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Biography
James Gillespie Blaine (1830–1893) was born in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Washington College (now Washington and Jefferson) and moved to Maine, where he worked as a teacher and newspaper editor. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served as Speaker. He subsequently represented Maine in the U.S. Senate. President James A. Garfield appointed Blaine as secretary of state.
As secretary in the brief Garfield administration, Blaine advocated commercial expansion and increased naval power. He also encouraged peaceful relations within the Americas and, like his predecessor, tried to negotiate peace in the War of the Pacific. He also attempted to arbitrate a border dispute between Mexico and Guatemala. Blaine’s diplomatic work in the planning of a Pan-American Conference was cut short in September 1881, when President Garfield died after being shot by an assassin. Blaine remained in office until Chester Arthur, the new president, selected a replacement for him.
Blaine lost his bid for president in 1884 but was named secretary of state again in 1889, when Benjamin Harrison began his term as president.