#james g. blaine

[todaysdocument]

Letter from George Jones to James G. Blaine Recommending Frederick Douglass as United States Minister to Haiti

Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of StateSeries: Applications and Recommendations for Public Office

Indianapolis, July 2nd, 1889

Hon James G. Blaine

Sec'y of State Wash D.C

My Dear Sir:

You [al, struck through] will allow me on the part of my people to congratulate you most heartily for commissioning Hon Frederick Douglass Minister to Hayti. He is the Lion of our race and represents in its [most, struck through] fullest sense the honor and dignity of our people

In this connection I might add that the appointment of Lynch and Townsend of Indiana and other recognition recently had is more than ample testimony of the fairness of the administration toward the colored people of the entire country.

Gratefully Yours

Geo. F. Jones

547 N. Miss St

[deadpresidents]

The Death By Lightning casting was updated. Any thoughts on Shea Whigham as Conkling and Bradley Whitford as Blaine?

I'm a huge fan of both Shea Whigham and Bradley Whitford, so I'm all for them being involved even if I don't see either of them as Conkling and Blaine. I'm just glad that the series is being stretched out enough to include Roscoe Conkling and James G. Blaine. Also, Kate Chase Sprague and Blanche Bruce! If we're getting Kate Chase Sprague as a major character, that means it's probably going to get into her relationship with Conkling...and any story featuring more Roscoe Conkling is bound to be entertaining.

Also, is there a law that was passed that requires Michael Shannon and Shea Whigham to always be cast together? I'm not complaining. I like both actors. I'm just curious.

[kindest-little-fella-in-town]

@tylercanoe told you i would

[presidenttyler]

cuteified little blaine for an animatic thingy i'm making

[sabistarphotos]

March 5, 2022

James G. Blaine Mansion

Washington, DC

[antebellumite]

*whispers under breath*

Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine 

[nycreligion]

October 29 Dangers of Pulpit Political Prophecy Day

Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine. unidentified artist, 1884 / Chromolithograph /National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Milton and Ingrid Rose CCO. This day is marked in the history books as the day that preachers should remember to be careful about delivering prophetic voices about controversial things like politics about which they may know very little. On Wednesday,…

[sporkfan14]

John H. Kaiser filling out a patent form in 1891: "Be it known that I, Joseph H. Kaiser, a citizen of the United States ... have invented and produced a new and original Design for Spoons"

yeah okay buddy

that sure is one original design for a spoon

[directdogman]

Hello Sir Dogman, why are there two occurrences (that I know of) of this edited photo of James G. Blaine showing up in the DLC?? Is this a lore thing or are you just messing with us

i'm genuinely astounded you recognized who this was, esp without the face. ive never discussed this guy and had another person even recognize the name, let alone be this familiar with him. huh.

i'm afraid i can give no answer. some questions have to remain unanswered. i'm very very sorry. it's not specifically lore relevant but i do have a bit of lore for this thing though. one day i might reveal it for funsies.

[fictionadventurer]

Time to talk about James Garfield! He's nearly forgotten today because his presidency was cut so short, but he might be one of the biggest over-achievers ever to reach the White House, and I'm overdue to tell you about his life story.

James Garfield, like Lincoln, came from a dirt poor background. Pretty sure he was the last president to be born in a log cabin. His father was a farmer who died when he was three years old, leaving him in the care of a mother and older brother who doted on him. They recognized that he was smart and wanted him to make something of himself, but young James had read a few too many books that romanticized life at sea, so at sixteen he ran away from home to get the closest possible version of that experience that he could manage--working on a boat in the Erie Canal. He came back home within a few months because he nearly drowned, and by then, his mother and brother had scraped up enough money for him to go to school.

After high school, he went to a prep school where he worked as a janitor to pay for his tuition. At least, for the first year. By his second year, the school decided to hire him to teach six classes! And later added two more because he was so popular! While he was still attending the school as a student, mind you! He went to college, became the principal of his old prep school, studied for the bar and became a lawyer, got involved in state politics, and then left to go serve in the Civil War, where he became the youngest-ever major general. Then his friends asked him to run for the US House of Representatives, and even though he refused to leave the army to go campaign, he won the election. Then he did leave the army to join the House, where he served eight terms.

Which brings us to the 1880 presidential election. Which was an absolutely wild and crazy political battle within the Republican Party. The big issue was civil service reform. Up to this point, all federal employees were appointed by the ruling president's party--it was called the spoils system, because "to the victor go the spoils." The president (or whoever he gave hiring power to) could appoint whoever he wanted to any government position, regardless of whether or not the person had any relevant experience. By the 1870s, this system had become a cesspool of corruption and cronyism, but the Republicans were split on the need for reform. On one side, you had the Stalwarts, who wanted to continue with business as usual. On the other side were the Half-Breeds, who wanted to replace the spoils system with a merit-based system where employees would have to meet certain education or experience requirements to get the job, which they could then stay in regardless of which party was in power.

Anyway, when it came time to choose the presidential candidate, the battle got ugly. On one side, you had Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, a political boss who maintained his power through the spoils system, who was there to nominate Ulysses S. Grant to a third term. On the other side, you had James G. Blaine (the Magnetic Man from Maine), a Half-Breed who'd been Conkling's archnemesis ever since he called him out on the Senate floor as a seedy, ruthless villain.

James Garfield had no interest in being president; he'd seen too many of his friends (including James Blaine) get their principles warped by their obsession with the presidency, and he wanted to stay well away from all that. He was there to nominate John Sherman (younger brother of a certain famous Civil War general). Sherman, for his part, knew that Garfield was the more popular politician from Ohio, and hoped to neutralize him as a potential competitor by asking him to give the nominating speech.

So anyhow, at the nominating convention, Conkling gives this rousing speech in support of Grant that has the crowd going wild. There’s no way Garfield's going to be able to follow that. So what he does is look at the crowd and calmly talk to them about how there may be a lot of noise and emotion here today, but this isn't where the election is going to be won. Votes are going to be cast by ordinary Americans living on their homes and farms with their families, and they need to know that there's someone who can serve their interests in the White House. The crowd is spellbound. Garfield then asks them, "What do we want?" To Garfield's horror, one guy yells out, "We want Garfield!"

Garfield made it clear he was there to nominate Sherman, and finished his speech. Then the voting began. Round after round after round of voting, with no one candidate getting enough votes to win the nomination. Garfield got one vote in the third round. In the thirty-fourth round, he suddenly got seventeen votes, as delegates desperate to escape the gridlock decided to throw some votes behind a different name. Garfield stood to protest, saying that no one had the right to vote for him since he hadn't consented to be nominated, but the president of the convention, who secretly liked Garfield more than any of the other candidates, told him to sit down.

By the thirty-sixth vote, Garfield won the nomination. He reluctantly accepted.

When Garfield won the presidential election, it was the first time since the Civil War that a president had been elected who had support in both the North and South. Garfield was seen as a man of the people, living proof of the American dream that any man, no matter how lowly, could one day rise to become president. As Garfield rode in the carriage toward the White House for his inauguration, a man in the crowd yelled out, "Low bridge!" as a reference to Garfield's now-legendary past as a canal worker; Garfield grinned, took off his hat, and ducked.

Once he became president, Garfield became embroiled in the war over civil service reform. Since it hadn't been reformed, he had a constant stream of office-seekers coming to beg for appointments to federal positions, and a lot of federal positions that needed to be filled. His archnemesis was Roscoe Conkling; Garfield was determined to enact civil service reform, and Conkling wanted to do all in his power to prevent it. Conkling forced Stalwart members of Garfield's Cabinet to resign, and he went to war with Garfield over the filling of federal positions.

And that's an interesting story, but the more important part of the battle was with another person entirely, who Garfield had never met. Charles Guiteau was a madman with a checkered past, who'd been involved in strange sex cults and in running various scams--mostly running out on rent payments. During Garfield's election, he gave one speech in support of Garfield to a tiny crowd, and Guiteau, in his delusion, thought that under the spoils system, this entitled him to a reward. He wanted to be a foreign ambassador, and he came to the White House every day seeking a meeting with someone who could give him the job. He was mostly stopped by Garfield's secretary, and his attempts to get help from the vice president and various Cabinet members also failed.

At last, Guiteau became frustrated, and decided that the only thing to do was kill Garfield. God wanted to maintain the spoils system, he thought, and the only way to do that was to get the reform-minded Garfield out of the way so the spoils system advocate Chester Arthur could be president. Guiteau tracked the president to a couple of spots in Washington, but always found a reason not to take a shot.

But on July 2, 1881, when Garfield was at a Washington train station, Guiteau shot him in the back. The bullet went past Garfield's spine and lodged in his pancreas. Robert Lincoln--who happened to be traveling with Garfield--secured the services of the doctor who had treated his father. The wound was examined--the doctor poking unsterilized fingers into the bullet hole--and Garfield was transferred back to the White House for treatment.

If the bullet had been left alone, Garfield would most likely have made a full recovery--nothing about the wound was fatal. Unfortunately, he was president of the United States, and doctors were determined to give him intense medical care--which meant that he died through medical malpractice. The head doctor thought these new-fangled ideas about "germs" and "sterile procedure" were conspiracy theories, and certainly not worth the extra work of sterilizing everything. The wound was repeatedly probed with fingers and unsterilized instruments, which led to a massive infection that spread through Garfield's whole body.

Alexander Graham Bell invented a medical detector to locate the bullet; it would have worked, but Garfield's doctors--convinced they knew the path the bullet had taken--only allowed Bell to scan the right side of Garfield's body--and the bullet was on the left.

Garfield was unable to keep down solid food. He dropped from 210 lbs to 130 lbs. Massive pockets of pus formed throughout his body. He was literally rotting from the inside. Yet by all accounts, Garfield remained cheerful and kind to everyone who cared for him.

Garfield was a healthy fifty-year-old man, and he rallied a few times, but he wasn't able to overcome the infection. The heat and humidity of Washington only made it worse. An air-conditioning device was invented and installed to keep the room cool, but at the beginning of September, the decision was made to transfer Garfield to a house at the New Jersey seaside, in the hopes that the cool sea breezes could aid his recovery.

Garfield left Washington on September 6. A special train line was constructed that took him right up to the door of the house; when the train got stuck on the final hill, a crowd of hundreds that had gathered in support of the president worked together to push it to the top. Garfield's final few days were spent in the pleasant seaside atmosphere, but it was of no use. Garfield died on September 19, 1881. The country plunged into mourning--this president with so much promise, this man of the people, was dead, only six months into his presidency.

That short term means that Garfield is mostly skipped over in American history classes today, but he absolutely should not be. His rise from poverty to the White House is inspiring, and his death is tragic. There is so much to his story, and it's a shame that it gets shuffled aside in the grand sweep of American history.

[deadpresidents]

Which President, in your opinion, was the most reluctant to seek the position? Which wound up hating it the most by the end of his term?

I am a strong believer that nobody truly becomes President of the United States "reluctantly". That's not exactly the kind of job that seeks you, especially the modern Presidency.

For a significant slice of American history, many of the people nominated for President acted as if they were being called upon to run when, behind-the-scenes, they were very active in building their campaigns and corralling supporters. Until the 20th Century it was frowned upon to openly run for the Presidency, but almost all of the Presidents wanted the gig.

I'd say that George Washington was probably more reluctant than most of his successors and likely would have preferred retiring to Mount Vernon after the Revolution, but I think he also recognized that he was the guy who needed to be the President that set the precedents. I think Ulysses S. Grant would have been perfectly happy to not be President, but once he was elected in 1868 he also wanted to keep the job. He even tried to run for a third term in 1880.

That 1880 election might have been the one case where the winner -- James Garfield -- genuinely wasn't interested in the Presidency at that point. He had gone to the Republican National Convention to support fellow Ohioan John Sherman (and defeat Grant's hopes for a third term) and gained some major attention after giving a well-received speech placing Sherman's name in nomination. When the candidacies of Sherman and James G. Blaine -- another anti-Grant candidate -- stalled, Garfield became a compromise choice and was eventually nominated on the 36th ballot. Garfield was apparently legitimately shocked by the events leading to him leaving Chicago as the GOP nominee.

By most accounts, William Howard Taft was far more interested in a potential seat on the Supreme Court than becoming President. At heart he was a judge and believed himself to be better suited for the judiciary than the Executive Branch. But Taft turned down three offers by Theodore Roosevelt to be appointed to the Supreme Court (in 1902, 1903, and 1906) because he felt obligated to complete his work as Governor-General of the Philippines and then Secretary of War. But Taft's wife desperately wanted him to become President and by the time of President Roosevelt's third offer of a seat on the Court, Taft was already being talked about as Roosevelt's hand-picked successor in the White House. And, as with all other Presidents, once he had a taste for the job, he didn't want to give it up, running for re-election in 1912 against his former friend, Roosevelt.

Gerald Ford is the only other President who hadn't spent a significant portion of his political career with his eyes on the White House. Ford spent nearly a quarter-century in the House of Representatives and his main ambition was to be Speaker of the House, but Republicans weren't able to win control of the House when Ford was in Congressional leadership positions. But even with Ford being a creature of Congress, he did attempt to put himself forward as a nominee for the Vice Presidency, first in 1960 and then in 1968, and Nixon kicked the tires on picking him as his running mate in 1960. No one wants to be Vice President without seeing it as a potential stepping stone to the Presidency, particularly at that point in history before Vice Presidents were empowered with some real influence within the Administrations they served in.

As for who wound up hating it by the end of their time in office, I think it's safe to say that John Quincy Adams didn't shed too many tears when he was defeated for re-election in 1828. And I'm sure he wouldn't use the word "hate", but nobody can convince me that George W. Bush wasn't thoroughly ready to escape Washington by late-2007. There were times in 2008 when he seemed like he just wanted to hold a snap election like they have in parliamentary systems and go home to Texas. If some Presidential insider published a book that said that Bush asked if he could just give the keys to the White House to Barack Obama in July 2008, I wouldn't be the least bit shocked.

On the other hand, if there were no term limits, Bill Clinton would have been running for President in every election since 1992 (and the crazy thing is that he's still younger than both of the presumptive 2024 nominees). I'm kind of surprised that he didn't make an effort to repeal the 22nd Amendment in the past 20 years. Clinton loved being President and was trying to find something Presidential to do until minutes before his successor was inaugurated in 2001.

[dusty-pistol]

I was lookin through Dogman's blog for a specific post, and I think I found somethin out. There's two (of my knowledge) instances where the name James G. Blaine is mentioned in some posts. I'm gonna have to do some research on him now...

[soviet-space-ace]

Who else is excited for the upcoming Destiny of a Republic miniseries?

It’s called Death by Lightning and Josh Lyman himself is going to be in it as James G. Blaine.

I really hope it doesn’t end up like the American Lion miniseries from a few years back that never got made.

[presidenttyler]

roscoe conkling was born on october 30, 1829. this is a lame birthday because it's one day before halloween - couldn't he have waited a little longer? it's also several months before james blaine. that doesn't mean anything right now, but remember that.

his father was judge alfred conkling, a judge (of course), politician, and minister to mexico under his friend, the legendary 🐟 millard fillmore. 🐟 so roscoe was born into a successful family. he was sent to boarding school as a child, and then, when he was done being educated, skipped college entirely and moved 80 miles away from his family to practice law, at age 17. the best biography of him says both of these things imply he was probably a problem child whose parents had trouble handling him. i don't doubt that one bit lol. he was also apparently kicked by a horse or a mule at some point in this period, who broke his jaw. don't know how that happened, but pretty epic.

he was a self-proclaimed "seward whig" giving campaign speeches at age 19, he joined the bar at 20 and was district attorney at 21. so you're probably behind him. unless you're 16, in which case, you have time, but hurry up. i'm also obligated to note that the one quote i see about him from his early 20s is someone who remembered him as looking "like a tall, blond young lady... his cheek was as fresh as a rose, and he had long red ringlets clustered about his neck." so that's normal.

in 1859 he was elected to congress, still as a seward whig (seward spoke in his behalf) also part of his reason for running was cuz he knew people didn't like him and he would keep running as long as people opposed him. literally he said that lol. once in congress, he was an outspoken opponent of slavery and very firmly republican. he didn't fight in the civil war, but he was active enough in politics that i don't think many people expected him to quit to fight. (i doubt he would have been a good soldier tbh, i don't think his temperament was right.) anyway, things were going well and he was becoming an increasingly prominent republican figure.

but he immediately started making enemies. ok, conkling was incredibly vain. idk how else to put it, i don't think there is any other way of putting it except just to call him a narcissist which might also be accurate. he basically just insulted anyone he wanted whenever he wanted and it pissed people off and he just didn't care. he always had just enough support (well, for now) that he could have everybody else hate his guts and still retain his power.

one of the most famous spats he had with james g. blaine. i honestly think they just hated each other because they were like the same person but light and dark version. they were similar ages (again, conkling was a few months older... i'm sure you remember) they wanted similar things (wealth, power, maybe to be president one day?) they were both republicans with similar viewpoints - but blaine was friendly and "magnetic" whereas conkling was allergic to smalltalk and if anyone touched him or put a foot on his chair he exploded. so after a minor disagreement about poetry at a dinner, of all things, he and blaine started snipping at each other nonstop throughout 1866 - at one point threatening blaine to a duel which blaine contemptuously denied lol

eventually blaine was provoked to go on an intense tirade against conkling which offended him so much (he was sensitive to all insults and this would have been over the top for anyone) he never spoke to blaine again. literally 20 years later conkling still refused to bury the hatchet, he was asked if he'd talk to blaine again and he said basically, not unless he takes it back and apologizes for that shit he said about me 20 years ago. by the way, i have also heard conkling and blaine described as "as jealous of each other as two woman rivals in love," which is also normal. (there's a lot of this.)

conkling was elected senator in 1867 where he would remain until 1881. he became a powerful party boss - never of the whole party (he had too many enemies and besides the party was split on several matters anyway) but really of the main grant faction. he was very close with grant and would remain loyal to him til the end of his career. when hayes was elected in the notorious 1876 election, despite the fact that conkling had helped create the electoral commission that determined hayes was the winner, he hated him cuz of his (halting) attempts at civil service reform and probably coined the nickname "rutherfraud."

he was a notorious womanizer. i don't know how many mistresses he had, but one that is confirmed is kate chase sprague. (he was married, but he hardly spent any time with his wife and cut off his daughter after she married someone he didn't approve of.) once, he got caught in her house by her husband and allegedly jumped out the window and ran down the street while pursued by a shotgun-wielding mr. sprague. whether or not it's true everyone in 1879-80 thought it was true so that was his reputation lol. it's also worth noting that in '79 he was himself basically challenged to a duel by a southern senator who he had insulted - in response, the senator accused him of lying and said basically, i just insulted you and called you a liar, aren't you gonna come fight? aren't you gonna come fight? and conkling said no and backed down. of course he was under no obligation to duel and duelling wasn't really a thing by that time anyway but it is funny in light of him trying to goad blaine exactly the same way a decade or so earlier.

if there is anything conkling individually stood for that made a historical mark it was the spoils system. he was basically in charge of the republican party in new york and he pretty much felt it was appropriate to appoint friends and political allies to whatever positions he wanted. he thought the reform attempts were goody two shoes bullshit basically. he called it "snivel service reform" ffs. by the way "snivel service reform" has a wikipedia page which will probably be deleted at some point since there's really no reason it should have a wikipedia page. so click it while you can. you can say, "i was there"

the end of conkling's career is probably its best known period. he gave an impassioned speech nominating his friend grant for a third term in 1880, but an orange cat named garfield got the nomination instead. crazy how that could happen, but it was a different time. conkling's political protege arthur was made garfield's runningmate, to convince conkling to speak on garfield's behalf. even then, he did so reluctantly, mentioning garfield's name as little as possible.

when garfield did become president, he refused to give conkling patronage favors, which conkling considered a betrayal. according to him, garfield had promised to toss the grant faction a bone, and he was failing to uphold his end of the bargain. conkling just up and resigned his senate seat. he was so mad, he decided it would be better to resign and be reelected. but... nobody wanted to reelect him. everyone had just had enough of his shit. he started trying to be nice and basically begged to be reelected but it didn't work. he was out of politics forever. of course, garfield was also shot by someone who claimed to be a partisan in favor of conkling, grant and arthur, which made matters worse for conkling, and that's of great interest to me, but it's not directly related to rc and this is already too long lol.

after politics conkling went back to practicing law. if you've ever heard the saying that "corporations are people," conkling is the reason why that's a thing - he argued before the supreme court that the civil rights amendments were always meant to apply to all entities, both human and corporate. so you can throw tomatoes at him for that if you want to.

finally he died in 1888 after refusing to pay for a cab and walking 3 miles from his law office in a massive blizzard. he got meningitis from this and very slowly and terribly died. apparently in his sickness he would fight anyone who tried to give him medicine and would jump up from his bed and angrily pace, muttering incoherently. so he died as he lived. stubborn and mad

this is the man i am posting about and now you know. honestly this is not even half of it but i just realized if anyone who follows me has ever been curious about this terrible man, they deserve to know.

finally just as one last treat, i mentioned several times he was older than blaine. here is a newspaper article where he lies about his age. (the "he" that conkling is referring to here is blaine.) now we can all point and laugh. also he was 57 when he said this quote so he didn't just forget. he knew he was lying. very classic move.

fin, my friends

[thatwasuzi]

49 years ago today

SS Arthur M Anderson: "Fitzgerald, this is the Anderson. Have you checked down?"

SS Edmund Fitzgerald: "Yes we have."

Anderson: "Fitzgerald, we are about 10 miles behind you, and gaining about 1 1/2 miles per hour. Fitzgerald, there is a target 19 miles ahead of us. So the target would be 9 miles on ahead of you."

Fitzgerald: "Well, am I going to clear?"

A: "Yes. He is going to pass to the west of you."

F: "Well, fine."

A: "By the way, Fitzgerald, how are you making out with your problem?"

F: "We are holding our own."

A: "Okay, fine. I'll be talking to you later."

The crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald would never speak to anyone outside of the ship again. After the Fitzgerald entered a squall and was obscured from the Anderson's radar. Some time shortly thereafter the Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all hands aboard.

Michael E. Armagost, 37, Third Mate, from Iron River, Wisconsin

Frederick J. Beetcher, 56, Porter, from Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas D. Bentsen, 23, Oiler, from St. Joseph, Michigan

Edward F. Bindon, 47, First Assistant Engineer, from Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Thomas D. Borgeson, 41, Maintenance Man, from Duluth, Minnesota

Oliver J. Champeau, 41, Third Assistant Engineer, from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

Nolan S. Church, 55, Porter, from Silver Bay, Minnesota

Ransom E. Cundy, 53, Watchman, from Superior, Wisconsin

Thomas E. Edwards, 50, Second Assistant Engineer, from Oregon, Ohio

Russell G. Haskell, 40, Second Assistant Engineer, from Millbury, Ohio

George J. Holl, 60, Chief Engineer, from Cabot, Pennsylvania

Bruce L. Hudson, 22, Deck Hand, from North Olmsted, Ohio

Allen G. Kalmon, 43, Second Cook, from Washburn, Wisconsin

Gordon F. MacLellan, 30, Wiper, from Clearwater, Florida

Joseph W. Mazes, 59, Special Maintenance Man, from Ashland, Wisconsin

John H. McCarthy, 62, First Mate, from Bay Village, Ohio

Ernest M. McSorley, 63, Captain, from Toledo, Ohio

Eugene W. O’Brien, 50, Wheelsman, from Toledo, Ohio

Karl A. Peckol, 20, Watchman, from Ashtabula, Ohio

John J. Poviach, 59, Wheelsman, from Bradenton, Florida

James A. Pratt, 44, Second Mate, from Lakewood, Ohio

Robert C. Rafferty, 62, Steward, from Toledo, Ohio

Paul M. Riippa, 22, Deck Hand, from Ashtabula, Ohio

John D. Simmons, 63, Wheelsman, from Ashland, Wisconsin

William J. Spengler, 59, Watchman, from Toledo, Ohio

Mark A. Thomas, 21, Deck Hand, from Richmond Heights, Ohio

Ralph G. Walton, 58, Oiler, from Fremont, Ohio

David E. Weiss, 22, Cadet, from Agoura, California

Blaine H. Wilhelm, 52, Oiler, from Moquah, Wisconsin