GOP History

In his inauguration address, President James Buchanan, a Democrat, hinted that he had been tipped off that the Supreme Court would soon render a decision he believed would settle the question of slavery in the territories. Two days later, on...

On this day in 1875, Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS) was sworn in as a U.S. Senator. He would be the first African-American to serve a full term in the Senate. [Grand Old Partisan stands in front of Senator Bruce's house...

On this day in 1865, the Republican-controlled 38th Congress passed and President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) signed into law a bill to establish a civilian federal agency within the War Department for assisting emancipated slaves in the post-Civil War South. The...

On this day in 1867, the Republican-controlled 39th Congress passed the "Anti-Peonage Act." Authorized by the 13th Amendment, this law outlawed forcing people to work, usually in oppressive conditions, in order to pay off debts. Landowners in the Southwest had...

On this day in 1872, Republican President Ulysses Grant signed into law a bill establishing Yellowstone National Park. The bill had been written by U.S. Senator Samuel Pomeroy (R-KS). Yellowstone was the first national park in the world. Michael Zak...

Grand Old Partisan salutes Thomas Starr King, a Unitarian minister who moved from Massachusetts to California in 1860. Though obscure today, the ardently Republican Rev. King had a tremendous impact on our nation. At the onset of the Civil War,...

In yesterday's Townhall, Inconvenient History: Lincoln and the GOP explained the importance for Republicans of a having a better undderstanding of the Great Emancipator. CNSNews reporter Fred Lucas cites my pro-GOP history of the GOP. "'Opposing slavery and supporting the...

Grand Old Partisan salutes George Boutwell, who died on this day in 1905. A recovering Democrat, he served two terms as governor before helping to establish the Massachusetts Republican Party in 1854. Boutwell took part in the peace commission that...

Grand Old Partisan salutes Millicent Fenwick, born on this day in 1910. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at the age of 64, Fenwick had an interesting lineage. Her mother died in the sinking of the Lusitania, and...

Many Americans today, Civil War buffs especially, know about Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who died on this day in 1914. Commanding the 20th Maine at the far end of the line during the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain saved the U.S. Army...

Grand Old Partisan salutes Jackie Robinson. Not only was he a great athlete, Robinson was also a great Republican. He supported Richard Nixon for the 1960 nomination and in the presidential election. Robinson sent Nixon a heartfelt letter of condolence...

President Richard Nixon (R-CA) had the foresight to end more than two decades of hostility with the most populous nation on earth, dating back to the Korean War. He astonished the world by travelling to the People's Republic of China....

Grand Old Partisan salutes Rep. Robert Smalls (R-SC), who died on this day in 1915. As a 23-year old slave in Charleston during the Civil War, he commandeered a Confederate gunboat, escaping with his family and some friends. He joined...

During February, Black History Month, and throughout every year, Republican candidates and office-holders would benefit tremendously from appreciating the GOP’s heritage of civil rights achievement. A forgotten hero of the modern-day civil rights movement, Herbert Brownell, was born this day...

On this day in 1976, Republican President Gerald Ford signed a proclamation formally rescinding Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt's notorious Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans during WWII. At the ceremony, President Ford said: "Japanese-Americans were and...

Grand Old Partisan salutes the Republican National Committee, established on this day in 1856 to coordinate nationwide opposition to the pro-slavery policies of the Democrats. Republicans from many state parties held their first national organizational meeting in Pittsburgh on February...

On this day in 1915, Democrat President Woodrow Wilson premiered the movie Birth of a Nation at the White House. That racist movie was based on The Clansmen and The Leopard's Spots, novels espousing hatred for African-Americans written by one...