Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Minnie Freeman, born February 25th 1868. Her family brought her to Nebraska as a child. She taught elementary school after graduating from college. January 1888, a ferocious blizzard struck the Great Plains. Freeman saved thirteen children by linking them together with twine and leading them through blinding snow to a farm more than a mile away. "We will live or die together," she vowed. Though she called it "an act of simple duty," the state board of education awarded her a gold medal and there is a mural of the deed at the capitol building. Freeman became involved in politics. She was an officer of the Nebraska League of Women Voters and president of the Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs. She served on a panel to devise a new state seal. In 1922, Republican named her National Committeewoman. Back to Basics for the Repub...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a law signed by President Abraham Lincoln on February 24th 1863. The bill has been introduced by Republican Representative James Ashley and passed by the GOP-controlled 37th Congress. It established the western half of New Mexico Territory as its own territory, to be called Arizona. Republicans acted to prevent pro-slavery Democrats in control of Santa Fe and Albuquerque from extending their reach all the way to California. 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  ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I lament Democrat devilry. February 24th 1887, Slavery Party thugs prevented a Republican Lieutenant Governor from presiding over the Indiana state senate. Colonel Robert Robertson, awarded a Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Civil War, had been elected. Defying the state supreme court, the Democrat-controlled state senate refused him entry. Doorkeepers grabbed him by the throat, and Democrat legislators attacked his supporters. Republicans fled when a Democrat state senator fired a pistol into the ceiling and threatened to shoot them. Though the Lieutenant Governor legally, Robertson was never allowed to preside over the Democrat-controlled state senate. At his request, President Benjamin Harrison later named him voting registrar of Utah Territory. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the b...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the Radio Act of 1927, passed by the Republican-controlled 69th Congress and signed by President Calvin Coolidge on February 23rd. This law was an improvement on the GOP’s Radio Act of 1912. The public had demanded an end to  radio chaos . From then on, existing radio stations would have assigned frequencies and new stations would have to obtain licenses before broadcasting could commence. The federal government was authorized to "regulate all forms of interstate and foreign radio transmissions and communications within the United States." There would be a Federal Radio Commission, with one member from each of five regions. In 1934, this structure was replaced by the Communications Act and its Federal Communications Commission. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Henry Clay Whitney, born February 23rd 1831. The ambitious youth studied law in Cincinnati and Chicago, then set up his practice near Springfield. There, he became a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, the President commissioned him Assistant Paymaster for the Union Army. Peace restored, Whitney settled in Kansas, editing a newspaper and winning a state senate term. Later years, he published  Life on the Circuit with Lincoln,  Lincoln the Citizen , and  Lincoln the President . 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....

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I appreciate patriotism. February 22nd 1922, Vice President Calvin Coolidge delivered a classic address,  The Purpose of Americ a: "Nations do not come into existence without a purpose. The world soon casts aside organizations which do not minister to its welfare. As we examine the course of known history, as we trace the progress of the race, as we see the problems of existence which had been met and solved by past civilization, and then as we learn of the discovery of a new continent and come to know the cause of its early settlement and mark the spirit of its institutions, there is disclosed to us the meaning and the purpose of our nation." "We are at peace with all peoples. We do not deny our duty to continue the making of sacrifices for the welfare of the world. It is not alone for their sake but for our own sake that we should pursue that cour...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Joseph McClurg, born near St. Louis, February 22nd 1818. He taught school in Louisiana and Mississippi after graduating from college. Back home, he operated a lead mine and managed a dry goods store. McClurg voted against secession at a state convention. Outbreak of civil war, he enlisted as colonel of the 8th Missouri Cavalry. In 1862, this patriot won first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He voted for the GOP's 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments and its 1866 Civil Rights Act. McClurg was elected governor in 1868. His administration promoting mining and agriculture, while halving government debt. Later, business activities were merchandising, manufacturing and steamboats. 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...