Great Emancipator. Lincoln was, he said, "by far the greatest President that this country has had since Washington... a chosen instrument in the hands of Providence for extinguishing that system of slavery which has so long been the reproach of our land."

"Abraham Lincoln was a great man. Not great in the sense in which that term is commonly used, but in a far higher and nobler sense. His greatness was not of the antique mould...It was something eminently American – peculiarly indigenous – the legitimate growth of our own christian civilization, our own free institutions. He had none of the attributes which are usually ascribed to popular heroes, whether of history or romance. His qualities were rather christian graces and virtues. They were the very qualities upon which benedictions are pronounced in the sermon on the Mount."

"He was meek – he was merciful – he was pure in heart – he was a peace maker – he loved his enemies – he blessed them that cursed him – he did good to them who hated him – he prayed for them who despitefully used him and persecuted him. And it is to the honor of our country, and the glory of our institutions, that such qualities fitted him in an eminent degree, to be the ruler of a free people."

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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