John James Blaine (May 4, 1875April 16, 1934) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the 24th Governor of Wisconsin and a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

. He also served as

Attorney General of Wisconsin The Attorney General of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Forty-five individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Josh Kaul, ...

and a member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

Early life and education

Blaine was born on May 4, 1875, in

Wingville, Wisconsin The Town"Towns" in Wisconsin perform most of the same functions as townships in many other states. see 'Wisconsin Blue Book 2022,' Town, pp 354-355 of Wingville is located in northeastern Grant County, Wisconsin, Grant County, Wisconsin, United St ...

. Blaine attended the common schools, and then what is now

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

in Indiana, graduating from the university's law department in 1896. After being

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Wisconsin, he practiced law in Montfort before moving to Boscobel.

Career

Blaine served as vice-president of a telephone company, and as mayor of Boscobel, Wisconsin, for three one-year terms: 1901-1902, 1903-1904, and 1906-1907. He was on the

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana *Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant Co ...

Board of Supervisors, and was a member of

( 16th District) from 1909 to 1912. He served as delegate to Republican National Convention from Wisconsin, 1912 (alternate), 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932. He was Wisconsin State Attorney General, from 1919 to 1921. He served as the 24th Governor of Wisconsin from January 3, 1921 to January 3, 1927. In 1926, he defeated the Progressive Republican

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Irvine Lenroot Irvine Luther Lenroot (January 31, 1869 – January 26, 1949) was a United States representative and United States senator from Wisconsin and an associate judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Education and career ...

in the Republican primary. He won the general election with 55% of the vote against Democratic, Independent and Socialist Party candidates. Blaine served in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from March 4, 1927 to March 3, 1933. He was the only senator to vote against ratification of the

Kellogg–Briand Pact The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris – officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy – is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to ...

, which was approved 85–1. Blaine asserted that ratifying the treaty represented an endorsement of British imperialism. Blaine crossed party lines during the 1928 presidential campaign and endorsed Democratic nominee

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

for president. He later authored the 21st Amendment (

Blaine Act The Blaine Act, formally titled Joint Resolution Proposing the Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution, is a joint resolution adopted by the United States Congress on February 20, 1933, initiating repeal of the 18th Amendment to ...

), which repealed the 18th Amendment (

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

), which had prohibited intoxicating liquors. In 1932,

John B. Chapple John Bowman Chapple (November 20, 1899 – April 16, 1989) was an American newspaper publisher and politician from Wisconsin. In 1932, he unseated incumbent United States Senator John J. Blaine in the Republican primary. Early life and education ...

defeated Blaine in the Republican primary. Chapple was then defeated in the general election by

F. Ryan Duffy Francis Ryan Duffy (June 23, 1888 – August 16, 1979) was a United States senator from Wisconsin, a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a United States district judge of the United State ...

, as part of massive Democratic victories in the national elections that year. Blaine resumed the practice of law at Boscobel and was appointed a director of the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...

by President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, serving until his death.

Death

Blaine died of pneumonia in

Boscobel, Wisconsin Boscobel is a city in Grant County, Wisconsin, Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,286 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Approximately 0.6 mi. (1 km) to the north of the city, across a riparian sw ...

, on April 16, 1934 (age 58 years, 347 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Boscobel Cemetery, Boscobel, Wisconsin.

Family life

Son of James Ferguson Blaine (1827–1888) and Elizabeth (Johnson) Blaine (1834–1903), who were immigrants from Scotland and Norway respectively. Blaine married Anna C. McSpaden (1875–1938) on August 23, 1904.

References

External links

Obituary
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaine, John J. 1875 births 1934 deaths Mayors of places in Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Wisconsin Attorneys General Republican Party governors of Wisconsin People from Boscobel, Wisconsin Republican Party United States senators from Wisconsin Burials in Wisconsin Deaths from pneumonia in Wisconsin People from Grant County, Wisconsin Valparaiso University School of Law alumni