Changes

[[James Gillespie Blaine]], who led the faction, was personally opposed to civil service reform<ref>Weisberger, Bernarnd A. [https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/james-garfield-and-chester-arthur James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved November 20, 2021.</ref> and his viewpoints often aligned with that of the Stalwarts,<ref name=levipmorton/> such as opposing questionable policies pushed by President Hayes. He emerged as one of its main members largely due to sheer contempt for Stalwart [[Roscoe Conkling]],<ref name=levipmorton/> pertaining to a rivalry dating back to the 1860s.<ref>[http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/waughj/classes/gildedage/private/gilded_age_politics/history/bio_conkling.html Roscoe Conkling: Congressman and Political Boss (1829-1888)]. ''UCLA Social Sciences''. Retrieved November 20, 2021.</ref>

[[James Gillespie Blaine]], who led the faction, was personally opposed to civil service reform<ref>Weisberger, Bernarnd A. [https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/james-garfield-and-chester-arthur James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved November 20, 2021.</ref> and his viewpoints often aligned with that of the Stalwarts,<ref name=levipmorton/> such as opposing questionable policies pushed by President Hayes. He emerged as one of its main members largely due to sheer contempt for Stalwart [[Roscoe Conkling]],<ref name=levipmorton/> pertaining to a rivalry dating back to the 1860s.<ref>[http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/waughj/classes/gildedage/private/gilded_age_politics/history/bio_conkling.html Roscoe Conkling: Congressman and Political Boss (1829-1888)]. ''UCLA Social Sciences''. Retrieved November 20, 2021.</ref>

Many sources published in the contemporary era tend to attribute the leader of the Half-Breeds to Blaine and sometimes even suggest that he himself was a supporter of civil service reform, which is misleading and erroneous. Per Professor Welch:<ref name=p.91/>

Many sources published in the contemporary era tend to attribute the leader of the Half-Breeds to Blaine and sometimes even suggest that he himself was a supporter of civil service reform, which is misleading and erroneous. Per the writings of Professor Welch:<ref name=p.91/>

{{cquote|By the middle of the Hayes’s administration certain politicians were already representative of the goals and prejudices of Half-Breed Republicanism. Not James G. Blaine—who at this point represented a particular wing of the Stalwarts and became a Half-Breed only with the campaign of 1880——but men like Hayes, Hoar, George Edmunds, William Wheeler, Stanley Matthews, Henry Blair, William Evarts, George McCrary, Henry Dawes, and John Sherman.|||Welch, p. 91}}

{{cquote|By the middle of the Hayes’s administration certain politicians were already representative of the goals and prejudices of Half-Breed Republicanism. Not James G. Blaine—who at this point represented a particular wing of the Stalwarts and became a Half-Breed only with the campaign of 1880——but men like Hayes, Hoar, George Edmunds, William Wheeler, Stanley Matthews, Henry Blair, William Evarts, George McCrary, Henry Dawes, and John Sherman.|||Welch, p. 91}}