Twenty Years of Congress: From Lincoln to Garfield. With a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution. of 1860
Norwich, CT: Henry Bill Publishing Co., 1884. Hardcover. 1370 total, 2 vols., illus., fold-out map, apps, index, damp stains to 1st few pages v.1 & 2, bookplate, front boards weak, tears margin v.1, spine worn. James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830 – January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1869 to 1875, and then in the United States Senate from 1876 to 1881. Blaine twice served as Secretary of State (1881, 1889–1892), and sought the Presidency in 1884 when he was narrowly defeated by Grover Cleveland. Blaine was one of the late 19th century’s leading Republicans and champion of the moderate reformist faction of the party. He began his political career as a supporter of Abraham Lincoln and the Union war effort in the American Civil War. In Reconstruction, Blaine was a supporter of black suffrage. Initially a protectionist, he later worked for a reduction in the tariff and an expansion of American trade with foreign countries. As Secretary of State, Blaine was a transitional figure, marking the end of an isolationist era in foreign policy and foreshadowing the rise of the American Century. His efforts at expanding the United States' trade and influence began the shift to a more active American foreign policy. Blaine was a pioneer of tariff reciprocity and urged greater involvement in Latin American affairs. An expansionist, Blaine’s policies would lead in less than a decade to the establishment of the United States' acquisition of Pacific colonies and dominance of the Caribbean. Of the nine men the Republican Party nominated for the Presidency from 1860 to 1912, Blaine is the only one who never became President. Of singularly alert faculties, with a remarkable knowledge of the men and history of his country, and an extraordinary memory, his masterful talent for politics and state-craft, together with his captivating personality, gave him, for nearly two decades, an unrivaled hold upon the fealty and affection of his party. Condition: fair.
Keywords: U.S. Presidents, U.S. Congress, Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Slavery, Memoirs, Andrew Johnson, Reconstruction, Ulysses S. Grant
[Book #3007]
Price: $125.00