Elbert Tuttle, southern Civil Rights Activist and Republican Judge

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Elbert Tuttle, born July 17th 1897. His father moved the family from Pasadena to Hawaii. He trained as an army aviator and reported for a newspaper.

Graduating from Cornell Law School, Tuttle relocated to Atlanta. Though focusing on tax litigation, he also handled many civil rights cases. Having remained in the national guard, he entered active service as a lieutenant colonel during WWII and retired as a brigadier general.

Opposed to racial segregation, Tuttle devoted his energies to building up the Georgia GOP. He chaired Dwight Eisenhower's state campaign. The incoming President named him general counsel at the Justice Department.

In 1954, Eisenhower appointed him to the Court of Appeals, with jurisdiction over six southern states. Brown v. Board of Education he observed to be "a broad mandate for racial justice." He recalled that segregation cases were "the easiest cases I ever decided. The constitutional rights were so compelling, and the wrongs were so enormous." Famously, this courageous jurist ordered the University of Mississippi to admit African-American students. Seven years, he was chief judge of the fifth circuit.

"The richness and example of his life truly made the world a finer place in his own time and set an example for others that will serve as splendid inspiration."

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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