BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE ( 1S30-93). An eminent American statesman and political leader.
great -grandfather was Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804), an officer on the Patriot side in the American Revolution, \rho served from 1778 to 1782 as Commissary-General of the Northern De partment. James was born. of Scotch-I rish pa rentage, at Brownsville, Pa., on January 31, 1830, and was educated in the common schools and at Washington College, l'a., where he gradu ated in 1847. After spending several years as a teacher, first in the Western Military Institute. at Blue Lick Springs, Ky., and subsequently in the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind in Philadelphia, he became in 1854 one of the edi tors of the Kennebec (Maine) Journal; and three years later, although retaining his home at Au gusta, undertook the editorship of the Portland Adrcrtiscr, an influential daily. In 1858 he was elected to the Legislature by the Republicans, and remained in that body four years. during two of which he served as Speaker. In 1859 lie became Chairman of the Republican State Committee—a position of leadership in local politics which lie retained until 1881. His rapid rise to influence and prominence in the State made natural his election. in 1862, to t7ongress, where he served for seven successive terms. during three of which he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Ile was a pro nounced Republican and a vigorous supporter of the Administration during the war. He nevertheless opposed the issue of greenbacks. and successfully urged an important modification to the Stevens plan of reconstruction. (See 1ZEcox sTaucruix.) As Speaker he attained unusual success, and his conduct was uniformly marked by great readiness and ability. His course in this position, however. provoked acute controver sies. the effect of which was ..‘een when the Demo crats secured control of the House in 1873. and when Blaine's impassioned opposition to the in elusion of Jefferson Davis (q.v.) in a general amnesty, on the ground of the latter's alleged complicity in the "gigantic murders and crimes of followed by a vigorous effort of the Democrats to mimect him with the Pacific Railroad frauds. This culminated in the highly
dramatic incident of June 5, 1876, when the ac cused produced in the _House of Representatives the ':dolligan Letters' (q.v.). and offered what was considered an ample vindication of his course. The incident continued for a decade to be a cause of disturbance within the Republican _Party, but its immediate effect was the enhance ment of Blaine's prestige, and his strong and almost successful candidacy for the Presidential nomination. Upon the seventh ballot he received 351 votes. when a combination of all his oppo nents upon Hayes effected his defeat. The Electoral Commission (q.v.). which was created by the two Houses to decide the contested elec tion, was vigorously opposed by Blaine on the ground that the powers conferred upon it ex ceeded those of Congress itself. Having been elected to the Senate in 1876, be worked against the Bland Silver Bill, opposed the unrestricted immigration of the Chinese. and favored strongly the policy of subsidizing various industries. Ile continued to occupy such a position of leadership that in ISSO he was again a candidate for the Republican nomination. and became in the con vention the most formidable opponent of Grant. who had already served two terms as President. The defeat of the third-term candidate appear ing to a majority of the delegates to he the most important matter, and the nomination of Blaine seeming impossible without ous discord. the adherents of Blaine and John Sherman united on the thirty-sixth ballot in throwing the nomination to Garfield. Who de feated General Hancock in the ensuing election. Upon Garfield's inauguration, Blaine became Secretary of State: but the death of the Presi dent being followed by a reorganization of the Cabinet, he resigned the position in December of the same year. After his sudden retirement from the publbc service he devoted his time large ly to the preparation of his Twenty fears of Congress, the first volume of which appeared in 1884, attracted widespread attention. and for the most part met with a favorable reception.