 Blaine began the year 1882 without a political office for the first time since 1859 . Troubled by poor health , he sought no employment other than the completion of the first volume of his memoir , Twenty Years of Congress . Friends in Maine petitioned Blaine to run for Congress in the 1882 elections , but he declined , preferring to spend his time writing and supervising the move to the new home . His income from mining and railroad investments was sufficient to sustain the family 's lifestyle and to allow for the construction of a vacation cottage , " Stanwood " , on Mount Desert Island , Maine , designed by Frank Furness . Blaine appeared before Congress in 1882 during an investigation into his War of the Pacific diplomacy , defending himself against allegations that he owned an interest in the Peruvian guano deposits being occupied by Chile , but otherwise stayed away from the Capitol . The publication of the first volume of Twenty Years in early 1884 added to Blaine 's financial security and thrust him back into the political spotlight . As the 1884 campaign loomed , Blaine 's name was being circulated once more as a potential nominee , and despite some reservations , he soon found himself back in the hunt for the presidency . 
