Editing Robert G. Ingersoll (section)

==Entry into politics==
After the war, he served as [[Illinois Attorney General]]. He was a prominent member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and, though he never held elected office, he was nonetheless an active participant in politics. According to [[Robert Nisbet]], Ingersoll was a "staunch Republican."<ref>McCarthy, Daniel (2012-11-21) [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/outsider-conservatism/ Outsider Conservatism], ''[[The American Conservative]]''</ref> His speech nominating [[James Blaine|James G. Blaine]] for the 1876 presidential election was unsuccessful, as [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] received the Republican nomination, but the speech itself, known as the "Plumed Knight" speech, was considered a model of political oratory. His opinions on [[slavery]], woman's [[suffrage]], and other issues of the time would sometimes become part of the mainstream, but his atheism/agnosticism effectively prevented him from ever pursuing or holding political offices higher than that of state attorney general. [[Illinois]] Republicans tried to persuade him to campaign for governor on the condition that Ingersoll conceal his [[agnosticism]] during the campaign, which he refused to do.