James G. Blaine

Maine's magnetic leader who dominated the House as Speaker and nearly reached the presidency.

Overview

Blaine served in the House from 1863 to 1876, holding the speakership from 1869 to 1875, where he rebuilt the weakened office into an engine of Republican legislation. Shifting to the Senate and then the cabinet, he was denied the 1876 nomination after questions over railroad bonds, and in 1884, as the party's nominee, lost New York and the presidency by barely a thousand votes amid the campaign cry of rum, romanism, and rebellion. As Secretary of State under Garfield and Harrison he convened the first Pan-American Conference and advanced reciprocity trade, fathering modern American diplomacy toward Latin America.