Talk:James G. Blaine/Archive 1

Archive 1

taunt

He was the target of a classic chant,

Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine,

Continental liar from the state of Maine.

I hesitate to add it w/o context, but there must have been an interesting story to go with it.
"Some research required."
--Jerzy·t 02:17, 2005 July 13 (UTC)

Actually, the full chant was:

Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine,

Continental Liar from the state of Maine, burn this letter!

This had its roots during the U.S. presidential election, 1884. Amidst the mudslinging that occurred during that time (in the case of Grover Cleveland, the most notable was the issue of allegedly having fathered an illegitimate child), what came out in Blaine's case was a series of letters written by Blaine to a railroad executive named Warren Fischer in 1876 and preserved by the latter's bookkeeper, James Mulligan (hence the letters were called the "Mulligan letters"). When Mulligan released them during the campaign, it exposed Blaine having illegally benefited from sweetheart deals with the railroads. One particular letter to Fischer, Blaine enclosed an alibi to Fischer, which he wanted Fischer to copy, sign and return: Blaine also enclosed the missive, Burn this letter.

Unfortunately for Blaine, Fischer was not known to follow orders, and it ended up in Mulligan's hands, and eventually in public circulation. Cleveland's supporters seized on this and thus the resulting chant.

There was also the variant form of that chant, which referred to Blaine as "Jay Gould Blaine" after the robber baron Jay Gould.

Hope that answers it. RashBold 22:11, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I believe the two are actually separate chants, although both related to the Mulligan letters;

Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine,

Contintental Liar from the State of Maine!

and,

My regards to Mrs. Fisher. Burn this letter.

Blaine was actually exhonerated of all the charges levied against him in the Mulligan affair, but it did, of course, badly tarnish his reputation. I think it also bears noting that Blaine ended every letter he wrote with instructions to burn them.

"of Maine?"

Is "of Maine" part of his real name? If it is not, I don't think it should be in bold with the rest of his name. It looks kind of silly if it is not part of his real name. S. Randall 20:25, 25 February 2007 (UTC)