Mulligan Letters

Mulligan Letters On 31 May 1876, Henry Mulligan, a Boston bookkeeper, told a congressional committee that James Blaine promised political favors to railway executives in exchange for railroad stock and was hiding evidence of graft. On 5 June, Blaine attempted to squelch the controversy by reading excerpts from letters alluded to by Mulligan. The charges destroyed Blaine’s chances of being nominated for president in 1876. When it was learned that he had selectively read from the letters to hide references dealing with Mulligan’s charges, Blaine’s reputation was badly damaged. The letters were a major factor in Blaine’s narrow defeat in the election of 1884.