Blaine faction facts for kids

Portrait of James G. Blaine.

The Blaine faction was a group of Republicans in the United States. They were active during the time Rutherford B. Hayes was president (1877-1881). This group formed around Maine U.S. Senator James G. Blaine.

They often worked with the Stalwart group. Both groups were against changes to the way government jobs were given out. This was called "civil service reform." They also disagreed with President Hayes's friendly actions towards the South. Blaine himself voted with the Stalwarts against Hayes's reform ideas.

Sometimes, people mistakenly call the Blaine faction "Half-Breeds." But these were actually different groups. The Half-Breeds were a more moderate part of the Republican Party. They actually supported civil service reform. Blaine was not a Half-Breed during this time. He was more like a different kind of Stalwart. The Half-Breeds didn't trust Blaine or former President Ulysses S. Grant. They wanted a new leader for president in the 1880 United States presidential election. This leader would strongly support civil service reform.

Blaine never called his allies "Half-Breeds." He preferred the name "the Blaine Section." The Blaine faction and the Half-Breeds were quite different. Blaine and Hayes often disagreed strongly after 1877. Blaine also had a long-lasting rivalry with Half-Breed leader John Sherman.

Blaine's main allies during President Hayes's time were William P. Frye and Eugene Hale. Both of them later became U.S. Senators from Maine, just like Blaine.

What Made the Blaine Faction Unique?

The Stalwart faction was led by Roscoe Conkling. The Blaine faction and Conkling's group had a strong rivalry. This was mostly due to a personal feud between Conkling and Blaine that started in the 1860s.

However, both groups were quite similar in their political goals. They both benefited from the "spoils system." This system allowed politicians to give government jobs to their supporters.

Conkling's group focused on "sound money" (also called "hard money"). This meant they supported policies that kept the value of money stable. They were connected to financial businesses in New York. The Blaine group, on the other hand, focused more on industrial and railroad businesses. They also strongly supported protective tariffs. Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries. They make foreign goods more expensive, which helps local businesses.

Portrait of William P. Frye.

Portrait of Eugene Hale.

Blaine Faction During Hayes's Presidency

During the 1876 United States presidential election, Senator Blaine supported Rutherford Hayes. Hayes was running against Samuel J. Tilden. After Hayes became president, the Compromise of 1877 happened. This agreement led to the removal of U.S. troops from the South. Blaine was very upset by this. He felt it meant giving up on the efforts to rebuild the South after the Civil War. He was even more upset than other Stalwart leaders like Roscoe Conkling.

The Blaine faction often argued with President Hayes's government. For example, Blaine wanted Hayes to appoint William Frye as the Attorney General of the United States. But Hayes offered the job to Eugene Hale instead. This caused tension because Blaine wanted Hale to take over from Senator Hannibal Hamlin in Maine.

The tension grew when Hayes appointed Carl Schurz as United States Secretary of the Interior. Schurz was a strong supporter of reform. In 1872, Schurz had led a group called the Liberal Republican Party. This group had opposed Ulysses S. Grant, whom Blaine had supported.

At one point, the Stalwarts had a small victory. Conkling helped his supporter, Chester A. Arthur, get a powerful job. Arthur became the Collector of the Port of New York. Arthur's time in this job was known for favoring friends and corruption. He hired many Republicans just because of their political connections.

President Hayes and his Secretary of the Treasury, John Sherman (a Half-Breed), later fired Arthur from this job. This decision made both the Stalwarts and the Blaine faction unhappy. The disagreement between the Blaine faction and Hayes's government became so strong that it ruined any chance of Hayes being re-elected.

When Hayes nominated reformers Edwin A. Merritt and Silas W. Burt for important New York customs jobs, Half-Breed leaders like George F. Hoar supported the president. But Blaine joined Stalwarts like Conkling in opposing these nominations. Their opposition was not successful.

The 1880 Republican National Convention: A Showdown

The 1880 United States presidential election was a very divided time for the Republican Party. There were three main groups:

• The Stalwarts, led by Roscoe Conkling, John A. Logan, and Simon Cameron with his son J. Donald Cameron.
• The Half-Breeds, led by strategists like George Frisbie Hoar, Henry L. Dawes, and John D. Long.
• The Blaine faction, organized by Frye and Hale.

The Stalwarts wanted former President Ulysses S. Grant to run for a third term. They hoped to bring back some of the ideas from the Reconstruction period. The Half-Breeds wanted George F. Edmunds to be the presidential candidate.

There was a deep and lasting feud between the Stalwarts and the Blaine faction. This wasn't because of Grant. It was mainly due to the personal rivalry between Conkling and Blaine.

At first, none of the groups could get their chosen candidate nominated. But then, the Blaine faction and the Half-Breeds decided to work together. Their goal was to stop the Stalwarts. They decided to support a less-known candidate, James A. Garfield of Ohio.

The Stalwarts' plans were weakened by William H. Robertson. He was a state senator and a strong supporter of Blaine. Robertson opposed Conkling's group, which created anti-Grant feelings at the convention. The Half-Breeds also cleverly got their leader, Hoar, elected as the chairman of the convention. In the end, Garfield was nominated. In the November election, Garfield won by a small margin against the Democratic candidate, Winfield Scott Hancock.