A man of Mr. Blaine’s ability, of his rare knowledge of parliamentary usages, and, above all, of his ambitions, was not likely to remain long content with the position of a representative in the State Legislature.  As early as 1859 he had an ambition to go to Congress, and he was talked of as a candidate in 1860.  But Anson P. Morrill was nominated, Mr. Blaine not having strength enough to obtain the honor.  In 1862 Mr. Blaine was nominated to the office, although he was not then so desirous of it as he had been two years before.  His patriotic utterances in the convention which nominated him met with a hearty response, and he was elected over his Democratic competitor by the largest majority that had ever been given in his district, it exceeding three thousand.  This majority he held in six succeeding and consecutive elections, running it up in one exciting contest to nearly four thousand.

During his first term in Congress Mr. Blaine gave himself up to study and observation, but in the next Congress, the Thirty-ninth, he gained some prominence, and from that time to the end of his congressional career he occupied a foremost place among the Republican leaders.  His reputation was that of an exceedingly industrious committeeman.  He was a member of the post-office and military committees, and of the committees on appropriations and rules.  He paid close attention to the business of the committees, and took an active part in the debates of the House, manifesting practical ability and genius for details.  The first remarkable speech which he made in Congress was on the subject of the assumption by the general government of the war debts of the States, in the course of which he urged that the North was abundantly able to carry on the war to a successful issue.  This vigorous speech attracted so much attention that two hundred thousand copies of it were circulated in 1864 as a campaign document by the Republican party.  In the winter of 1865-66 Mr. Blaine was very energetic in promoting the passage of reconstruction measures.  In the early part of 1866 he proposed a resolution which finally became the basis of that part of the fourteenth amendment relating to congressional representation.  In the second session of the Thirty-ninth Congress he also distinguished himself by the “Blaine amendment” to the military bill, which was universally discussed in the public press of the day.

In 1867 Mr. Blaine made a trip to Europe, returning in time to fight against the greenback heresy, of which he was the foremost opponent.  In December he made an elaborate speech on the finances, in which he analyzed Mr. Pendleton’s greenback theory.  “The remedy for our financial troubles,” said he, “will not be found in a superabundance of depreciated paper currency.  It lies in the opposite direction, and the sooner the nation finds itself on a specie basis the sooner will the public treasury be freed from embarrassment and private business be relieved from discouragement.  Instead, therefore, of entering upon a reckless and boundless issue of legal tenders, with their constant depreciation, if not destruction, of value, let us set resolutely to work and make those already in circulation equal to so many gold dollars.”