Samuel D. Burchard (minister)

Born in Steuben, New York, Burchard moved to Kentucky with his parents in 1830, attended Centre College and graduated in 1837.

[2] In the 1884 United States presidential election, Burchard advocated for Republican candidate James G. Blaine, and attacked the Democrats as "the party of rum, Romanism, and rebellion".

Several days before the election, Burchard infamously uttered this anti-Catholic epithet when speaking before Blaine at a New York City campaign event.

The remark caused substantial controversy, as did the absence of any denouncement from Blaine; the candidate subsequently claimed he had not heard Burchard when he said it.

[3] It has been cited as a major factor in Blaine's narrow defeat, by driving Irish Catholic voters to Grover Cleveland in the decisive state of New York.