James G. Blaine

James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830 – January 27, 1893) was an American Republican politician. He was a United States Representative. He was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a U.S. Senator from Maine. He was the Secretary of State twice. He was also nominated to be President.

James G. Blaine
31st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1875
President	Ulysses S. Grant
Preceded by	Theodore M. Pomeroy
Succeeded by	Michael C. Kerr
31st United States Secretary of State
In office March 7, 1889 – June 4, 1892
President	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Thomas F. Bayard
Succeeded by	John W. Foster
28th United States Secretary of State
In office March 7, 1881 – December 19, 1881
President	James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur
Preceded by	William M. Evarts
Succeeded by	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen
United States Senator from Maine
In office July 10, 1876 – March 5, 1881
Preceded by	Lot M. Morrill
Succeeded by	William P. Frye
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1863 – July 10, 1876
Preceded by	Samuel C. Fessenden
Succeeded by	Edwin Flye
Personal details
Born	James Gillespie Blaine January 31, 1830 West Brownsville, Pennsylvania
Died	January 27, 1893(1893-01-27) (aged 62) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Harriet Stanwood Blaine
Children	Stanwood Blaine, Walker Blaine, Emmons Blaine, Alice Blaine Coppinger, James Blaine Jr, Margaret Blaine Damrosch, Harriet Blaine Beale
Alma mater	Washington College
Profession	Law, Politics
Signature

Early life

Blaine in 1884

Blaine was born on January 31, 1830 in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He was the third child of Ephraim Lyon Blaine and his wife Maria Gillespie Blaine. He was educated at Washington College and later met his wife Harriet Stanwood. They married in 1850 and they had seven children.

Career

Blaine was a Republican. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1869 until 1875. He was chosen by the 18th United States President Ulysses S. Grant.

Blaine would later served as the Senator from Maine from 1876 through 1881. Secondly he served as the Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 3rd district from 1863 until 1876. Then as the 28th and 31st United States Secretary of State from 1881 through 1881 and then again in 1889 through 1892.

On July 2, 1881, Blaine and President James A. Garfield were walking in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C. when Charles J. Guiteau shot Garfield in the back. Blaine resigned as Secretary of State several months later.

The Republicans nominated Blaine for President in 1884 but Grover Cleveland won the election.

Death

Blaine died just 4 days short from his 63rd birthday on January 27, 1893 in his Washington, D.C. home from a heart attack, aged 62. He was later buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. and was later re-buried in Blaine Memorial Park, Augusta, Maine, in 1920. Blaine was hypochondriac.

James G. Blaine Media

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  The offices of the Kennebec Journal, where Blaine got his start in politics as editor.

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  James G. Blaine in the 1860s

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  Blaine's residence in the capital city of Augusta is the home of Maine governors.

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  James G. Blaine in the 1870s

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  Exposition Hall of Cincinnati during the announcement of Rutherford B. Hayes as the Republican nominee

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  Blaine worked with President Hayes (pictured) at times, but was never among his chief defenders in the Senate

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  The Interstate Exposition Building (known as the "Glass Palace") during the convention; James A. Garfield is on the podium, waiting to speak.

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  Blaine's mansion in Dupont Circle

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  Blaine/Logan campaign poster

Other websites

Media related to James G. Blaine at Wikimedia Commons

• "James G. Blaine, Presidential Contender" Archived 2015-03-07 at the Wayback Machine from C-SPAN's The Contenders
• Bastert, Russell H. (March 1956). "Diplomatic Reversal: Frelinghuysen's Opposition to Blaine's Pan-American Policy in 1882". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 42 (4): 653–671. doi:10.2307/1889232. JSTOR 1889232.
• Langley, Lester D. (1974). "James Gillespie Blaine: The Ideologue as Diplomat". In Merli, Frank J.; Wilson, Theodore A. (eds.). Makers of American Diplomacy: From Benjamin Franklin to Henry Kissinger. New York, New York: Scribner. pp. 253–278. ISBN 978-0-684-13786-5.
• Makemson, Harlen (2004). "One Misdeed Evokes Another: How Political Cartoonists Used 'Scandal Intertextuality' Against Presidential Candidate James G. Blaine". Media History Monographs. 7 (2): 1–21.
• Peskin, Allan (1979). "Blaine, Garfield and Latin America". Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History. 36 (1): 79–89. doi:10.2307/981139. JSTOR 981139. S2CID 147169121.
• Tyler, Alice Felt (1927). The Foreign Policy of James G. Blaine. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.