Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893

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<p>James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830 – January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. 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.</p>

<p>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 the general election, he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Grover Cleveland. Blaine was one of the late 19th century's leading Republicans and champion of the moderate reformist faction of the party known as the "Half-Breeds".</p>

<p>Blaine was born in the western Pennsylvania town of West Brownsville and after college moved to Maine, where he became a newspaper editor. Nicknamed "the Magnetic Man", he was a charismatic speaker in an era that prized oratory. He began his political career as an early supporter of Abraham Lincoln and the Union war effort in the American Civil War. In Reconstruction, Blaine was a supporter of black suffrage, but opposed some of the more coercive measures of the Radical Republicans. Initially a protectionist, he later worked for a reduction in the tariff and an expansion of American trade with foreign countries. Railroad promotion and construction were important issues in his time, and as a result of his interest and support, Blaine was widely suspected of corruption in the awarding of railroad charters, especially with the emergence of the Mulligan letters; these allegations plagued his 1884 presidential candidacy.</p>

<p>As Secretary of State, Blaine was a transitional figure, marking the end of an isolationist era in foreign policy and foreshadowing the rise of the American Century that would begin with the Spanish–American War. His efforts at expanding the United States' trade and influence began the shift to a more active American foreign policy. Blaine was a pioneer of tariff reciprocity and urged greater involvement in Latin American affairs. 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.</p>

<p><b>Introduction</b><br>
James G. Blaine served two terms as Secretary of State. He was first appointed by U.S. President James A. Garfield, serving from March 7, 1881, until December 18, 1881, and was again appointed by U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, serving from March 5, 1889, until his resignation on June 4, 1892.</p>

<p><b>Rise to Prominence</b><br>
Blaine was born in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on January 31, 1830. He graduated from Washington & Jefferson College in 1847, then known as Washington College, and worked as a teacher for several years. Blaine moved to Augusta, Maine, in 1854 and became editor of the Kennebec Journal.</p>

<p>Blaine entered politics as a Republican, was elected to Congress in 1862, and served as Speaker of the House from 1869 to 1875. In 1876, Blaine was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for President, but did win a Senate seat from Maine. In 1880, Blaine was again an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for the Presidency.</p>

<p>However, President-elect James A. Garfield offered Blaine the position of Secretary of State. After his first tenure as Secretary of State, Blaine was the Republican candidate for President in 1884, but lost to Grover Cleveland. In 1888, Blaine supported Benjamin Harrison as the Republican nominee for President. After Harrison’s successful election, he nominated Blaine to be Secretary of State for another term.</p>

<p><b>Influence on American Diplomacy</b><br>
Once in office as Secretary of State, Blaine encouraged peaceful relations within the Americas, and also advocated for American commercial expansion and increased naval power. Blaine negotiated for the release of U.S. citizens who had been arrested and confined without trial in Ireland as part of a British crackdown on Irish nationalist rent boycotts.</p>

<p>Blaine unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate peace between Peru, Bolivia and Chile, all engaged in the War of the Pacific from 1879 to 1883. He also attempted to arbitrate a border dispute between Mexico and Guatemala. Blaine’s overtures were cut short on September 19, 1881, by the death of President Garfield, who had been shot two months before on July 2. Blaine remained in office through December 18 while Chester A. Arthur, the new president, selected a replacement for him.</p>

<p>Under President Harrison, Blaine’s first challenge was to counter German expansion in Samoa, where the United States competed for influence. The agreement reached in 1889 between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom did not resolve the tensions between those countries, but further eroded Samoan sovereignty. During this term, Blaine attempted to negotiate a disagreement over Canadian fur seal hunting rights in the Bering Sea. He also faced controversies over the lynching of Italian citizens in New Orleans in 1891 and an attack on U.S. sailors in Valparaiso, Chile.</p>

<p>Blaine oversaw the Pan-American Conference, which had been organized by his predecessor, Thomas Francis Bayard. The conference covered trade, communication and legal issues, and eventually led to the establishment of the Pan-American Union.</p>

<p>Blaine resigned from his post on June 4, 1892. His resignation caught everyone, including President Harrison, by surprise. Although Blaine was a candidate for the 1892 Republican nomination, his poor health meant that he was not considered seriously. Blaine’s health declined sharply after his resignation, and he died not long afterward on January 27, 1893.</p>

BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE, a Representative and a Senator from Maine; born in West Brownsville, Washington County, Pa., January 31, 1830; graduated from Washington College, Washington, Pa., in 1847; taught at the Western Military Institute, Blue Lick Springs, Ky.; returned to Pennsylvania; studied law; taught at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind in Philadelphia 1852-1854; moved in 1854 to Maine, where he edited the Portland Advertiser and the Kennebec Journal; member, State house of representatives 1859-1862, serving the last two years as speaker; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1863, to July 10, 1876, when he resigned; Speaker of the House of Representatives (Forty-first through Forty-third Congresses); chairman, Committee on Rules (Forty-first through Forty-third Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for nomination for President on the Republican ticket in 1876 and 1880; appointed and subsequently elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lot M. Morrill; reelected and served from July 10, 1876, to March 5, 1881, when he resigned to become Secretary of State; chairman, Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment (Forty-fifth Congress), Committee on Rules (Forty-fifth Congress); Secretary of State in the Cabinets of Presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur, from March 5 to December 12, 1881; unsuccessful Republican candidate for President of the United States in 1884; Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Benjamin Harrison 1889-1892, when he resigned; aided in organizing and was the first president of the Pan American Congress; died in Washington, D.C., January 27, 1893; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery; reinterment at the request of the State of Maine in the Blaine Memorial Park, Augusta, Maine, in June 1920.