About Us » History

1911 - 1937

In the Spring of 1911, thirty-two young men, led by Benjamin M. Day, Philip J. McCook, Lloyd C. Griscom, Samuel McCune Lindsay, and Fred Stein, noted the lack of any Republican association especially appealing to younger Republicans in New York City. They sought a forum for expressing views which might on occasion be at variance with those of the party leaders. In order to work within and for the Republican Party, yet be free to criticize party policies and leaders and to champion candidates and causes independent of organization control, these men, in April 1911, resolved to form the New York Young Republican Club.

The Club's first public appearance was a dinner held in December, 1911. The guest of honor was the President of the United States, William Howard Taft, and the principal speaker was Senator William E. Borah. The Club's auspicious debut was attended by the leading politicians and office-holders of the day and was well publicized. Although the founders anticipated the enfranchisement of women by omitting the word "Men's' from the Club's name, membership in the Club, for the time being, was exclusively men.

On February 8, 1912, the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. filed for a Certificate of Incorporation with the Secretary of State with the following objectives:

to promote and maintain the principles of the Republican Party; to foster within the Republican Party and make practical in service of the municipality, state and nation, the idealism characteristic of youth; to correct in our own party that tendency of all parties to make organization an end rather than a means; to develop sound principle and public spirit in party politics; to promote honest and fair electoral methods, to the end that the expression of the popular will by whatever party or body, shall be as free, untrammeled and equal as possible; to resist and expose political corruption; to advocate merit rather than partisan service as entitling to public office; to watch legislation" and "to encourage public attention to and efficiently criticize the conduct of government."

In 1927, under the leadership of its President, Thomas C. Desmond, a tremendous upsurge in the strength and effectiveness of the Club took place, and the membership expanded from less than one hundred to over two thousand. Pres. Desmond initiated the Honor Roll, which has provided an important source of revenue for the Club. Highlights that followed included the election, in 1932, of its own candidate, Herbert Brownell, Jr., as Assemblyman from the old 10th Assembly District, a Tammany stronghold.

In 1933 the Club took a leading role in the creation of a Fusion ticket which, with the election of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, ousted a long-entrenched Tammany regime in New York City. In that year also, the Club spearheaded the creation of the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs, Inc. to act as a state-wide umbrella organization for Young Republican Clubs in New York State. However, the most significant event to take place in 1933 for the Club was the election of Chase Mellen, Jr., a member of the Club's Board of Governors, to the position of Chairman of the Republican County Committee in New York County which ushered in a golden era in the history of the New York Young Republican Club.

1938-1964

In the early years of this period. the NYYRC was in the forefront of many campaigns, including the successful gubernatorial campaign in 1942 of Thomas E. Dewey, who had been Chairman of the Club's Board of Governors in 1931. In 1948 the Club actively supported one of its members, Jacob K. Javits, in his winning race for the 21st Congressional District seat. In that same year, the NYYRC also helped elect George Frankenthaler as Surrogate of New York County - the first Republican ever elected to the office.

In 1952 the New York Young Republican Club was among the first Republican organizations to go on record in favor of Dwight D. Eisenhower as Republican candidate for President. From its ranks, the NYYRC formed the first citizens movements for "IKE". Many capable Club members joined the Eisenhower administration, among them, the late John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State, Winthrop W. Aldrich as Ambassador to the Court of St. James who was succeeded by another Club member, John Hay Whitney and Herbert Brownell, Jr., as Attorney General. Former Board Chairman Harold H. Healy, Jr. was Executive Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, replacing former Club Presidents Charle s M. Metzner and John V. Lindsay. This period saw many former officers and members of the Club achieve prominence.

In an attempt to broaden the base of the Republican party, the NYYRC was influential in founding the United Young Republican Club in upper Manhattan through its sponsorship of the first Lincoln Day Dinner held in Harlem in over 25 years. In 1957, the Club was instrumental in the election of Stanley M. Isaacs to the New York City Council. In addition, the Club's initiated "Operation City Budget", a study and analysis of the City's Expense Budget which culminated in a well-documented appearance of Club members before the City's Board of Estimate.

Two main issues dominated the Club's agenda starting in 1960. The first issue involved the question of whether to admit women to membership in the Club. All Club members supported running joint social events with The Young Women's Republican Club of New York, Inc. which was organized in 1934. However the Club was bitterly divided over the issues of whether and how to admit women to membership. Every year for the next decade, this issue was debated and voted on by the Club's membership.

Each year, the Club narrowly voted to keep the Club's membership exclusively male. The second issue, which dominated the Club's agenda from 1960 to 1964, was the attempt to expose the malodorous aspects of the New York City administration and to bring them to public attention. Most of the NYYRC actvities were committed to this goal.

1965-1981

In 1965, the efforts of the Club were rewarded with the election of former Club President, John V. Lindsay, as Mayor of New York City. Many Club officers accepted positions in the Lindsay administration and many of Mayor Lindsay's Commissioners were Club members. This intricate symbiotic relationship between the Club and the Lindsay administration gave the Club the opportunity to realize its ideal of bringing good government to the City of New York.

The years 1970 through 1975 mark some of the most difficult days in the Club's history. Early in this period, Mayor Lindsay left the Republican Party and registered as a Democrat. As a result, many of the Club members and officers working in his administration similarly left the Republican Party and the NYYRC. The Club leaders who remained were ineffective in attracting new membership, because of the perception that their support for the reelection bid of Mayor Lindsay on the Liberal Line made them disloyal to the Republican Party.

Club membership declined every year during this period and it didn't help that Republican leaders discouraged membership to the NYYRC for not supporting the Republican candidate for Mayor.

Under normal circumstances, the Club would have been able to recover from this episode. However, this period was an especially difficult one for the Republican Party in New York City. The main reasons for this were because of "white flight" to the suburbs, the anti-war movement and Watergate. All these factors resulted in the Club becoming almost totally inactive by the time 1975 rolled around.

In an attempt to revitalize the Club, members finally supported an amendment to the bylaws allowing women to apply for membership in the New York Young Republican Club. To further improve its image, the Club elected Ellen Tencza to be the first woman to serve as President of the Club. Ellen Tencza served as President until 1978. During her administration, she worked hard to rebuild the Club's Board of Advisors and to enable the Club to once again provide support for Republican candidates running for office.

In 1978, Carole Trimble became President backed by those who sought to bring the Club into a closer affiliation with New York Republican County Committee Chairman Vincent Albano. However, President Trimble turned out to be a very strong and independent leader for the Club. She pursued an independent course for the Club, tripled membership, built up the Board of Advisors and provided significant support for Republican candidates running for office. She was reelected President but resigned in the middle of her term to take a position in Washington D.C.

Phyllis Friedman then became President for the remainder of President Trembles term. President Friedman presided over an administration which concentrated on supporting Republican candidates for office and on running activities for the Club membership. However, during this period, the Club became increasingly dependent on the New York Republican County Committee, which went against the original principles of the New York Young Republican Club charter.

In 1980, Lee A. Forlenza was elected President of the Club. President Forlenza intended on returning the NYYRC back to its roots of independence. However, JoAnn Albano Cohen, the County Chairman's daughter, became Chairman of the Board of Governors during this time. This created an immediate political quandary for President Forlenza since the New York Republican County Committee Chairman was supporting George Bush for the Republican Presidential nomination, while most of the Club's membership was supportive of Ronald Reagan.

Despite President Forlenza's personal support for Reagan, the Board of Governors was pressured to support Vincent Albano, who was running as a Bush Delegate, over Maxwell Raab, who was running as a Reagan Delegate. This led to widespread resignations from the Board and from the Club's membership. After Vincent Albano lost the delegate race, President Forlenza was able to steer a more independent course for the New York Young Republican Club. He presided over an administration that was able to unify the diverse elements of the Club. His administration laid the groundwork for the future growth of the Club.

1982-1990

In 1982, Thomas Robert Stevens was elected President of the Club. President Stevens was a resident of Queens County and was committed to rebuilding the Club into a strong independent city-wide republican organization. He proposed "Operation: Phoenix" which was a detailed proposal of the steps necessary to be taken to achieve this goal. The Stevens presidency was a period of near total unity and uninterrupted growth for the Club

Early in the Stevens administration, the Club began to once again charter college chapters of the Club. Five independent Young Republican organizations merged into the New York Young Republican Club within the first two years of the Stevens administration. Membership soared, diplomatic trips were taken by Club members abroad and the Club once again began encouraging its own members to run for elective office.The next six years were.

From 1982 to 1984, the Club sponsored an issues oriented cable television show called "In Focus". In 1982, the Club played an active role in the campaign of Lewis Lehrman to become Governor. In 1984, President Stevens was named New York State Youth Coordinator for Reagan/Bush '84. Over 40% of the positions in the Youth for Reagan/Bush campaign were held by members of the Club.

In both 1984 and 1986 Chairman of the Board, Salvatore Calise, ran for Congress in the 9th Congressional District and the NYYRC took an active role in these and other local campaigns.

The years from 1984 - 1988 were marked by two significant developments. The first development began with the realization that New York City was fast becoming a one-party city; there being only one Republican left on the entire City Council. As a result, President Stevens sought to place the New York Young Republican Club in the forefront of broadening the base of the Republican Party.

To achieve this goal, Stevens established three outreach special committees of the Club in 1984 which were authorized to run programs and activities specifically for groups that were deemed to have become alienated from the Republican Party. The special committees which were formed were: the Susan B. Anthony Republicans (for women), the Stonewall Republicans (for gays) and the Liberty Republicans (for African-Americans). Any NYYRC member was eligible to serve on any of these committees and the stated purpose of each committee was simply to inform their respcective group that if they support the basic principles of the Republican Party, that they are welcome in the New York Young Republican Club and the Republican Party.

After serving the New York Young Republican Club for six years, President Stevens stepped aside and in 1988, Andrew Smallacombe became President of the Club. President Smallacomb oversaw the merger of the Manhattan Young Republican Club into the NYYRC, the sixth Young Republican Club to combine forces with the NYYRC in the decade. However, President Smallacombe ran the Club with a detached leadership style that resulted in membership decline and inactive committees and college chapters. Though an amiable person, Smallacombe's "hands-off" approach invited multiple challenges to his leadership.

President Smallacomb took refuge in the support of the New York Republican County Committee and its chairman, Senator Roy M. Goodman. This led the Club away from its citywide perspective and more notably, its independent course from State politics. He began calling meetings with the Board of Governors inside the County Committee Headquarters and sought to have the Club affiliate with the Association of the New York State Young Republican Clubs, Inc, which was not an independent entity from the New York Republican State Committee.

The Split

By 1990, tensions between members of the Board of Governors and the Andrew Smallacombe presidency reached a boiling point. In August of that year, President Smallacombe called a meeting of the Board of Governors at the New York County Headquarters, and deliberately failed to notify nearly 2/3rds of the elected board members, ones he perceived to oppose him. When these board members learned of the meeting, they showed up to the meeting and an angered Smallacombe walked out leaving a quorum present.

First Vice-President Paul V. Beradino took the chair and the Board of Governors voted to adjourn the meeting and reconvene a half hour later at the Union League Club. During this time, Executive Vice-President Bruce Weinfeld, an ally of President Smallacome, had building security attempt to physically remove the elected board members from County Headquarters.

The Board of Governors, minus the Club President and Executive Vice-President, reconvened their meeting at the Union League Club, where they unanimously voted to terminate the membership of Andrew Smallacombe and Bruce Weinfeld for significant New York Young Republican Club bylaw violations. The Board then unanimously voted Jonathan H. Stephens to serve out the remainder of President Smallacombe's term. President Stephen's first order was to severe the Club's dependent relationship with the New York Republican County Committee.

At first, regular members were unsure what to make of everything that just occurred. The events that transpired were unprecendented in Club history. However, President Jonathan H. Stephens assured Club members that the NYYRC will survive and that the Club will rebuild and become stronger than every before.

1991-2006

On April 13, 1991, after keeping the New York Young Republican Club together for a difficult eight months, Jonathan H. Stephens resigned as Club President and members re-elected former president Thomas R. Stevens to serve once again. Though reluctant at first, Stevens agreed and helped increase new membership by establishing new college chapters, independent affiliations and rebuilding the NYYRC committees.

In 1992 President Thomas R. Stevens formed a volunteer campaign force known as the Bush Brigade to help reelect President George Herbert Walker Bush. President Stevens committed his administration to the independence of the Club and to its restructuring in order to enable it to become an effective political force on an Assembly District level. In the early 90s, the Club championed good government policies such as non-partisan elections for New York City. President Stevens and the NYYRC took the position to favor the creation of Independent Election Commissions throughout the United States, which would champion election law reform and fairness in the electoral process.

In 1997, President Thomas R. Stevens resigned and Executive Vice-President, Robert A. Hornak became the new President of the New York Young Republican Club. President Hornak's first order of business was to put the Club on a regular meeting schedule which would feature special guest speakers, so members could plan around the Club schedule. He also planned a regular event schedule for social occasions, which would allow members to mingle with non-members and encourage new membership.

Under the leadership of President Robert A. Hornak, the NYYRC became involved in bi-partisan debates with prominent Democratic Clubs. He also applied and received a permit from the City of New York to sponsor an annual Street Fair, which became a significant fundraiser for the club. With increased exposure, the Club's membership sored and those turbulant times of the early part of the decade seemed a distant past.

In 2001, the independence of the New York Young Republican Club stood out among the Republican organizations and committees. President Hornak and the Club leadership announced their support of Herman Badillo's candidacy for Mayor of New York over the establishsment's choice of Michael Bloomberg. Many Club members worked feverishy on the Badillo campaign making a valiant effort, but in the end, Michael Bloomberg won the nomination. After the primary, the NYYRC chose to not endorse the Republican candidate for mayor, because it felt Bloomberg was truly a liberal Democrat.

President Hornak continued the Club's practice of championing good government policies and initiatives. He believed that, in order for Republicans to begin winning elections in New York City, we would have to build support among the ranks of Democrats and Independents. With Vice-President Jay Golub, President Hornak developed the Urban Republican Platform, an agenda for local Republican candidates to endorse and run on in order to win elections. The NYYRC believed that Republican candidates need only focus on five basic principles within the republican ideology and as long as they champion reform and good government principles, their beliefs in social policy can take a back seat to what is important in city government.

In July 2003, after serving as President for five and a half years, Robert A. Hornak stepped down as Club President, so he could focus on city council campaigns running under the Urban Republican Platform. Three NYYRC Board Members, Jennifer Arrangio, Jay Golub and Josh Yablon, ran under the platform, raising money and impressing the media and Democrats with their ability to stay targeted on key issues. Though all three lost their elections because voter turnout was low, press coverage on the candidates running under the Urban Republican Platform was broad and its message garnered support among the conservative media.

With Hornak stepping down, Executive Vice-President Paul Rodriguez took over the Club Presidency and prepared club members for the reelection of President George W. Bush. The NYYRC sought big name Speakers and assigned members to work on national campaigns. The first big campaign was of Michael Benjamin, who set up a committee to challenge US Senator Charles Schumer. Michael Benjamin toured the State of New York seeking the endorsements for Republican County Committees and Conservative County Committees and raised more than $2 million for his efforts. Also Club President Paul Rodriguez ran for a US Congressional seat in Brooklyn and became part of a documentary film on the Republican National Convention.

From 2005 to 2006, the NYYRC continued to invite big name speakers such as Stephen J. Milloy, Herbert I. London, Fred Siegel, Alan Skorski, Candace de Russy, Lawrence Kudlow and Claudia Rosett. Members also made efforts to push for their local candidates running for Council in 2005 and State Senate & Assembly in 2006. Many volunteered for the Faso campaign, the Pirro campaign and local candidates, Philip Pidot, Frank Scala and Robert Heim. Unfortunately, the results in November 2006 were devestating for the Republican Party and many Club members began wondering what direction the GOP needs to take going forward.

2007 and beyond

A fresh take on building up the New York Young Republican Club began at the Holiday Party in December 2006. Executive Vice-President Ron Lewenberg and Second Vice-President Daniel Peterson worked the floor of the party, which had a very encouraging turnout. Many party goers became first time members and even some former members showed up and rejoined the Club. The Leadership made it a point to keep in touch with these new members and it eventually led to some appointments on the club's Standing Committees.

The first quarter of the year had the NYYRC prepare for Club Elections and March, a nominated slate of candidates was submitted to the entire membership.

to be continued...

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PO Box 370, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163
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