Editing James G. Blaine (section)

=== Pacific diplomacy ===
Blaine and Harrison wished to see American power and trade expanded across the Pacific and were especially interested in securing rights to harbors in [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], and [[Pago Pago]], [[Samoa]].{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=116–117|Calhoun||2pp=77–80, 125–126|Rigby||3loc=''passim''}} When Blaine entered office, the United States, Great Britain, and the [[German Empire]] were [[Samoan Civil War|disputing their respective rights]] in Samoa.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=116–117|Muzzey||2pp=394–402}} [[Thomas F. Bayard]], Blaine's predecessor, had accepted an invitation to a three-party conference in Berlin aimed at resolving the dispute, and Blaine appointed American representatives to attend.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=116–117|Muzzey||2pp=394–402}} The result was [[Treaty of Berlin (1889)|a treaty]] that created a [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]] among the three powers, allowing all of them access to the harbor.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=116–117|Muzzey||2pp=394–402}}

In Hawaii, Blaine worked to bind the kingdom more closely to the United States and to avoid its becoming a British [[protectorate]].{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=123–125|Calhoun||2pp=125–126, 152–157}} When the [[McKinley Tariff]] of 1890 eliminated the [[Duty (economics)|duty]] on [[sugar]], Hawaiian sugar-growers looked for a way to retain their once-exclusive access to the American market.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=123–125|Calhoun||2pp=125–126, 152–157}} The Hawaiian [[Minister (diplomacy)|minister]] to the United States, [[Henry A. P. Carter]], tried to arrange for Hawaii to have complete trade reciprocity with the United States, but Blaine proposed instead that Hawaii become an American protectorate; Carter favored the idea, but the Hawaiian king, [[Kalākaua]], rejected the infringement on his sovereignty.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=123–125|Calhoun||2pp=125–126, 152–157}} Blaine next procured the appointment of his former newspaper colleague [[John L. Stevens]] as minister to Hawaii.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=125–129|Socolofsky & Spetter||2pp=204–207}} Stevens had long believed that the United States should annex Hawaii, and as minister he co-operated with Americans living in Hawaii in their efforts to bring about annexation.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=125–129|Socolofsky & Spetter||2pp=204–207}} Their efforts ultimately culminated in a [[Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii|coup d'état]] against Kalākaua's successor, [[Liliuokalani]], in 1893.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=125–129|Socolofsky & Spetter||2pp=204–207}} Blaine's precise involvement is undocumented, but the results of Stevens' diplomacy were in accord with his ambitions for American power in the region.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=125–129|Socolofsky & Spetter||2pp=204–207}} The new government petitioned the United States for annexation, but by that time Blaine was no longer in office.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=125–129|Socolofsky & Spetter||2pp=204–207}}