Editing James G. Blaine (section)

== 1876 presidential election ==
[[File:Blaine-standing-left.jpg|thumb|upright|James G. Blaine in the 1870s]]

=== Mulligan letters ===
Blaine entered the 1876 presidential campaign as the favorite, but his chances were almost immediately harmed by the emergence of a scandal.{{sfnm|Crapol||1p=44|Muzzey||2pp=83–84|Thompson||3pp=3, 19}} Rumors had begun to spread in February that Blaine had been involved in a transaction with the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] which had paid Blaine $64,000{{efn|Equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|64000|1876}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}}} for some [[Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad]] bonds he owned even though they were nearly worthless. In essence, the alleged transaction was presented as a sham designed to bribe Blaine.{{sfnm|Crapol||1p=44|Muzzey||2pp=83–84|Thompson||3pp=3, 19}} Blaine denied the charges, as did the Union Pacific's directors.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=84–86}} Blaine claimed that he never had any dealings with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad except to purchase bonds at market price and that he had lost money on the transaction.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=84–86}} Democrats in the House of Representatives, however, demanded a congressional investigation.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=87–93|Crapol||2p=44|Summers||3pp=62–63}} The testimony appeared to favor Blaine's version of events until May 31, when James Mulligan, a [[Boston]] clerk who had been employed by Blaine's brother-in-law, testified that the allegations were true, that he had arranged the transaction, and that he had letters to prove it.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=87–93|Crapol||2p=44|Summers||3pp=62–63}} The letters ended with the damning phrase: "Kindly burn this letter."{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=87–93|Crapol||2p=44|Summers||3pp=62–63}} When the investigating committee recessed, Blaine met with Mulligan that night in his hotel room. What happened between the men is unclear, but Blaine acquired the letters or, as Mulligan told the committee, snatched them from Mulligan's hands, and fled the room. In any event, Blaine had the letters and refused the committee's demand to turn them over.

Opinion swiftly turned against Blaine. The June 3 ''[[The New York Times]]'' carried the headline "Blaine's Nomination Now Out of the Question." Blaine took his case to the House floor on June 5, theatrically proclaiming his innocence and calling the investigation a partisan attack by Southern Democrats in revenge for his exclusion of Jefferson Davis from the amnesty bill of the previous year.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=93–94}} He read selected passages from the letters aloud and said, "Thank God Almighty, I am not afraid to show them!" Blaine even succeeded in extracting an apology from the committee chairman. The political tide turned anew in Blaine's favor, but the pressure had begun to affect Blaine's health, and he collapsed while leaving church services on June 14.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=99–100}} His opponents called the collapse a political stunt, with one Democratic newspaper reporting the event as "Blaine Feigns a Faint." Rumors of Blaine's ill health, combined with the lack of hard evidence against him, garnered him sympathy among Republicans and, when the [[1876 Republican National Convention|Republican convention]] began in [[Cincinnati]] later that month, he was again seen as the frontrunner.{{sfn|Crapol|p=45}}

=== Plumed Knight ===
{{Main|1876 Republican National Convention}}
[[File:1876 Republican National Convention - Ohio.jpg|thumb|Exposition Hall of Cincinnati during the announcement of [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] as the Republican nominee]]

Though he was damaged by the Mulligan letters, Blaine entered the convention as the favorite.{{sfnm|Hoogenboom||1p=261|Muzzey||2pp=104–107}} Five other men were also considered serious candidates: [[Benjamin Bristow]], the Kentucky-born [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury Secretary]]; Roscoe Conkling, Blaine's old enemy and now a Senator from New York; Senator [[Oliver P. Morton]] of [[Indiana]]; Governor [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] of [[Ohio]]; and Governor [[John F. Hartranft]] of Pennsylvania.{{sfnm|Hoogenboom||1p=261|Muzzey||2pp=104–107}}

Blaine was nominated by [[Illinois]] orator [[Robert G. Ingersoll]] in what became a famous speech:

{{blockquote|This is a grand year—a year filled with recollections of the Revolution&nbsp;... a year in which the people call for the man who has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of slander, the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy from the hideous face of rebellion&nbsp;... Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine from the state of Maine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of every traitor to his country and every maligner of his fair reputation.<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Muzzey|p=110}}.</ref>}}

The speech was a success and Ingersoll's description of Blaine as a "plumed knight" remained a nickname for Blaine for years to come.{{sfn|Crapol|p=45}} On the first ballot, no candidate received the required majority of 378, but Blaine had the most votes, with 285, and no other candidate had more than 125.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=111–112|Hoogenboom||2p=263}} There were a few vote shifts in the next five ballots, and Blaine climbed to 308 votes, with his nearest competitor having just 111.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=111–112|Hoogenboom||2p=263}} On the seventh ballot, however, the situation shifted drastically because anti-Blaine delegates began to coalesce around Hayes. By the time the balloting ended, Blaine's votes had risen to 351, but Hayes surpassed him with 384, a majority.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=111–112|Hoogenboom||2p=263}}

Blaine received the news at his home in Washington and [[Telegraphy|telegraphed]] Hayes his congratulations.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=115}} In the subsequent [[1876 United States presidential election|contest of 1876]], Hayes was elected after a [[Compromise of 1877|contentious compromise over disputed electoral votes]].{{sfnm|Hoogenboom||1pp=274–294|Muzzey||2pp=116–127}} The results of the convention had further effects on Blaine's political career because Bristow, having lost the nomination, resigned as Treasury Secretary three days after the convention ended.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=115}} President Grant selected Senator [[Lot M. Morrill]] of Maine to fill the cabinet post, and Maine's governor, [[Seldon Connor]], appointed Blaine to the now-vacant Senate seat.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=115}} When the Maine Legislature reconvened that autumn, it confirmed Blaine's appointment and elected him to the full six-year term that would begin on March 4, 1877.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=115}}{{efn|Before the passage of the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1913, Senators were chosen by their states' legislatures.}}