Blaine, James G.

Blaine, James G. (1830–1893), Republican party leader.Blaine was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Maine in the mid‐1850s, where he edited a newspaper before entering politics. His service in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863–1876), included three terms as Speaker (1869–1875). A moderate on Reconstruction policy, Blaine was known for his support of the gold standard and of international reciprocity agreements to promote trade. A contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1876, he lost his bid because of accusations that as Speaker he had facilitated the award of a land grant to a railroad and then profited financially from his action. Blaine served in the Senate from 1876 until he became secretary of state in 1881 under President James Garfield—a brief tenure that ended in December 1881, three months after Garfield's assassination. Blaine won the Republican presidential nomination in 1884 but narrowly lost to Grover Cleveland. As secretary of state under President Benjamin Harrison, 1889–1892, he worked for a Pan American Union, or reciprocal trade area, and for trade agreements with other nations. These efforts proved largely unsuccessful, but they did establish an important precedent for the future.

Blaine was a charismatic politician known to his admirers as the “Plumed Knight” and the “Magnetic Man.” Despite his ability to galvanize his followers, however, he could never overcome the suspicions of political reformers within and outside his party, who questioned his financial dealings and his internationalism. He presciently understood that the Republican party needed to address the new industrial order, especially by promoting international trade, as the issues relating to the Civil War and Reconstruction faded. In this sense he was a politician of the future more than of his time. He left an indelible imprint on his followers, who saw him as a foresighted leader and a constructive party guide.
See also Federal Government, Executive Branch: Department of State; Federal Government, Legislative Branch: Senate; Federal Government, Legislative Branch: House of Representatives; Gilded Age; Industrialization; Railroads; Tariffs.

Bibliography

David Saville Muzzey , James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days, 1934.
Morton Keller , Affairs of State: Public Life in Late Nineteenth Century America, 1977.
Edward P. Crapol , James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire, 2000.

H. Wayne Morgan