Grand Old Partisan commemorates the first State of the Union address delivered by a Republican President. December 3rd 1861 – during the Civil War – Abraham Lincoln sent an eloquent message to Congress. Noteworthy are his calm and comprehensiveness.
"A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union." He noted that "the disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered the ruin of our country in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked abroad have received less patronage and encouragement than they probably expected."
Lincoln next thanked loyal citizens for lending the Government funds for suppressing the rebellion.
"In considering the policy to be adopted for suppressing the insurrection I have been anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict for this purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and remorseless revolutionary struggle… The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed. We should not be in haste to determine that radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable."
"The struggle of today is not altogether for today; it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us."
Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rObrHkKNePM
Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.
Each day, Michael Zak's grandoldpartisan YouTube channel and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than sixteen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states so far.
He also wrote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar.
Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.
See www.youtube.com/q?v=IzxKCiXc5Qc for a brief video of a Texas Republican praising Back to Basics for the Republican Party.
"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"
"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."
"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."
"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."
and
"one of the best books I ever read"
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