Shortly after his arrival to Galesburg, Blanchard became associated with the Congregational church, leaving the Presbyterian church because of their uncertain stance on slavery. College founder George Washington Gale was instead a devout Presbyterian. Uncertainties surrounding the school's ties to either church led to controversy among the faculty. Furthermore, Blanchard supported the Liberty Party (later the Free Soil Party), a political threat to Gale's Whig Party. Blanchard served as a presidential elector for the Free Soilers in 1848. In 1857, the Knox College board of trust requested that both Blanchard and Gale resign their positions, and both agreed. However, the decision proved controversial, as local civic leaders such as Edward Beecher protested the ruling. A school committee then re-admitted Blanchard as president, who served until the board elected Harvey Curtis the next year.