John Bingham, early Republican Congressman and Principal Author of the Fourteenth Amendment


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

Today, I salute John Bingham, born January 21st 1815. He apprenticed with a printer and studied law. The state's first African-American college graduate was a life-long friend.

Bingham campaigned for presidential nominee William Henry Harrison. Six years later, Whigs elected him county prosecutor. Beginning in 1854, he won three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, as one of its first Republicans. The party's civil rights agenda received his full support. President Abraham Lincoln named him judge advocate of the Union Army.

In 1865, Bingham returned to the U.S. House of Representatives for another four terms. While on the Reconstruction Committee, he wrote Section 1 of the 14th Amendment:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

President Ulysses Grant named him Ambassador to Japan. Twelve years Bingham served at that important post. Disgracefully, he concluded his political career as delegate for the Democrats’ 1888 national convention.

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.

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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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