 Although he supported a general amnesty for former Confederates , Blaine opposed extending it to include Jefferson Davis , and he cooperated with Grant in helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in response to increased violence and disenfranchisement of blacks in the South . He refrained from voting on the anti @-@ third term resolution that overwhelmingly passed the House that same year , believing that to vote for it would look self @-@ interested . Blaine was loyal to Grant , but the scandals of the Grant administration did not taint how the public perceived him ; according to his biographer , Blaine was never more popular than when he was Speaker of the House . Liberal Republicans saw him as an alternative to what they saw the corruption of other Republican leaders , and some even urged him to form a new , reformist party . Although he remained a Republican , this base of moderate reformers remained loyal to Blaine and became known as the Half Breed faction of the party . 
