On his father's side, Blaine was descended from Scotch-Irish settlers who first emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1745.
Blaine's mother and her forebears were Irish Catholics who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1780s.
Blaine's parents were married in 1820 in a Roman Catholic ceremony, although Blaine's father remained a Presbyterian.
James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S.
An expansionist, Blaine's policies would lead in less than a decade to the establishment of the United States' acquisition of Pacific colonies and dominance of the Caribbean. == Early life == === Family and childhood === James Gillespie Blaine was born January 31, 1830 in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, the third child of Ephraim Lyon Blaine and his wife Maria (Gillespie) Blaine.
Blaine succeeded academically, graduating near the top of his class and delivering the salutatory address in June 1847.
After graduation, Blaine considered attending Yale Law School, but ultimately decided against it, instead moving west to find a job. === Teacher and publisher === In 1848, Blaine was hired as a professor of mathematics and ancient languages at the Western Military Institute in Georgetown, Kentucky.
On June 30, 1850, the two wed.
They next lived with Harriet Blaine's family in Augusta, Maine for several months, where their first child, Stanwood Blaine, was born in 1851.
At the same time, Democratic operatives accused Blaine and his wife of not having been married when their eldest son, Stanwood, was born in 1851; this rumor was false, however, and caused little excitement in the campaign.
The young family soon moved again, this time to Philadelphia where Blaine took a job at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind (now Overbrook School for the Blind) in 1852, teaching science and literature. Philadelphia's law libraries gave Blaine the chance to at last begin to study the law, but in 1853 he received a more tempting offer: to become editor and co-owner of the Kennebec Journal.
The young family soon moved again, this time to Philadelphia where Blaine took a job at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind (now Overbrook School for the Blind) in 1852, teaching science and literature. Philadelphia's law libraries gave Blaine the chance to at last begin to study the law, but in 1853 he received a more tempting offer: to become editor and co-owner of the Kennebec Journal.
In 1854, Baker sold his share to John L.
Although Blaine's first son, Stanwood, died in infancy, he and Harriet had two more sons soon afterward: Walker, in 1855, and Emmons, in 1857.
In 1856, he was selected as a delegate to the first Republican National Convention.
Although Blaine's first son, Stanwood, died in infancy, he and Harriet had two more sons soon afterward: Walker, in 1855, and Emmons, in 1857.
It was around this time that Blaine left the Presbyterian church of his childhood and joined his wife's new denomination, becoming a member of the South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta. In 1858, Blaine ran for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives, and was elected.
He ran for reelection in 1859, 1860, and 1861, and was successful each time by large majorities.
Meanwhile, his political power was growing as he became chairman of the Republican state committee in 1859, replacing Stevens.
Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Stalwart; while Arthur and Frelinghuysen undid much of Blaine's work, cancelling the call for a Pan-American conference and stopping the effort to end the War of the Pacific, they did continue the drive for tariff reductions, signing a reciprocity treaty with Mexico in 1882. === Private life === Blaine began the year 1882 without a political office for the first time since 1859.
He ran for reelection in 1859, 1860, and 1861, and was successful each time by large majorities.
The added responsibilities led Blaine to reduce his duties with the Advertiser in 1860, and he soon ceased editorial work altogether.
Blaine was not a delegate to the Republican convention in 1860, but attended anyway as an enthusiastic supporter of Abraham Lincoln.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he supported Lincoln's war effort and saw that the Maine Legislature voted to organize and equip units to join the Union Army. == House of Representatives, 1863–1876 == === Elected to the House === Blaine had considered running for the United States House of Representatives from Maine's 4th district in 1860, but agreed to step aside when Anson P.
A 1905 biography by his wife's cousin, Edward Stanwood, was written when the question was still in doubt, but by the time David Saville Muzzey published his biography of Blaine in 1934, the subtitle "A Political Idol of Other Days" already spoke to its subject's fading place in the popular mind, perhaps because of the nine men the Republican Party nominated for the Presidency from 1860 to 1912, Blaine is the only one who never became President.
He ran for reelection in 1859, 1860, and 1861, and was successful each time by large majorities.
Returning to Maine, he was elected Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives in 1861 and reelected in 1862.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he supported Lincoln's war effort and saw that the Maine Legislature voted to organize and equip units to join the Union Army. == House of Representatives, 1863–1876 == === Elected to the House === Blaine had considered running for the United States House of Representatives from Maine's 4th district in 1860, but agreed to step aside when Anson P.
Returning to Maine, he was elected Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives in 1861 and reelected in 1862.
Morrill was successful, but after redistricting placed Blaine in the 3rd district for the 1862 election, he allowed his name to be put forward.
House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he supported Lincoln's war effort and saw that the Maine Legislature voted to organize and equip units to join the Union Army. == House of Representatives, 1863–1876 == === Elected to the House === Blaine had considered running for the United States House of Representatives from Maine's 4th district in 1860, but agreed to step aside when Anson P.
By the time Blaine took his seat in December 1863, at the start of the 38th Congress, the Union Army had turned the tide of the war with victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. As a first-term congressman, he initially said little, mostly following the administration's lead in supporting the continuing war effort.
Blaine also spoke in support of the commutation provision of the military draft law passed in 1863 and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the federal government to impose taxes on exports. === Reconstruction and impeachment === Blaine was reelected in 1864 and, when the 39th Congress assembled in December 1865, the main issue was the Reconstruction of the defeated Confederate States.
Blaine also spoke in support of the commutation provision of the military draft law passed in 1863 and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the federal government to impose taxes on exports. === Reconstruction and impeachment === Blaine was reelected in 1864 and, when the 39th Congress assembled in December 1865, the main issue was the Reconstruction of the defeated Confederate States.
Blaine also spoke in support of the commutation provision of the military draft law passed in 1863 and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the federal government to impose taxes on exports. === Reconstruction and impeachment === Blaine was reelected in 1864 and, when the 39th Congress assembled in December 1865, the main issue was the Reconstruction of the defeated Confederate States.
Blaine voted to impeach Johnson in 1868, although he had initially opposed the effort.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
In March 1869, when Speaker Schuyler Colfax resigned from office at the end of the 40th Congress to become vice president, the highly regarded Blaine was the unanimous choice of the Republican Congressional Caucus to become Speaker of the House for the 41st Congress.
In the subsequent March 4, 1869 election for Speaker, Blaine easily defeated Democrat Michael C.
At the same time, the Blaine family moved to a mansion in Augusta. During Blaine's six-year tenure as Speaker his popularity continued to grow, and Republicans dissatisfied with Grant mentioned Blaine as a potential presidential candidate prior to the 1872 Republican National Convention.
Blaine's growing fame brought growing opposition from the Democrats, as well, and during the 1872 campaign he was accused of receiving bribes in the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
But other Republicans were exposed by the accusations, including Vice President Colfax, who was dropped from the 1872 presidential ticket in favor of Henry Wilson. Although he supported a general amnesty for former Confederates, Blaine opposed extending it to include Jefferson Davis, and he cooperated with Grant in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in response to increased violence and disenfranchisement of blacks in the South.
The Coinage Act of 1873 stopped the coinage of silver for all coins worth a dollar or more, effectively tying the dollar to the value of gold.
As a result, the money supply contracted and the effects of the Panic of 1873 grew worse, making it more expensive for debtors to pay debts they had entered into when currency was less valuable.
Politics, Strategy, and American Diplomacy: Studies in Foreign Policy, 1873–1917 (1966) pp 74–101 on "The challenge of Latin America: Harrison and Blaine, 1889–1892" Spetter, Allan.
His time as speaker came to an end following the 187475 elections which produced a Democratic majority for the 44th Congress. Blaine was an effective Speaker with a magnetic personality.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
Blaine and his hard money allies were successful, but the issue remained alive until 1879, when all remaining greenbacks were made redeemable in gold by the Specie Payment Resumption Act of 1875. === Speaker of the House === During his first three terms in Congress, Blaine had earned for himself a reputation as an expert of parliamentary procedure, and, aside from a growing feud with Roscoe Conkling of New York, had become popular among his fellow Republicans.
But other Republicans were exposed by the accusations, including Vice President Colfax, who was dropped from the 1872 presidential ticket in favor of Henry Wilson. Although he supported a general amnesty for former Confederates, Blaine opposed extending it to include Jefferson Davis, and he cooperated with Grant in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in response to increased violence and disenfranchisement of blacks in the South.
In late 1875, President Grant made several speeches on the importance of the separation of church and state and the duty of the states to provide free public education.
In December 1875, he proposed a joint resolution that became known as the Blaine Amendment. The proposed amendment codified the church-state separation Blaine and Grant were promoting, stating that: The effect was to prohibit the use of public funds by any religious school, although it did not advance Grant's other aim of requiring states to provide public education to all children.
House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
Although it never passed Congress, and left Blaine open to charges of anti-Catholicism, the proposed amendment served Blaine's purpose of rallying Protestants to the Republican party and promoting himself as one of the party's foremost leaders. == 1876 presidential election == === Mulligan letters === Blaine entered the 1876 presidential campaign as the favorite, but his chances were almost immediately harmed by the emergence of a scandal.
In the subsequent contest of 1876, Hayes was elected after a contentious compromise over disputed electoral votes.
When the Maine Legislature reconvened that autumn, they confirmed Blaine's appointment and elected him to the full six-year term that would begin on March 4, 1877. == United States Senate, 1876–1881 == Blaine was appointed to the Senate on July 10, 1876, but did not begin his duties there until the Senate convened in December of that year.
Blaine was nominated by James Frederick Joy of Michigan, but in contrast to Ingersoll's exciting speech of 1876, Joy's lengthy oration was remembered only for its maladroitness.
When the Maine Legislature reconvened that autumn, they confirmed Blaine's appointment and elected him to the full six-year term that would begin on March 4, 1877. == United States Senate, 1876–1881 == Blaine was appointed to the Senate on July 10, 1876, but did not begin his duties there until the Senate convened in December of that year.
Even after the Bland–Allison Act's passage, Blaine continued his opposition, making a series of speeches against it during the 1878 congressional campaign season. His time in the Senate allowed Blaine to develop his foreign policy ideas.
Blaine and his hard money allies were successful, but the issue remained alive until 1879, when all remaining greenbacks were made redeemable in gold by the Specie Payment Resumption Act of 1875. === Speaker of the House === During his first three terms in Congress, Blaine had earned for himself a reputation as an expert of parliamentary procedure, and, aside from a growing feud with Roscoe Conkling of New York, had become popular among his fellow Republicans.
By 1879, there were only 1,155 soldiers stationed in the former Confederacy, and Blaine believed that this small force could never guarantee the civil and political rights of black Southerners—which would mean an end to the Republican party in the South. On monetary issues, Blaine continued the advocacy for a strong dollar that he had begun as a Representative.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
Although Grant did not actively promote his candidacy, his entry into the race re-energized the Stalwarts and when the convention met in Chicago in June 1880, they instantly polarized the delegates into Grant and anti-Grant factions, with Blaine the most popular choice of the latter group.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
Blaine accepted, resigning from the Senate on March 4, 1881. == Secretary of State, 1881 == === Foreign policy initiatives === Blaine saw presiding over the cabinet as a chance to preside over the Washington social scene, as well, and soon ordered construction of a new, larger home near Dupont Circle.
By 1881, Blaine had completely abandoned his protectionist leanings and now used his position as Secretary of State to promote freer trade, especially within the western hemisphere.
Blaine favored a resolution that would not result in Peru yielding any territory, but Chile, which had by 1881 occupied the Peruvian capital, rejected any negotiations that would gain them nothing.
His plans for the United States' involvement in the world stretched even beyond the Western Hemisphere, as he sought commercial treaties with Korea and Madagascar. === Garfield's assassination === On July 2, 1881, Blaine and Garfield were walking through the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Washington when Garfield was shot by Charles J.
Guiteau was overpowered and arrested immediately, while Garfield lingered for two-and-a-half months before he died on September 19, 1881.
While Arthur asked all of the cabinet members to postpone their resignations until Congress recessed that December, Blaine nonetheless tendered his resignation on October 19, 1881, but he agreed to remain in office until December 19, when his successor would be in place. Blaine's replacement was Frederick T.
Garfield agreed with his Secretary of State's vision and Blaine called for a Pan-American conference in 1882 to mediate disputes among the Latin American nations and to serve as a forum for talks on increasing trade.
Guiteau was convicted of killing Garfield and hanged on June 30, 1882. Garfield's death was not just a personal tragedy for Blaine; it also meant the end of his dominance of the cabinet, and the end of his foreign policy initiatives.
Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Stalwart; while Arthur and Frelinghuysen undid much of Blaine's work, cancelling the call for a Pan-American conference and stopping the effort to end the War of the Pacific, they did continue the drive for tariff reductions, signing a reciprocity treaty with Mexico in 1882. === Private life === Blaine began the year 1882 without a political office for the first time since 1859.
Friends in Maine petitioned Blaine to run for Congress in the 1882 elections, but he declined, preferring to spend his time writing and supervising the move to the new home.
Blaine appeared before Congress in 1882 during an investigation into his War of the Pacific diplomacy, defending himself against allegations that he owned an interest in the Peruvian guano deposits being occupied by Chile, but otherwise stayed away from the Capitol.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
The publication of the first volume of Twenty Years in early 1884 added to Blaine's financial security and thrust him back into the political spotlight.
As the 1884 campaign loomed, Blaine's name was being circulated once more as a potential nominee, and despite some reservations, he soon found himself back in the hunt for the presidency. == 1884 presidential election == === Nomination === In the months leading up to the 1884 convention, Blaine was once more considered the favorite for the nomination, but President Arthur was contemplating a run for election in his own right.
Unlike in previous conventions, the momentum for Blaine in 1884 would not be halted.
By the time of the 1886 Congressional elections, Blaine was giving speeches and promoting Republican candidates, especially in his home state of Maine.
Republicans were less successful nationwide, gaining seats in the House while losing seats in the Senate, but Blaine's speeches kept him and his opinions in the spotlight. Blaine and his wife and daughters sailed for Europe in June 1887, visiting England, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and finally Scotland, where they stayed at the summer home of Andrew Carnegie.
The family returned to the United States in August 1887.
His letter in the Tribune had raised his political profile even higher, and by 1888 Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, both former opponents, urged Blaine to run against Cleveland again.
Hoping to make his intentions clear, Blaine left the country and was staying with Carnegie in Scotland when the 1888 Republican National Convention began in Chicago.
Blaine returned to the United States in August 1888 and visited Harrison at his home in October, where twenty-five thousand residents paraded in Blaine's honor.
House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), one of only two persons to hold the position under three separate presidents (the other being Daniel Webster), and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President in 1876 and 1880 before being nominated in 1884.
Harrison defeated Cleveland in a close election, and offered Blaine his former position as Secretary of State. == Secretary of State, 1889–1892 == Harrison had developed his foreign policy based largely on Blaine's ideas, and at the start of his term, Harrison and Blaine had very similar views on the United States' place in the world.
A law passed in 1889 required Harrison to ban seal hunting in Alaskan waters, but Canadian fishermen believed they had the right to continue fishing there.
Politics, Strategy, and American Diplomacy: Studies in Foreign Policy, 1873–1917 (1966) pp 74–101 on "The challenge of Latin America: Harrison and Blaine, 1889–1892" Spetter, Allan.
"Harrison and Blaine: Foreign Policy, 1889-1893" Indiana Magazine of History 65#3 (1969), pp. 214–227 online Volwiler, A.
"Harrison, Blaine, and American Foreign Policy, 1889-1893" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 79#4 (1938) pp. 637–648 online == External links == “James G.
When the McKinley Tariff of 1890 eliminated the duty on sugar, Hawaiian sugar-growers looked for a way to retain their once-exclusive access to the American market.
The result was the First International Conference of American States, which met in Washington in 1890.
After New Orleans police chief David Hennessy led a crackdown against local mafiosi, he was assassinated on October 14, 1890.
The years at the State Department also brought Blaine personal tragedy as two of his children, Walker and Alice, died suddenly in 1890.
Otherwise, the conference achieved none of Blaine's goals in the short-term, but did lead to further communication and what would eventually become the Organization of American States. In 1891, a diplomatic crisis arose in Chile that drove a wedge between Harrison and Blaine.
After the alleged murderers were found not guilty on March 14, 1891, a mob stormed the jail and lynched eleven of them.
Harrison was conscious that his Secretary of State was more popular than he, and while he admired Blaine's gift for diplomacy, he grew displeased with Blaine's frequent absence from his post because of illness, and suspected that Blaine was angling for the presidential nomination in 1892.
Another son, Emmons, died in 1892.
With these family issues and his declining health, Blaine decided to retire and announced that he would resign from the cabinet on June 4, 1892.
Because of their growing animosity, and because Blaine's resignation came three days before the 1892 Republican National Convention began, Harrison suspected that Blaine was preparing to run against him for the party's nomination for president. Harrison was unpopular with the party and the country, and many of Blaine's old supporters encouraged him to run for the nomination.
Harrison was renominated on the first ballot, but die-hard Blaine delegates still gave their champion 182 and 1/6 votes, good enough for second place. Blaine spent the summer of 1892 at his Bar Harbor cottage, and did not involve himself in the presidential campaign other than to make a single speech in New York in October.
Harrison was defeated soundly in his rematch against former president Cleveland and when Blaine returned to Washington at the close of 1892, he and Harrison were friendlier than they had been in years.
Blaine's health declined rapidly in the winter of 1892–1893, and he died in his Washington home on January 27, 1893.
James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S.
Their efforts ultimately culminated in a coup d'état against Kalākaua's successor, Liliuokalani, in 1893.
Blaine's health declined rapidly in the winter of 1892–1893, and he died in his Washington home on January 27, 1893.
A 1905 biography by his wife's cousin, Edward Stanwood, was written when the question was still in doubt, but by the time David Saville Muzzey published his biography of Blaine in 1934, the subtitle "A Political Idol of Other Days" already spoke to its subject's fading place in the popular mind, perhaps because of the nine men the Republican Party nominated for the Presidency from 1860 to 1912, Blaine is the only one who never became President.
Ultimately, the nations signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, which outlawed open-water seal hunting. At the same time as the Pribilof Islands dispute, an outbreak of mob violence in New Orleans became an international incident.
A 1905 biography by his wife's cousin, Edward Stanwood, was written when the question was still in doubt, but by the time David Saville Muzzey published his biography of Blaine in 1934, the subtitle "A Political Idol of Other Days" already spoke to its subject's fading place in the popular mind, perhaps because of the nine men the Republican Party nominated for the Presidency from 1860 to 1912, Blaine is the only one who never became President.
He was later re-interred in Blaine Memorial Park, Augusta, Maine, in 1920. == Legacy == A towering figure in the Republican party of his day, Blaine fell into obscurity fairly soon after his death.
A 1905 biography by his wife's cousin, Edward Stanwood, was written when the question was still in doubt, but by the time David Saville Muzzey published his biography of Blaine in 1934, the subtitle "A Political Idol of Other Days" already spoke to its subject's fading place in the popular mind, perhaps because of the nine men the Republican Party nominated for the Presidency from 1860 to 1912, Blaine is the only one who never became President.
Crapol's 2000 work, Muzzey's was the last full-scale biography of the man until Neil Rolde's 2006 book.
Crapol's 2000 work, Muzzey's was the last full-scale biography of the man until Neil Rolde's 2006 book.
Blaine: A Life in Politics, until his death in 2016. == Notes == == References == === Citations === === Sources === Books Articles == Further reading == Grenville, John A.
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