I want to complement Rich Elfers’ brief history article of Jan. 9. He mentioned the Republican party being organized during the Civil War and Abe Lincoln being one of the founders. The Republican Party was actually organized and started by a Marxist by the name of Alvin Bovay.  He was the head of the National reform Association. He also was editor of Young America newspaper.

It’s interesting that Friedrich Engels, the co-author of the manifesto with Karl Marx, wrote another publication called “The Principles of Communism.” And in that volume he mentioned that the Marxist, the communist, had formed a common cause with Alvin Bovay’s National Reform Association.

There was an organization that was run by a number of communist in the U.S. One of the vice presidents was Horace Greeley. Greeley was the publisher/editor of the New York Tribune. He and Bovay met and decided to start a new political party. And the organization Greeley was VP of  had started many communes in the US and one was Ripon, Wis. Bovay went to the commune and met with Greeley in 1854 in a little schoolhouse.

Greeley started to promote the party within the Tribune and communist units all over the U.S. started organizing meetings to bring together the new entity called the Republican Party. Lincoln was not part of the party at the onset. He became a Republican after the Whig party dissolved.

The history books make you believe he founded the party.

Bill Young

Enumclaw