In Thursday's job speech, Barack Obama called Abraham Lincoln the "Founder of the Republican Party."
"We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union. Founder of the Republican Party. But in the middle of a civil war, he was also a leader who looked to the future -- a Republican President who mobilized government to build the Transcontinental Railroad, launch the National Academy of Sciences, set up the first land grant colleges. And leaders of both parties have followed the example he set."
That's just so wrong, BIG TIME.
Barack Obama's speech-writers should learn more about American history. In truth, Abraham Lincoln was not the founder of the Republican Party. The first meeting of the GOP was in March 1854 -- in Ripon, Wisconsin -- followed by the first organizational meeting in July 1854 -- in Jackson, Michigan.
A year later, Lincoln refused to attend the first attempt to establish the Illinois GOP, as he still considered himself a Whig. Not until May 1856 did Abraham Lincoln declare himself to be a Republican. That was TWO YEARS after the Founding of the Republican Party.
Sadly, many Republican leaders have also referred to Abraham Lincoln as the founder of the Republican Party. Mike Huckabee, for instance, made that mistake in his speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
I am the author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of the GOP from the Republican point of view. Since writing the book ELEVEN YEARS AGO, I have been trying to show Republicans how they would benefit from appreciating the true heritage of our Grand Old Party. My Grand Old Partisan website celebrates more than fifteen decades of Republican heroes and heroics.
This is the 'scrubbed' PBS transcript quote:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/09/pbs_alters_transcript_to_hide_obama_gaffe.html
The first post about this contains the real quote? See how easy it is?
Posted by: ghost | September 10, 2011 at 10:46 AM