619. Election of Cleveland.—The Republican Convention met at Chicago and nominated James Gillespie Blaine[[284]] of Maine for President, and General John A. Logan of Illinois for Vice President. Blaine had long been one of the most prominent men in the Republican party. Possessed of much personal charm, he enjoyed great popularity with those with whom he came into personal contact. For six years he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, and when the Democrats secured a majority in the House, he became the brilliant leader of the Republicans on the floor. While he occupied this position, however, it began to be whispered that his career was not free from acts involving corrupt motives. An investigation followed in regard to his connection with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The evidence had a serious effect upon his political prospects. Many Republicans, believing him not free from the taint of corruption, were ready from the time of his nomination to vote against him. The Democrats, who also convened at Chicago, nominated, for President, Grover Cleveland,[[285]] who had recently shown great strength as governor of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana for Vice President. The campaign was an unusually spirited one, full of unseemly personalities. Some of the Reform Republicans finally made up their minds to support Blaine; but others, like George William Curtis, advocated Cleveland’s election. Blaine’s cause was greatly injured by the extravagant attacks made upon the Democrats by some of his supporters. Cleveland and Hendricks were finally elected by an electoral vote of two hundred and nineteen against one hundred and eighty-two. The election was decided by the thirty-five electoral votes of New York, secured by a majority of less than twelve hundred. The vote showed that Blaine was defeated by those Independent Republicans who distrusted his political integrity.

References.—Comparatively few books have been devoted specifically to the history of the period covered by this chapter, and general works give such recent events scanty space. Andrews’s Last Quarter Century, and Channing and Hart’s Guide, § 25, may be consulted with profit. See, also, E. Cary, George William Curtis (“American Men of Letters”); A. R. Conkling, The Life and Letters of Roscoe Conkling; S. S. Cox, Union, Disunion, Reunion; J. A. Garfield, Works (2 vols.); John Sherman, Recollections of Forty Years; J. G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress (2 vols.); G. W. Curtis, Orations and Addresses (3 vols.); J. Bigelow, Samuel J. Tilden, his Writings and Speeches (2 vols.); Stanwood’s History of Presidential Elections, 303-344; and the periodical literature of the time.

[276] For example, he showed great firmness in his vetoes during the extra session of 1879, when the Democratic Congress tried to sweep away reconstruction legislation by the use of “riders,” or incongruous provisions, attached to appropriation bills. He also resisted Congressional dictation in the matter of appointments, and supported the cause of Civil Service reform.
[277] Born in Pennsylvania, 1824; died, 1886. Graduated at West Point, 1844; fought gallantly in Mexican War; appointed brigadier general of volunteers in 1861; commanded under McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign; distinguished himself at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg; won the high praise of Grant for his services in the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg; was made a major general in the regular army in 1866; Democratic candidate for President in 1880. Hancock was a gallant commander throughout the war, and Grant spoke of him as “the most conspicuous of those general officers who never held a separate command.”
[278] Born in Ohio, 1831; died, 1881. Graduated at Williams College, 1856; became president of Hiram College in 1857; volunteered, and was appointed lieutenant colonel in 1861; routed Confederates at Middle Creek, January 10, 1862; was made brigadier general and served at Shiloh; was chief of staff of Rosecrans and rendered such service as to be made major general after Chickamauga; having already been elected member of Congress, he took his seat in December, 1863; was a leading member and debater till his election to the Senate in 1880; was nominated by the Republicans for President on the thirty-sixth ballot in 1880; assassinated, 1881.
[279] Conkling had previously attacked Garfield in scathing speeches. He did not reënter public life. He died from exposure to the great “blizzard” of 1888. Platt later returned to the Senate.
[280] Born in Vermont, 1830; died, 1886. Graduated at Union College, 1848; studied and practiced law in New York City; as member of Governor Morgan’s staff was of great service as quartermaster, engineer in chief, and inspector general during the Civil War; was appointed Collector of the Port of New York, 1871; was actively engaged in New York politics while he held his position and was removed by Hayes in 1878 for alleged excessive partisanship; was nominated for Vice President with Garfield in 1880; succeeded to the Presidency in 1881; was a candidate for renomination in 1884, but was defeated by Blaine.
[281] Congress had voted to erect a suitable memorial to Washington the very year of his death; but no appropriation was available, and even the corner stone was not laid until 1848.