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ZACHARIAH CHANDLER^{1Zachariah Chandler (1813–79) was born in Bedford, New Hampshire. After attending public schools in his hometown, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1833. He first started a general store and later pursued careers in banking and land speculation, becoming quite successful. After serving as mayor of Detroit (1851–52), he was defeated as the Whig candidate for governor in 1852. In 1854, Chandler helped organize the newly formed Republican party. Chandler then served as a Republican U.S. senator from Michigan (1857–75). President Grant appointed him secretary of the interior, in which position he served from 1875 to 1877. He was also chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee (1868–76). Chandler won reelection to the Senate in February 1879, serving briefly until his death in November. Wilmer C. Harris, Public Life of Zachariah Chandler, 1851–1875 (East Lansing, Mich., 1917); ANB (online); BDUSC (online).} TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Washington, D.C. 11 August 1876.

FREDK DOUGLASS. ESQ

WASHINGTON. D.C.

MY DEAR SIR.

Mr. Blaine^{2Born in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, James Gillespie Blaine (1830–93) graduated from Washington College near his hometown in 1847. After studying law and teaching, Blaine moved to Maine, where he worked for newspapers in Kennebec and Portland in the mid-1860s. An early adherent of the Republican party, he held office in the state legislature (1858–62), the U.S. House of Representatives (1863–75), and the U.S. Senate (1875–81). Relatively conservative on the issue of military Reconstruction, Blaine was a leader of the anti-Grant Half-Breed faction of the Republican party and lost bitterly contested battles for the presidential nomination in 1876 and 1880. He served Garfield as secretary of state but departed the cabinet when Chester Arthur became president. In 1884, Blaine finally captured the nomination for president but lost to Grover Cleveland in a close election, during which Democrats charged him with accepting financial favors while a congressman. Blaine concluded his long public career by serving as Benjamin Harrison’s secretary of state (1889–93). David Saville Muzzey, James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days (New York, 1934); Charles Edward Russell, Blaine of Maine: His Life and Times (New York, 1931); ACAB, 1: 275–80; NCAB, 1: 137–39; DAB, 2: 322–29.} has telegraphed the committee^{3Chandler is most likely referring to the National Republican Executive Committee, of which he was chairman from 1868 to 1876. The committee had its headquarters in New York City, with a regional office in Chicago. Bangor (Me.) Daily Whig & Courier, 3 August 1876; Chicago Inter Ocean, 5 August 1876; Harris, Zachariah Chandler; BDUSC (online).} that they want you in Maine,^{4Both Republican and Democratic party leaders viewed Maine as an important state in the 1876 presidential election. Because Maine held its elections for Congress and state offices at the beginning of September, many treated the results as an indicator of which party would win the presidency in November. While the Republicans had carried Maine decisively in 1872, the race between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, Democrat Samuel Tilden, and Peter Cooper of the Greenback Party four years later proved tighter. The Republican party emerged victorious in the state and congressional elections, leaving party leaders hopeful. In November, Hayes carried Maine with 66,300 votes to Tilden’s 49,917; the Greenback party secured 663 votes. Bangor (Me.) Daily Whig & Courier, 12 June, 12 September 1876; Arthur M. Schlesinger, History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–1968, 4 vols. (New York, 1971), 2: 1402–03, 1487; Michael Holt, By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876 (Lawrence, Kans., 2008), 153, 253, 255.}
to speak for two weeks, beginning August 28th.

The democrats are making herculean efforts to increase their vote in
that State, and it being the first in which there is a general election that
will be taken as an index of that in November,—the first game of the campaign—the importance of holding our ground can hardly be overestimated

We will pay your expenses and sincerely hope you can comply with
this request.^{5It is unlikely that Douglass campaigned for Hayes in Maine during the summer of 1876. According to the Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, he was scheduled to speak in Portland at the beginning of September but was prevented by illness. He did not return to the campaign trail until the end of September, making several stops in Indiana from 25 September to 9 October. Douglass Papers, ser. 1, 4: xxxv; Bangor (Me.) Daily Whig & Courier, 11 September, 30 October 1876; San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, 27 September 1876; Chicago Inter Ocean, 4 October 1876.}

Very Truly yours.

Z. CHANDLER^{6Chandler added “Chairman” after his signature.}

ALS: General Correspondence File, reel 2, frame 857, FD Papers, LC.