Harrison tabbed James G. Blaine as his secretary of state. Blaine had served as secretary of state for both James Garfield and Chester A. Arthur and had been the Republican presidential nominee in 1884. Blaine resigned in 1893, in part because he was considering another run at the Republican nomination. Harrison’s second secretary of state was John W. Foster of Indiana, who had been a skilled diplomat, serving as minister to Mexico, Russia, and Spain.