When James Gillespie Blaine became secretary of state for a second time, appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, he oversaw the Pan-American Conference that he had envisioned during his first term. The conference addressed trade, communication, and legal issues, and eventually led to the establishment of the Pan-American Union. He also continued to try to diffuse tensions with Germany and the United Kingdom over Samoa and to negotiate fur seal hunting rights in the Bering Sea.
Blaine’s resignation in 1892 caught everyone, including President Harrison, by surprise, and he died not long afterward.