The loyalty oath required of all professional people was instituted in Missouri just after the Civil War. The oath had its critics of course – one of them Missouri’s most outstanding statesman, a confidant of Lincoln. He immediately launched a speech-making tour throughout the state opposing the oath. Frank Blair, a long-time Republican and staunch backer of Abraham Lincoln, dropped out of the Republican party when his fears of radical control of the party materialized after the war. He lost friends and gained enemies for attacking the proposals he saw as revenge against the South andthose Missourians who, in good conscience, had cast their lot with the losing side. One of his major speeches was set for Warrensburg.
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