 In Hawaii , Blaine worked to bind the kingdom more closely to the United States and to avoid its becoming a British protectorate . When the McKinley Tariff of 1890 eliminated the duty on sugar , Hawaiian sugar @-@ growers looked for a way to retain their once @-@ exclusive access to the American market . The Hawaiian minister to the United States , Henry A. P. Carter , tried to arrange for Hawaii have complete trade reciprocity with the United States , but Blaine proposed instead that Hawaii become an American protectorate ; Carter favored the idea , but the Hawaiian king , Kalākaua , rejected the infringement on his sovereignty . Blaine next procured the appointment of his former newspaper colleague John L. Stevens as minister to Hawaii . Stevens had long believed that the United States should annex Hawaii , and as minister he co @-@ operated with Americans living in Hawaii in their efforts to bring about annexation . Their efforts ultimately culminated in a coup d 'état against Kalākaua 's successor , Liliuokalani , in 1893 . Blaine 's precise involvement is undocumented , but the results of Stevens 's diplomacy were in accord with his ambitions for American power in the region . The new government petitioned the United States for annexation , but by that time Blaine was no longer in office . 
