Changes

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.

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.

==Secretary of State==

==Secretary of State==

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.