The Party of Lincoln AND Calhoun? The Right and the Civil War

“When the intellectual authors of the modern right created its doctrines in the 1950s,” wrote Sam Tanenhaus in The New Republic, “they drew on nineteenth-century political thought, borrowing explicitly from the great apologists for slavery, above all, the intellectually fierce South Carolinian John C. Calhoun…. The party of Lincoln… has become the party of Calhoun.” At first glance, such a statement sounds laughable. The Republican Party is indeed the party of Lincoln, a fact it has fully embraced over many years.  A 1992 political button for the campaign for president of George H.W. Bush in my possession claims “a proud tradition” for the GOP, featuring photographs of party luminaries Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Read more at The Imaginative Conservative
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

A Republican President issued the Emancipation Proclamation

"On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Effective at yearend, all slaves in Confederate-controlled territory would be "forever free." ∴ Ill-informed critics of the first Republican President Lincoln fault the Emancipation Proclamation for only freeing slaves in areas not yet under the control of the U.S. government, but -- because of the Democratic Party's resolute defense of slavery -- the federal government had the necessary authority only over so-called "property" of the rebels. ∴ Within two years, the Republican-controlled 38th Congress followed up this great advance by enacting the 13th Amendment, banning slavery throughout the nation."

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is his acclaimed history of the GOP, He is also the author of the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar. His Grand Old Partisan website celebrates more than fifteen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Visit www.grandoldpartisan.com for more information. Read More......

Seven Score and Four Years Ago

GRAND OLD PARTISAN BLOG, 12/15/2009 by Michael Zak - The United States emerged from the Civil War a vastly different county. No longer could Democrats hinder economic progress so as to protect the slave system. Once most Democrats in Congress had gone with the Confederacy, Republicans met little opposition in enacting their pro-growth economic agenda: a national banking system and a national currency, free land for farmers in the Plains states, land-grant colleges, the transcontinental railroad, and other structural reforms that soon made the United States the wealthiest country in the world. Read more at the Grand Old Partisan... Read More......

Sat. March 14: Lincoln Day/Oregon Celebration Dinner

You're invited to celebrate with Linn and Benton County Republicans for Lincoln’s 200th Birthday & Oregon’s 150th Birthday on Saturday, March 14, 2009 with honorary guest speakers Oregon's U.S. Representative Greg Walden and Oregon House Republican Leader, Bruce Hanna. For all the details, please click our LINCOLN DAY DINNER page! Read More......

A History Lesson in the East Room [with comments added]

February 18, 2009, The Caucus, A New York Times Blog by Rachel L. Swarns - First Lady Michelle Obama opened the doors of the White House to 180 sixth and seventh graders on Wednesday for a Black History Month celebration that included two pep talks and a rousing musical performance.

The students, who came from three local schools here, heard from Adm. Stephen W. Rochon, the chief usher, who runs the mansion and oversees everything from state dinners to redecorating. He is the first African-American [named by REPUBLICAN President George W. Bush] to hold that position.

They also heard from Mrs. Obama, who told the students a little bit about the black history of the White House. She talked about the slaves who helped build the executive mansion, about Lincoln [first REPUBLICAN President] signing the Emancipation Proclamation there and about Marie Seilka, a soprano, who became the first African-American artist to perform in the White House in 1878 [by invitation of REPUBLICAN President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes].

She described President Kennedy’s meeting with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. [REPUBLICAN Civil Rights leader]…* [Yes, he was!] in the White House and President Obama, who is the first African-American president to live there. Then – as her daughters, Malia and Sasha, listened along with the students — she urged the students to remember that they would write the next chapters in history. 

“So you have to ask yourselves, what will you do in life to help someone else in need?” Mrs. Obama said to the young people who were gathered in the East Room. “You have to ask yourselves, what are you going to do to make your own community stronger? What are you going to do to make sure that this nation is even greater? And what are you doing right now in school and in your neighborhoods to prepare yourselves to assume a level of responsibility and to be good citizens?"

“Think about, as the Admiral says, getting up every single day and working hard, as hard as you can; putting your best foot forward all the time, not just when somebody is looking, but every single moment; and supporting your family, the folks in your own households; making your beds, putting the dishes up, cleaning your rooms," she said.

“That’s not just a story that Barack Obama is writing, or Admiral Rochon is writing," the first lady said. “Those are the stories that we’re all writing together. And you’re an important part of that."

And after that, the five members of the all-female, African American a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, sang their hearts out.

Comments by: PJ Hunter (believing that details matter).

*Broken link above "[Yes, he was!]:  Testimony of MLK's niece that her Uncle Martin was a Republican

[Added 2/17/2014 Re: MLK: REPUBLICAN President Ronald Reagan made Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday a national holiday] Read More......

Republican defender of the slave Dred Scott

"On this day in 1856, Montgomery Blair, one of the founders of the Republican Party, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of the slave Dred Scott, who was suing for his freedom. Blair later served in the cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln. Sadly, all 7 Democrat Justices on the Supreme Court would vote against Mr. Scott, decreeing that "a black man has no rights a white man is bound to respect." Both Republicans voted for him, in the infamous 7-2 Dred Scott decision." --Michael Zak, Grand Old Partisan Blog Read More......

GOP fundraiser celebrates Lincoln, Oregon birthdays

Gazette-Times, COMMUNITY, February 10, 2009

Republicans in Linn and Benton counties are planning a celebration of two birthdays on Saturday, March 14: the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809 to April 15, 1865); and Oregon’s 150th birthday, Feb. 14, 1859. The event is scheduled to take place at the Teen Challenge Willamette Valley Training Center, 31700 Fayetteville Drive in Shedd. The public is invited. The event includes the presentation of the colors and the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner, with a social hour at 5 p.m. followed by a sitdown dinner with a choice of entrée, beverage and dessert. The Teen Challenge Choir will perform patriotic music and auctioneer Reece Hrizuk will preside over verbal and silent auctions. Reece will be assisted by Miss Oregon USA and Miss Oregon Teen USA.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden and Oregon House Republican leader Bruce Hanna will be the honorary speakers.

Tickets are $30 a person or $225 for a table of eight. RSVPs are needed by March 6 because seating is limited. Donations of items for auction are being accepted through March 1. The event is a fundraiser for the Republican committees in both counties. Proceeds will be used to support GOP candidates, community service projects and upkeep Republican headquarters.

For more information, contact Benton County Republican Headquarters, 754-9155, Stella Guenther, Benton County Republicans, 929-5382 or Deborah Barrett in Linn County at 541-818-0171. Read More......