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Blaine faction

Blaine faction
LeaderJames G. Blaine
William P. Frye
Eugene Hale
William H. Robertson[1]
William E. Chandler[2]
Founded1877
Split fromStalwart faction of the Republican Party
Merged intoHalf-Breed faction of the Republican Party
IdeologyAnti-Grantism[1][3]
Conservatism
Economic nationalism
Protectionism
Hard money
Pro-spoils system[note 1]
Political positionCenter-right to right-wing
National affiliationRepublican Party
Half-Breed faction (1880)
Portrait of James G. Blaine by the Brady-Handy Photograph Collection.

The Blaine faction,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] also known as the Blaine section,[11] was a political organization[12] of Republicans in the United States during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes who coalesced around Maine U.S. senator James G. Blaine. Forming a coalition with the conservative Stalwart wing during the era,[13] they opposed civil service reform,[12] as well as the conciliatory actions of the Hayes administration towards the South. Blaine himself would vote with Stalwarts in opposition to President Hayes' reform efforts, siding with Conkling's faction in December 1877 when voting against the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt Sr., to become New York Custom of Collectors.[14][non-primary source needed]

The faction in the context of the Hayes years is often erroneously attributed as the congressional "Half-Breeds", a moderate wing of the Republican Party which advocated civil service reform. According to Richard E. Welch Jr., Blaine was not a Half-Breed during this time, instead taking part as a dissident member of the Stalwarts.[15] Half-Breeds trusted neither Blaine or Grant, preferring a "third man" for president in the 1880 United States presidential election who was a loyal advocate of civil service reform.[16] According to Allan Peskin, Blaine never referred to his allies as "Half-Breeds", instead preferring the term "the Blaine Section".[11]

The ambiguity between the Blaine faction and Half-Breeds regarding most of the Hayes presidency years is a revisionist historical inaccuracy that ignores the sharp contrasts between the groups; Blaine sharply came at odds with Hayes after 1877, and a mutual bitter antipathy was held between him and Half-Breed leader John Sherman that lasted for over a decade.[17]

Blaine's chief allies during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes were William P. Frye and Eugene Hale, both of whom later served in the United States Senate from Maine as colleagues.

  1. ^ a b "The Remarkable Roscoe, Part III". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  2. ^ Bernard A. Weisberger. "James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  3. ^ "The Remarkable Roscoe: Friend and Nemesis of Presidents (Part I)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  4. ^ "THE GEORGIA REPUBLICANS.; SHERMAN AND BLAINE FACTIONS UNITING AND TRYING TO OVERPOWER THE SUPERIOR NUMBERS OF GRANT DELEGATES". The New York Times. 1880-04-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  5. ^ Conlin, Joseph R. (2013-01-29). The American Past: A Survey of American History. Cengage Learning. p. 436. ISBN 978-1-285-50007-2.
  6. ^ The Nation. Vol. 43. 1886.
  7. ^ "WHICH WOULD BE THE PREFERABLE ROW?". The New York Times. 1888-12-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  8. ^ Belford's Monthly. Vol. 5. Belford, Clarke. 1890. p. 632.
  9. ^ "BOUTELLE FEELS VERY BAD.; HE DON'T LIKE THE WAY BLAINE AND HIS FRIENDS HAVE BEEN TREATED". The New York Times. 1892-06-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  10. ^ Hammond, Scott John; Roberts, Robert North; Sulfaro, Valerie A. (2016-04-25). Campaigning for President in America, 1788–2016. ABC-CLIO. p. 572. ISBN 978-1-4408-5079-0.
  11. ^ a b Peskin, Allan (1984). "Who Were the Stalwarts? Who Were Their Rivals? Republican Factions in the Gilded Age". Political Science Quarterly. 99 (4): 705. doi:10.2307/2150708. ISSN 0032-3195. JSTOR 2150708.
  12. ^ a b About the Vice President | Levi Parsons Morton, 22nd Vice President (1889-1893). United States Senate via Internet Archive. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  13. ^ Banks, Ronald F. (June 1958). The Senatorial Career of William P. Frye, p. 5–6. The University of Maine. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  14. ^ "TO CONSENT TO THE NOMINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS COLLECTOR … -- Senate Vote #95 -- Dec 12, 1877". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  15. ^ Welch, p. 91.
  16. ^ Welch, Richard E., Jr. (1968). George Edmunds of Vermont: Republican Half-Breed, pp. 67–68. Vermont History. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  17. ^ Who Were the Stalwarts? Who Were Their Rivals? Republican Factions in the Gilded Age, p. 706.


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