Editing James G. Blaine (section)

== House of Representatives, 1863–1876 ==

=== Elected to the House ===
{{Main|Electoral history of James G. Blaine}}
Blaine had considered running for the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Maine's 4th congressional district|Maine's 4th district]] in 1860, but agreed to step aside when [[Anson P. Morrill]], a former governor, announced his interest in the seat.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=37}} Morrill was successful, but after redistricting placed Blaine in the [[Maine's 3rd congressional district|3rd district]] for the [[1862–63 United States House of Representatives elections|1862 election]], he allowed his name to be put forward.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=37}} Running on a campaign of staunch support for the war effort, Blaine was elected by a wide margin; though nationwide, the Republican Party lost a significant number of seats in Congress as the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] war effort to date had been only weakly successful.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1p=39|Crapol||2pp=20–21|Russell||3p=99}} By the time Blaine took his seat in December 1863, at the start of the [[38th United States Congress|38th Congress]], the Union Army had turned the tide of the war with victories at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]] and [[Siege of Vicksburg|Vicksburg]].{{sfnm|Crapol||1p=20|Muzzey||2pp=42–43}}

As a first-term congressman, he initially said little, mostly following the administration's lead in supporting the continuing war effort.{{sfnm|Crapol||1p=20|Muzzey||2pp=42–43}} He did clash several times with the leader of the Republicans' [[Radical Republicans|radical faction]], [[Thaddeus Stevens]] of Pennsylvania, firstly over payment of states' debts incurred in supporting the war, and again over monetary policy concerning the new [[Greenback (money)|greenback currency]].{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=42–47|Russell||2pp=101–106}} Blaine also spoke in support of the commutation provision of the [[Enrollment Act|military draft law]] passed in 1863 and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the federal government to impose taxes on exports, but it never passed.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=42–47|Russell||2pp=101–106}}

=== Reconstruction and impeachment ===
[[File:Blaine, James G.jpg|thumb|upright|James G. Blaine in the 1860s]]
Blaine was reelected in 1864 and, when the [[39th United States Congress|39th Congress]] assembled in December 1865, the main issue was the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] of the defeated [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]].{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=48–49|Russell||2pp=130–136}} Although he was not a member of the committee charged with drafting what became the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]], Blaine did make his views on the subject known and believed that three-fourths of the non-seceded states would be needed to ratify it, rather than three-fourths of all states, an opinion that did not prevail and placed him, atypically, in the radical camp.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=50–51}} The Republican Congress also played a role in the governance of the conquered South, dissolving the state governments President [[Andrew Johnson]] had installed and substituting military governments under Congress' control.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=52–53}} Blaine voted in favor of these new, harsher measures, but also supported some leniency toward the former rebels when he opposed a bill that would have barred Southerners from attending the [[United States Military Academy]].{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=52–53}} Blaine voted to [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|impeach Johnson]] in 1868, although he had initially opposed the effort.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1p=57|Russell||2pp=172–175}} Later, Blaine was more ambiguous about the validity of the charges against Johnson, writing that "there was a very grave difference of opinion among those equally competent to decide,"{{sfn|Blaine|p=379|loc=v. 2}} but he followed his party's leaders.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=58}}

=== Monetary policy ===
Continuing his earlier battle with Stevens, Blaine led the fight in Congress for a strong dollar. After the issuance of 150 million dollars in greenbacks—[[Fiat money|non-gold-backed currency]]—the value of the dollar stood at a low ebb.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=53–57}} A bipartisan group of inflationists, led by Republican [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin F. Butler]] and Democrat [[George H. Pendleton]], wished to preserve the ''status quo'' and allow the Treasury to continue to issue greenbacks and even to use them to pay the interest due on pre-war bonds.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=53–57}} Blaine called this idea a repudiation of the nation's promise to investors, which was made when the only currency was [[Gold dollar|gold]]. Speaking several times on the matter, Blaine said that the greenbacks had only ever been an emergency measure to avoid bankruptcy during the war.{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=53–57}} Blaine and his hard money allies were successful, but the issue remained alive until 1879, when all remaining greenbacks were made redeemable in gold by the [[Specie Payment Resumption Act]] of 1875.{{sfn|Hoogenboom|pp=358–360}}

=== Speaker of the House ===
During his first three terms in Congress, Blaine had earned for himself a reputation as an expert of parliamentary procedure, and, aside from a growing feud with [[Roscoe Conkling]] of [[New York (state)|New York]], had become popular among his fellow Republicans.{{sfnm|Russell||1p=186|Muzzey||2p=62|Summers||3p=5}} In March 1869, when [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]] [[Schuyler Colfax]] resigned from office at the end of the [[40th United States Congress|40th Congress]] to become [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]],<ref>{{cite web| title=Representative Schuyler Colfax of Indiana| url=https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35091| work=Historical Highlights| publisher=Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref> the highly regarded Blaine was the unanimous choice of the Republican Congressional Caucus to become Speaker of the House for the [[41st United States Congress|41st Congress]].{{sfn|Muzzey|pp=62–63}} In the subsequent [[List of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections#March 1869 (41st Congress)|March 4, 1869, election for Speaker]], Blaine easily defeated [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Michael C. Kerr]] of [[Indiana]] by a vote of 135 to 57.<ref name=Follett340>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/speakerofhouseof00folluoft/page/340| title=The speaker of the House of Representatives| last=Follett| first=Mary Parker| author-link=Mary Parker Follett| year=1909| orig-year=1st ed., 1896| publisher=Longmans, Greene, and Company| location=New York| access-date=August 23, 2019| via=Internet Archive, digitized in 2007| page=340}}</ref> Republicans remained in control of the House in the [[42nd United States Congress|42nd]] and [[43rd United States Congress|43rd]] congresses, and Blaine was re-elected as speaker at the start of both of them.<ref name=Follett340/> His time as speaker came to an end following the [[1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections|1874-75 elections]] which produced a Democratic majority in the House for the [[44th United States Congress|44th Congress]].{{sfn|Crapol|p=41}}

[[File:BlaineHouse1.JPG|thumb|left|[[The Blaine House|Blaine's residence]] in the capital city of [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]] is the home of [[Maine]] governors.]]
Blaine was an effective Speaker with a magnetic personality. In the words of Washington journalist [[Benjamin Perley Poore]], Blaine's "graceful as well as powerful figure, his strong features, glowing with health, and his hearty, honest manner, made him an attractive speaker and an esteemed friend."<ref name=Poore>[https://archive.org/details/perleysreminisce02poor/page/211/mode/1up?view=theater Poore, Ben. Perley, ''Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis'', Vol. 2, p. 211 (1886)].</ref> Moreover, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] valued his skill and loyalty in leading the House.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1p=62|Crapol||2p=33|Summers||3pp=5–6}} He enjoyed the job and made his presence in Washington more permanent by buying a large residence on Fifteenth Street in the city.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=64}} At the same time, the Blaine family moved to [[the Blaine House|a mansion]] in Augusta.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=64}}{{efn|The house was donated to the State of Maine by Blaine's daughter, Harriet Blaine Beale, in 1919 and is now used as the Governor's residence.}}

During Blaine's six-year tenure as Speaker his popularity continued to grow, and Republicans dissatisfied with Grant mentioned Blaine as a potential presidential candidate prior to the [[1872 Republican National Convention]].{{sfn|Muzzey|p=66}} Instead, Blaine worked steadfastly for [[1872 United States presidential election|Grant's re-election]].{{sfn|Muzzey|p=66}} Blaine's growing fame brought growing opposition from the Democrats, as well, and during the 1872 campaign he was accused of receiving bribes in the [[Crédit Mobilier scandal]].{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=67–70|Russell||2pp=211–217}} Blaine denied any part in the scandal, which involved railroad companies bribing federal officials to turn a blind eye to fraudulent railroad contracts that overcharged the government by millions of dollars.{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=67–70|Russell||2pp=211–217}} No one was able to satisfactorily prove Blaine's involvement. Though not an absolute defense, it is true that the law that made the fraud possible had been written before he was elected to Congress. But other Republicans were exposed by the accusations, including Vice President Colfax, who was dropped from the 1872 presidential ticket in favor of [[Henry Wilson]].{{sfnm|Muzzey||1pp=67–70|Russell||2pp=211–217}}

Although he supported a general [[amnesty]] for former Confederates, Blaine opposed extending it to include [[Jefferson Davis]], and he cooperated with Grant in helping to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1875]] in response to increased violence and disenfranchisement of blacks in the South.{{sfnm|Smith||1p=545|Muzzey||2pp=74, 77–82|Russell||3pp=266–272}} He refrained from voting on the anti-third term resolution that overwhelmingly passed the House that same year, believing that to vote for it would look self-interested.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=75}} Blaine was loyal to Grant, and the [[Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration scandals|scandals of the Grant administration]] did not seem to affect how the public perceived him; according to his biographer, Blaine was never more popular than when he was Speaker.{{sfn|Muzzey|p=71}} [[Moderate Republicans (Reconstruction era)|Liberal Republicans]] saw him as an alternative to the evident corruption of other Republican leaders, and some even urged him to form a [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|new, reformist party]].{{sfn|Muzzey|p=71}} Although he remained a Republican, this base of moderate reformers remained loyal to Blaine and became known as the [[Half-Breed (politics)|Half Breed faction]] of the party.{{sfn|Summers|pp=59–61}}

=== Blaine Amendment ===
{{Main|Blaine Amendment}}
Once out of the speaker's chair, Blaine had more time to concentrate on his presidential ambitions, and to develop new policy ideas.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=42–43|Green||2pp=49–51}} One result was a foray into education policy. In late 1875, President Grant made several speeches on the importance of the [[separation of church and state]] and the duty of the states to provide free [[State school|public education]].{{sfnm|Smith||1pp=568–571|Green||2pp=47–48}} Blaine saw in this an issue that would distract from the Grant administration scandals and let the Republican party regain the high moral ground.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=42–43|Green||2pp=49–51}} In December 1875, he proposed a joint resolution that became known as the [[Blaine Amendment]].{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=42–43|Green||2pp=49–51}}

The proposed amendment codified the church-state separation Blaine and Grant were promoting, stating that:

{{blockquote| No State shall make any law respecting an [[Establishment Clause|establishment of religion]], or prohibiting the [[Free Exercise Clause|free exercise thereof]]; and no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations.{{efn|While the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] already imposed the first two restrictions on the federal government, they were not deemed to apply to the states until 1947<ref>See ''[[Everson v. Board of Education]]'', 330 U.S. 1 (1947).</ref> and 1940,<ref>See ''[[Cantwell v. Connecticut]]'', 310 U.S. 296 (1940).</ref> respectively.{{sfn|Green|pp=39–41}}}}}}

The effect was to prohibit the use of public funds by any religious school, although it did not advance Grant's other aim of requiring states to provide public education to all children.{{sfn|Green|p=38}} The bill passed the House but failed in the Senate.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=42–43|Green||2pp=49–51}} Although it never passed Congress, and left Blaine open to charges of [[Anti-Catholicism in the United States|anti-Catholicism]], the proposed amendment served Blaine's purpose of rallying [[Protestantism|Protestants]] to the Republican party and promoting himself as one of the party's foremost leaders.{{sfnm|Crapol||1pp=42–43|Green||2pp=49–51}}