Changes

[[Image:84tattoo.jpg|thumb|450px|the famous "tattoed man" cartoon, with Blaine covered by indelible scandals; cartoon, unveiled by editor Whitelaw Reid on far left. ''Puck'' June 4, 1884 by Bernhard Gillam]]

[[Image:84tattoo.jpg|thumb|450px|the famous "tattoed man" cartoon, with Blaine covered by indelible scandals; cartoon, unveiled by editor Whitelaw Reid on far left. ''Puck'' June 4, 1884 by Bernhard Gillam]]

 

Blaine was a leading candidate going into the 1876 Republican National Convention; he was nominated by [[Robert G. Ingersoll]] in a brilliant speech that made Ingersoll famous, extolling him as the "Plumed Knight:"

Blaine was a leading candidate going into the 1876 Republican National Convention; he was nominated by [[Robert G. Ingersoll]] in a brilliant speech that made Ingersoll famous, extolling him as the "Plumed Knight:"

:''The people  demand a man whose political reputation is spotless as a star; but they do not demand that their candidate shall have a certificate of moral character signed by a Confederate congress. . . . This is a grand year--a year filled with recollections of the Revolution. . . a year in which the people call for the man who has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of slander--for the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy from the hideous face of rebellion; for the man who, like an intellectual athlete, has stood in the arena of debate and challenged all comers, and who is still a total stranger to defeat.... James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of the defamers of his country and the maligners of his honor.''

:''The people  demand a man whose political reputation is spotless as a star; but they do not demand that their candidate shall have a certificate of moral character signed by a Confederate congress. . . . This is a grand year--a year filled with recollections of the Revolution. . . a year in which the people call for the man who has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of slander--for the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy from the hideous face of rebellion; for the man who, like an intellectual athlete, has stood in the arena of debate and challenged all comers, and who is still a total stranger to defeat.... James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of the defamers of his country and the maligners of his honor.''

[[Image:Burnletter.jpg|thumb|300px|"Burn this letter!" Keppler cartoon shows public opinion hostile to Blaine, begging forgiveness; ''Puck'' 1884]]

[[Image:Burnletter.jpg|thumb|300px|"Burn this letter!" Keppler cartoon shows public opinion hostile to Blaine, begging forgiveness; ''Puck'' 1884]]

Blaine was again the leading candidate in 1880; but the same bitter factionalism defeated him once more. His ally [[James A. Garfield]] was nominated and elected, and Blaine was appointed Secretary of State.  Garfield was soon assassinated and after a few months Blaine left the cabinet. Finally in 1884 he was nominated on the first ballot, with General [[John A. Logan]] of Illinois as his running mate. Blaine's opponent was [[Grover Cleveland]], a conservative [[Bourbon Democrats|Bourbon Democrat]]  who, as governor of New York, was a leader in political reform, particularly of the civil service.  The election was very close but Blaine could not shake the corruption allegations. [[Mugwumps]], led by prominent Republican reformers, switched to Cleveland. Late in the campaign came an indiscreet remark of one of his supporters, the Reverend S. D. Burchard, who ridiculed the Democratic opposition as the party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion." (That is, saloons, Catholics and ex-Confederates.) It was an insult especially to Irish Catholics, a Democratic constituency Blaine was courting. Blaine won only 182 out of a total of 401 electoral votes, but Cleveland's popular vote margin was less than 25,000 in a total of more than 10,000,000.

Blaine was again the leading candidate in 1880; but the same bitter factionalism defeated him once more. His ally [[James A. Garfield]] was nominated and elected, and Blaine was appointed Secretary of State.  Garfield was soon assassinated and after a few months Blaine left the cabinet.  

Finally in 1884 Blaine was nominated on the first ballot, with General [[John A. Logan]] of Illinois as his running mate. Blaine's opponent was [[Grover Cleveland]], a conservative [[Bourbon Democrats|Bourbon Democrat]]  who, as governor of New York, was a leader in political reform, particularly of the civil service.  The election was very close but Blaine could not shake the corruption allegations. [[Mugwumps]], led by prominent Republican reformers, switched to Cleveland. Late in the campaign came an indiscreet remark of one of his supporters, the Reverend S. D. Burchard, who ridiculed the Democratic opposition as the party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion." (That is, saloons, Catholics and ex-Confederates.) It was an insult especially to Irish Catholics, a Democratic constituency Blaine was courting. Blaine won only 182 out of a total of 401 electoral votes, but Cleveland's popular vote margin was less than 25,000 in a total of more than 10,000,000.

[[Image:84ticket.jpg|200px|left|thumb|there were no secret ballots; men voted by taking this Republican ticket from a GOP pollworker and dropping it in a glass jar]]

[[Image:84ticket.jpg|200px|left|thumb|there were no secret ballots; men voted by taking this Republican ticket from a GOP pollworker and dropping it in a glass jar]]

 

Still the party leader, Blaine resumed his writing and speaking, and visited Europe. He helped [[Benjamin Harrison]] become the GOP nominee in 1888; in 1889 President Harrison appointed Blaine his Secretary of State. During three years of service in this office, probably the most constructive part of his career, Blaine's focused on relations with Latin-American and Britain. He pushed for an canal across Panama, built, operated, and controlled by the United States; he secured Congressional legislation resulting in the Pan-American Conference which met in Washington in October, 1889. Blaine's set up the Bureau of American Republics in Washington.<ref> Healy (2001)</ref> As an early environmentalist he used diplomacy to protect the seal herds in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska.<ref>Charles S. Campbell, Jr., "The Anglo-American Crisis in the Bering Sea, 1890-1891." ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 1961 48(3): 393-414. Issn: 0161-391x Fulltext: in Jstor  </ref> He tried to annex Hawaii (which almost succeeded in early 1893, but was postponed to 1898). Indeed, the permanent influence of Blaine on American life was through his foreign policy. Although Blaine concluded tariff reciprocity agreements with eight Latin American nations, reciprocity negotiations with Canada stalled in 1891-92. Harrison and Blaine feared a political backlash from American farmers and lumbermen if concessions were made to Canada. Blaine's Anglophobia also influenced the outcome of the negotiations, and Canada's negotiators to the end resisted the inclusion of reciprocity on manufactured articles in any treaty.<ref> Allan B. Spetter, "Harrison and Blaine: No Reciprocity for Canada." ''Canadian Review of American Studies'' 1981 12(2): 143-156. Issn: 0007-7720 </ref> The two most important reciprocity agreements were signed with Brazil and with Spain for Cuba and Puerto Rico.  

Still the party leader, Blaine resumed his writing and speaking, and visited Europe. He helped [[Benjamin Harrison]] become the GOP nominee in 1888; in 1889 President Harrison appointed Blaine his Secretary of State. During three years of service in this office, probably the most constructive part of his career, Blaine's focused on relations with Latin-American and Britain. He pushed for an canal across Panama, built, operated, and controlled by the United States; he secured Congressional legislation resulting in the Pan-American Conference which met in Washington in October, 1889. Blaine's set up the Bureau of American Republics in Washington.<ref> Healy (2001)</ref> As an early environmentalist he used diplomacy to protect the seal herds in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska.<ref>Charles S. Campbell, Jr., "The Anglo-American Crisis in the Bering Sea, 1890-1891." ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 1961 48(3): 393-414. Issn: 0161-391x Fulltext: in Jstor  </ref> He tried to annex Hawaii (which almost succeeded in early 1893, but was postponed to 1898). Indeed, the permanent influence of Blaine on American life was through his foreign policy. Although Blaine concluded tariff reciprocity agreements with eight Latin American nations, reciprocity negotiations with Canada stalled in 1891-92. Harrison and Blaine feared a political backlash from American farmers and lumbermen if concessions were made to Canada. Blaine's Anglophobia also influenced the outcome of the negotiations, and Canada's negotiators to the end resisted the inclusion of reciprocity on manufactured articles in any treaty.<ref> Allan B. Spetter, "Harrison and Blaine: No Reciprocity for Canada." ''Canadian Review of American Studies'' 1981 12(2): 143-156. Issn: 0007-7720 </ref> The two most important reciprocity agreements were signed with Brazil and with Spain for Cuba and Puerto Rico.