Edward P. Crapol - James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire

Biographies

IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

Joseph A. Fry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Series Editor

The Biographies in American Foreign Policy Series employs the enduring medium of biography to examine the major episodes and themes in the history of U.S. foreign relations. By viewing policy formation and implementation from the perspective of influential participants, the series seeks to humanize and make more accessible those decisions and events that sometimes appear abstract or distant. Particular attention is devoted to those aspects of the subjects background, personality, and intellect that most influenced his or her approach to U.S. foreign policy, and each individuals role is placed in a context that takes into account domestic affairs, national interests and policies, and international and strategic considerations.

The series is directed primarily at undergraduate and graduate courses in U.S. foreign relations, but it is hoped that the genre and format may also prove attractive to the interested general reader. With these objectives in mind, the length of the volumes has been kept manageable, the documentation has been restricted to direct quotes and particularly controversial assertions, and the bibliographic essays have been tailored to provide historiographical assessment without tedium.

Producing books of high scholarly merit to appeal to a wide range of readers is an ambitious undertaking, and an excellent group of authors has agreed to participate. Some have compiled extensive scholarly records while others are just beginning promising careers, but all are distinguished by their comprehensive knowledge of U.S. foreign relations, their cooperative spirit, and their enthusiasm for the project. It has been a distinct pleasure to have been given the opportunity to work with these scholars as well as with Richard Hopper and his staff at Scholarly Resources.

Lawrence S. Kaplan, Thomas Jefferson: Westward the Course of Empire (1999). Cloth ISBN 0-8420-2629-0 Paper ISBN 0-8420-2630-4

Richard H. Immerman, John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (1999). Cloth ISBN 0-8420-2600-2 Paper ISBN 0-8420-2601-0

Thomas W. Zeiler, Dean Rusk: Defending the American Mission Abroad (2000).Cloth ISBN 0-8420-2685-1 Paper ISBN 0-8420-2686-X

Edward P. Crapol, James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire (2000). Cloth ISBN 0-8420-2604-5 Paper ISBN 0-8420-2605-3

JAMES G.
BLAINE

Architect of Empire

Edward P. Crapol

2000 by Scholarly Resources Inc.
All rights reserved
First published 2000
Printed and bound in the United States of America

Scholarly Resources Inc.
104 Greenhill Avenue
Wilmington, DE 19805-1897
www.scholarly.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crapol, Edward P.

James G. Blaine : architect of empire / Edward P. Crapol.

p. cm. (Biographies in American foreign policy ; no. 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8420-2605-5

1. Blaine, James Gillespie, 18301893. 2. Cabinet officersUnited States Biography. 3. PoliticiansUnited States Biography. 4. United StatesForeign relations18651898. 5. United StatesPolitics and government18651900. 6. ImperialismUnited StatesHistory19th century. I. Title. II. Series.
E664.B6C83 1999
973.8'6'092dc21

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for permanence of paper for printed library materials, Z39.48, 1984.

For Jeanne

I am indebted to a number of people for their assistance, support, and encouragement along the way, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge their help and aid in writing this book. Tom Terrill, an old friend from graduate school days at the University of Wisconsin in the 1960s, originally introduced me to the fascinating personality and remarkable career of James G. Blaine. When I began this project some three years ago, Tom generously shared his voluminous research notes on Gilded Age politics and late nineteenth-century American foreign relations, for which I am most grateful. I also wish to thank Judy Ewell, a longtime friend and colleague, for her thoughts and insights on the Latin American response to Secretary Blaines Pan-Americanism. I also benefited from the advice and wisdom of a number of my other colleagues in the History Department at William and Mary, especially Craig Canning, Scott Nelson, Cindy Hahamovitch, Carol Sheriff, and Melvin Ely. Eric Roorda and Beth Murphy, my former undergraduate students who have gone on to become successful and respected young scholars of American foreign relations, provided valuable research assistance and help in locating several key documents. Two of my current graduate students, Kelly Gray and Steve Moore, deserve thanks for their generous aid throughout the project.

I am grateful to Walter LaFeber and Charles Calhoun, both of whom read the entire draft manuscript and provided incisive critical commentary. I am most thankful to Paul Burlin for help with the Maine sources, especially in directing me to the Israel Washburn, Jr., correspondence, and for educating me about other Maine expansionists who accepted and promoted Blaines imperial agenda. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Tom Coffman, who, through his probing and challenging questions, made me aware of the central importance of James G. Blaine to the sustained, decades-long effort to bring the Hawaiian Islands into the American orbit. Thanks to James Lindgren for research advice and the gift of Edward Stanwoods out-of-print study of Blaine, and to Mary Zeidler, who located and presented me with an original edition of Gail Hamiltons invaluable biography of James G. Blaine. My friend Ed Pease has my gratitude for drafting a map and aiding with the illustrations.

It is a pleasure to thank the general editor of this series, Andy Fry, for his friendship, general equanimity, helpfulness, and superb editing of the manuscript drafts. I also wish to thank Richard Hopper at Scholarly Resources for his unflagging support and encouragement.

I am grateful for the invaluable assistance I received from the staff at the Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress. I also wish to thank the staff at the Maine Historical Society for its friendly advice and professional service. The reference librarians and interlibrary loan staff at William and Marys Swem Library were always efficient and helpful. Thanks also to Alan Zoellner and his staff in Swems government documents department. I am indebted to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library for providing copies of documents from the Sumner Welles Papers, to the Hesburgh Library at University of Notre Dame for material from the Henry OConnor Papers, and to the Colgate University Library for copies of campaign material on the 1884 election from its Grover Cleveland collection.