Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 4, 2024

James G. Blaine (1830–1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the House from 1869 to 1875, and then in the Senate from 1876 to 1881. Born in Pennsylvania and a newspaper editor before entering politics, he twice served as the U.S. secretary of state, first in 1881 under President James A. Garfield and President Chester A. Arthur, and then from 1889 to 1892 under President Benjamin Harrison. Blaine unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1876 and 1880. He gained the nomination in 1884, but in the election, he was narrowly defeated by Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland. A charismatic speaker in an age that prized oratory, Blaine was a leading Republican of the late 19th century and a champion of the party's moderate reformist faction, later known as the "Half-Breeds".