Editing Mark Hanna (section)

=== General election campaign ===
[[File:Bryan Wellsville.png|thumb|250px|Bryan's whistle-stop tour during the 1896 campaign was unprecedented.  Here he addresses a crowd in [[Wellsville, Ohio]].|alt=A dramatic political scene. Beside a river stands a podium, on which a flagpole flies a huge American flag. Beneath the flag stands a candidate in a dark suit addressing an impressive crowd which takes up most of the photograph. Not only the quayside but a ferry beside it on the water are packed full of people listening intently.]]

According to Horner, "In 1896, as the country was mired in an economic slowdown that affected millions, a real, substantive policy debate was conducted by candidates who believed firmly in their respective positions."{{sfn|Horner|p=181}}  Bryan, [[William Jennings Bryan 1896 presidential campaign|whose campaign]] was ill-financed, felt that his best means of persuading the voter of his position was personal communication, and embarked on an unprecedented itinerary of [[whistle stop train tour|whistle stop appearances by train]].  If the train passed any large group of homes and did not stop for Bryan to speak, it would at least disgorge a bundle of political tracts for local distribution.  McKinley felt he could not match Bryan's speaking tour, as the Democrat was a better stump speaker.  Despite Hanna's urgings to the candidate to get on the road, the former governor decided on a [[front porch campaign]]; he would remain at home in Canton and allow the people to come to him.  As McKinley's wife, Ida, was an invalid, this also boosted his image as a good husband.{{sfn|Horner|pp=193–204}}

When McKinley, Hanna and their associates saw the emotional appeal of the Bryan campaign for free silver, they decided upon an extensive and expensive effort to educate the electorate.  The McKinley campaign had two main offices; one in Chicago, effectively run by Dawes, and one in New York, used by Hanna as a base of operations as he sought to gain support from New York financiers.  Hanna's task was to raise the money; other campaign officials, such as Dawes, determined how to spend it.  Being relatively unknown on the national scene, Hanna initially had little success, despite Wall Street's fear of Bryan. Some Wall Street titans, although disliking Bryan's positions, did not take him seriously as a candidate and refused to contribute to the McKinley campaign. Those who did know Hanna, such as his old schoolmate Rockefeller—the magnate's [[Standard Oil]] gave $250,000—vouched for him.  Beginning in late July 1896, Hanna had an easier time persuading industrialists to give to the McKinley/Hobart campaign. [[J.P. Morgan]] entertained him aboard the [[USS Gloucester (1891)|Corsair II]] and he obtained money from other bankers.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/houseofmorganame0000cher/page/76/mode/2up?q=hanna The house of Morgan : an American banking dynasty and the rise of modern finance]</ref> Hanna also gave large sums himself.  This money went to pay for advertising, brochures, printed speeches and other means of persuading the voter; the country was flooded with such paper.{{sfn|Horner|pp=193–204}}

[[File:Front porch campaign 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|McKinley (center) with a delegation in front of the famous front porch|alt=A formative shot taken in front of an ornate colonial-style home. A middle-aged gentleman with thinning hair stands at center of a group of about fifteen men.]]

According to Rhodes, McKinley "spoke from the front veranda of his house in Canton to many deputations, some of them spontaneous, others arranged for."{{sfn|Rhodes|p=25}}  Any delegation was welcome in Canton, so long as its leader wrote to McKinley in advance and introduced himself and his group.  Delegations ranged up to thousands of people; if possible, delegation leaders were brought to Canton in advance to settle with McKinley what each would say. If this could not be arranged, the delegation was met at the train station by a McKinley agent, who would greet it and learn what the leader proposed to say in his address.  The agent would suggest any fine-tuning necessary to make it fit within campaign themes, and send the information ahead by runner to McKinley, giving him time to prepare his response.   The delegations left behind gifts, which were put to use when possible, but four eagles, named "McKinley", "Mark Hanna","Republican", and "Protection", were donated to the local zoo.{{sfn|Horner|pp=203–204}}{{sfn|Morgan|pp=177–179}}{{sfn|Croly|pp=214–216}}

Despite the initial popularity of Bryan's message, Hanna was convinced the Democrat's support would recede. "He's talking Silver all the time, and that's where we've got him", Hanna stated, pounding his desk, in July.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=181, 424}}  He proved correct; the silver enthusiasm waned by September and Bryan had no ready replacement for it.  McKinley, on the other hand, convinced that his "sound money" campaign had worked, began to promote his tariff issue, stating to the crowds on his front lawn, "I do not know what you think about it, but I believe it is a good deal better to open the mills of the United States to the labor of America than to open the mints of the United States to the silver of the world."{{sfn|Morgan|p=184}}
[[File:Syndicate Hanna.tiff|thumb|upright=1.0|An 1896 cartoon by [[Homer Davenport]] depicting McKinley as being firmly in Hanna's pocket.]]
During the campaign, the Democratic newspapers, especially the papers owned by Hearst, attacked Hanna for his supposed role as McKinley's political master.  The articles and cartoons have contributed to a lasting popular belief that McKinley was not his own man, but that he was effectively owned by the corporations, through Hanna.  [[Homer Davenport]]'s cartoons for the Hearst papers were especially effective in molding public opinion about Hanna. The Clevelander was often depicted as "Dollar Mark", in a suit decorated with dollar signs (a term for which "dollar mark" was a common alternative).  McKinley's personal financial crisis allowed him to be convincingly depicted as a child, helpless in the hands of businessmen and their mere tool in the 1896 campaign.{{sfn|Horner|pp=127}}  Historian Stanley Jones, who studied the 1896 election, stated of this view:

{{blockquote|
The popularly accepted picture of Hanna's domination was not true.  Though McKinley did leave to Hanna the immensely complicated and exceedingly arduous task of organizing the campaign and although he usually deferred to Hanna's judgment in this area, he himself retained control of the general structure and program.  Nothing of significance was done without his approval.  Hanna raised money, hired men, established headquarters offices, bought literature, with the same drive and skill that he managed his business.  He was confident of his mastery of that kind of operation, but he never ceased to defer to McKinley's mastery of the grand strategy of politics.{{sfn|Jones|p=276}}
}}

Hanna's fundraising campaign, in which he asked banks and millionaires for a contribution equal to 0.25% of their assets, was unprecedented in its scale, but the basic concept was not unusual.{{sfn|Horner|pp=193–204}}  According to Hanna biographer Croly, "Mr. Hanna merely systematized and developed a practice which was rooted deep in contemporary American political soil, and which was sanctioned both by custom and, as he believed, by necessity."{{sfn|Croly|p=221}}  The largest election fundraising before that time had occurred in [[1888 United States presidential election|the 1888 presidential race]], which was a polarizing election, closely fought over the tariff issue.  In the 1888 campaign, Senator Quay (on behalf of Harrison) had sought funds from businessmen much as Hanna would eight years later.  The first Harrison campaign raised about $1.8 million; Dawes, in charge of campaign spending for the Republicans in 1896, later stated that the McKinley campaign raised just over $3.5 million, though this did not include spending by state and local committees.  In addition, the Republicans were supported by "in-kind" corporate contributions, such as discounted railway fares for delegations coming to Canton.  These discounts were so steep that they led to the quip that it was cheaper to visit Canton than to stay at home.  Contributions to Bryan's campaign were much smaller; he had few wealthy supporters and the largest donor was most likely Hearst; he donated about $40,000, and gave the Bryan campaign support in his papers.{{sfn|Horner|pp=193–204}}
[[File:McKinley campaign.png|thumb|upright=0.73|left|In addition to giving speeches from his front porch in 1896, McKinley (lower right) gave orders for the conduct of his campaign from the library of his Canton home.|alt=Four 19th-century gentlemen dressed in dark suits of the American style congregate in a drawing room, deep in discussion. The man nearest to the camera on the right of the image appears to be leading the conversation.]]
In late October, Hanna wrote to Harrison, thanking him for his campaigning efforts, "The outlook is generally encouraging, and I feel there is no doubt of our success."{{sfn|Morgan|p=184}}  On Tuesday, November 3, the voters had their say in most states.  McKinley won 271 electoral votes to Bryan's 176.  The Democratic candidate won in the South and in the western states except California and Oregon.  Bryan was also successful in his native Nebraska and neighboring [[Kansas]] and [[South Dakota]].  McKinley swept the populous northeastern states and the Midwest.  He had hoped to end [[sectionalism#United States|sectionalism]], but his only successes in the "[[Solid South]]" were in the [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] of [[Delaware]], [[Maryland]], [[West Virginia]] and [[Kentucky]].{{sfn|Rhodes|p=29}}  McKinley took 51.0% of the vote, the first presidential majority since Grant in 1872; the intense voter interest in the campaign resulted in a turnout of 79.3%.{{sfn|Kazin|p=76}}  On election night, Hanna wired from Cleveland to Canton, "The feeling here beggars description ... I will not attempt bulletins.  You are elected to the highest office of the land by a people who always loved and trusted you."{{sfn|Morgan|pp=185–186}}

On November 12, 1896, the President-elect wrote to his longtime friend, offering him a position in his Cabinet, and stating:

{{blockquote|
We are through with the election, and before turning to the future I want to express to you my great debt of gratitude for your generous life-long and devoted service to me.  Was there ever such unselfish devotion before?   Your unfaltering and increasing friendship through more than twenty years has been to me an encouragement and a source of strength which I am sure you have never realized, but which I have constantly felt and for which I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  The recollection of all those years of uninterrupted loyalty and affection, of mutual confidences and growing regard fill me with emotions too deep for the pen to portray.  I want you to know, but I cannot find the right words to tell you, how much I appreciate your friendship and faith.{{sfn|Morgan|p=187}}
}}