Editing Mark Hanna (section)

== McKinley partisan (1888–1896) ==

=== Early relationship ===
[[File:Mckin.jpg|thumb|upright|William McKinley in the 1870s|alt=A terse, professional-looking man reclines in a chair in this black-and-white photograph. He has a prominent nose and dimple in his chin. His dark jacket has only the top button fastened, and appears to be under some strain.]]

It is uncertain when William McKinley and Mark Hanna first met—neither man in later life could remember the first meeting.  McKinley, in 1896, referred to a friendship with Hanna that had lasted over twenty years; Hanna, in 1903, stated after some thought that he had met McKinley before 1876.  McKinley biographer H. Wayne Morgan suggests that the two men may have met as early as 1871, although initially without making much impression on each other.{{sfn|Morgan|p=41}}

The two men certainly met in 1876, when McKinley, a lawyer, represented a number of coal miners who had [[Coal miners' strike of 1873#Aftermath|gone on strike]] following attempts by owners to cut wages.  Hanna was one of the mine owners affected by subsequent unrest.  The militia, called in by Governor [[Rutherford Hayes]] to restore order, had fired on the strikers, and 23 miners were arrested and put on trial in [[Canton, Ohio]], the hometown of Major McKinley (as he was often known, for his Civil War service).  McKinley was hired to represent them, and only one was convicted.{{sfn|Morgan|p=41}}{{sfn|Beer|pp=78–80}} McKinley's victory won him the gratitude of labor elements in both major parties, and he won election to Congress later that year.  Hanna remembered, "I became intimate with him soon after he entered Congress, and our friendship ripened with each succeeding year."{{sfn|Morgan|p=42}}

With Cowles' enmity ended by Hanna's sale of the ''Herald'', the latter had little trouble being elected as a district delegate to the  [[1888 Republican National Convention]].  Among the delegates, at-large were Governor Foraker and Congressman McKinley.  Hanna financed many of the arrangements for the Sherman campaign and was widely regarded as its manager.  Sherman, as was customary at the time, remained in Washington and did not attend the convention in Chicago.  There was widespread speculation in the press that Governor Foraker, nominally a Sherman supporter, would declare a [[favorite son]] candidacy or else support Blaine if he entered the race.{{sfn|Horner|pp=70–77}}  The convention deadlocked, with Sherman in the lead but unable to secure the nomination.{{sfn|Horner|pp=70–77}}  According to Hanna biographer Thomas Beer,

{{blockquote|
At the Republican convention of 1888, an accident displayed Major McKinley favorably to Marcus Hanna.  A distinct faction, made up of men from every part of the country, approached him with a suggestion that he let himself be nominated.  McKinley refused, and bluntly.  He had come there pledged to support John Sherman and he would support John Sherman&nbsp;... Mr. Hanna's admiration of Major McKinley was profuse.  He appreciated men who stuck to a losing bargain.{{sfn|Beer|pp=110–111}}
}}

McKinley began to pick up small numbers of votes although not a declared candidate.  Hanna became convinced that McKinley was the only Ohioan who could gain the nomination, and by telegram hinted that Sherman should withdraw in the congressman's favor as the only Ohio Republican with a chance at the presidency.{{sfn|Horner|pp=70–77}}  Sherman, believing this to be his best chance for election, refused, a decision which Hanna accepted, fighting for Sherman to the end.  Hanna was greatly impressed by McKinley's loyal conduct in refusing to begin a run himself.   Foraker threw his support to Blaine, though he returned to Sherman when the New Englander did not run.  In the end, the nomination fell to former Indiana senator [[Benjamin Harrison]]. Hanna never forgave what he saw as Foraker's treason.  After 1888, there was a strong dislike between the two men, and the separation split the Ohio Republican Party into two factions, a rupture that did not heal until after Hanna's death in 1904.  Foraker stated in his memoirs that the break occurred because Hanna bribed black delegates from the South in 1888.{{sfn|Horner|pp=70–77}}  However, Ohio newspaper publisher J. B. Morrow contradicted Foraker's account, stating:  "I was at the convention in 1888 and know Senator Foraker [as he later became] brought great scandal to the Ohio people who were there and to the delegates with his secret work with Mr. Blaine's friends&nbsp;... Mr. Hanna became thoroughly angered at what he thought was Senator Foraker's bad faith."{{sfn|Horner|p=68}}  According to Horner, Foraker was the more embittered of the two as the years passed, feeling that if it had not been for that dispute, Foraker, not McKinley, might have become president.{{sfn|Horner|p=60}}

Harrison [[1888 United States presidential election|was elected president]] after a campaign in which Hanna fundraised considerably, consoling himself with the thought that though Harrison was from Indiana, he had at least been born in Ohio.  Harrison gave Hanna no control of any patronage in return for his fundraising.  In the aftermath of Harrison's victory, Hanna determined to bring an Ohioan to the presidency.  With Harrison likely to be the Republican candidate in 1892, the first real chance would be in 1896.  Sherman would be 73 in 1896, likely considered too old to seek the presidency.{{sfn|Horner|pp=78–79}}{{sfn|Morgan|p=150}}  Hanna had come to admire McKinley; the two men shared many political views.  Beginning in 1888, they forged an increasingly close relationship.{{sfn|Croly|p=150}}  According to McKinley biographer Margaret Leech:

{{blockquote|
In choosing McKinley as the object on which to lavish his energies, Hanna had not made a purely rational decision.  He had been magnetized by a polar attraction.  Cynical in his acceptance of contemporary political practices, Hanna was drawn to McKinley's scruples and idealistic standards, like a hardened man of the world who becomes infatuated with virgin innocence.{{sfn|Leech|p=67}}
}}

However, Hanna biographer Clarence A. Stern suggested that while the industrialist admired McKinley's loyalty to Sherman, the principal reason that he decided to promote McKinley's career was the congressman's advocacy of high [[tariff]]s, which he also favored.{{sfn|Stern|p=5}}

Hanna and his allies, such as Congressman [[Benjamin Butterworth]], opposed Foraker's effort to secure a third term as governor in 1889.  Foraker gained renomination, but fell in the general election.{{sfn|Horner|pp=82–87}}  In November 1889, Hanna traveled to Washington to manage McKinley's campaign for [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]].  The effort failed; another Republican, [[Thomas Brackett Reed|Thomas B. Reed]] of Maine, was elected.{{sfn|Croly|p=150}}

In 1890 McKinley was defeated for re-election to Congress.  This was not seen as a major setback to his career; he was deemed beaten by Democratic [[gerrymandering]] in redistricting, and because of his sponsorship of [[McKinley Tariff|a tariff bill]]—the increased tariffs had caused prices to rise.  In 1891, McKinley proved the consensus choice for the Republican nomination for governor.  With McKinley's candidacy needing little of his attention, Hanna spent much of his time working to secure Sherman's re-election by the [[Ohio Legislature]] (senators were elected by state legislatures until the ratification of the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|17th Amendment]] in 1913) by raising funds to gain the election of Republican candidates.  Hanna traveled as far away from Ohio as New York and [[Iowa]], soliciting funds, some of which went to McKinley, but which for the most part went to the state Republican committee.{{sfn|Horner|pp=82–87}}{{sfn|Morgan|pp=118–120}}

Victories by McKinley in the gubernatorial race and by the Republicans in securing a majority in the legislature in 1891 did not guarantee Sherman another term, as he was challenged for his seat by Foraker.  Hanna was instrumental in keeping enough Republican support to secure victory by Sherman in the Republican caucus,  assuring his election by the legislature.  Hanna hired detectives to find legislators who had gone into hiding and were believed to be Foraker supporters, and saw to it they supported Sherman.{{sfn|Horner|pp=86–89}}  Stern notes that the defeat of Foraker "was ascribable largely to the efforts of Hanna".{{sfn|Stern|p=8}}  McKinley's victory in what was generally a bad year for Republicans made him a possible presidential contender, and Hanna's involvement in the McKinley and Sherman victories established him as a force in politics.  President Harrison attempted to neutralize Hanna, who was ill-disposed to the President and likely to oppose his renomination, by offering to make him treasurer of the [[Republican National Committee]].  Hanna declined, feeling it would make him beholden to the administration.{{sfn|Croly|pp=164–165}}

=== Preparing for a run ===
[[File:McKinley 1892 card.jpg|thumb|upright|Although McKinley did not run in 1892, the [[James Buchanan Duke|Duke Tobacco Company]] considered him a presidential possibility that year and issued a card for him.|alt=A cigarette card bearing a colour image of a politician, denoted to be "William McKinley Jr of Ohio". The grey-haired man's head points to the left with a neutral expression.]]

As early as 1892, McKinley and Hanna began to prepare for the 1896 campaign.  Charles Dick recalled being asked to take the Republican state chairmanship:

{{blockquote|
I went first to see Governor McKinley.  He urged me to accept and asked me to see Mr. Hanna, which I did the next day.  The reasons both urged were that the campaigns from 1892 down to 1896 must be conducted with a view to bringing about McKinley's nomination in 1896.  McKinley spoke of it and so did Mr. Hanna.{{sfn|Horner|pp=96–97, 132–133}}
}}

President Harrison had proven unpopular even in his own party, and with the start of 1892, McKinley was talked about as a potential candidate.{{sfn|Morgan|p=125}}  At the [[1892 Republican National Convention]] in Minneapolis, McKinley's [[keynote address]] sparked wild applause from a convention-friendly to him.  This popularity did not translate into delegate votes; Harrison's supporters were in control of the convention throughout. Hanna, a delegate from Ohio, promoted McKinley to delegates. McKinley, never a declared candidate, finished third, a fraction of a vote behind Blaine, who had declared himself not to be a candidate.  Despite Harrison's success, McKinley was carried from the convention hall to his hotel by supporters after he adjourned the convention.  According to Morgan, many delegates "saw in [McKinley] their nominee for 1896".{{sfn|Morgan|pp=126–127}}{{sfn|Horner|pp=95–96}}

Harrison and his adherents were unimpressed by McKinley's conduct, recalling that he had cut off talk of a candidacy in 1888, but had not done so in 1892.{{sfn|Morgan|p=128}} Nevertheless, Hanna wrote in a letter that "I do not consider that Governor McKinley was placed in any false position by what was done ... Governor McKinley's position today as a result of all that transpired at Minneapolis is in the best possible shape for his future.  His bearing and conduct and personal magnetism won the hearts and respect of everybody."{{sfn|Morgan|p=128}}  McKinley campaigned loyally for President Harrison, who was defeated by former president Cleveland in the November election, and according to the governor's secretary, Charles Bawsel, "[McKinley] is bound to be the nominee for the presidency, and the very fact of the defeat this year will elect him the next time."{{sfn|Morgan|p=129}}

Among those who suffered reverses in the financial [[Panic of 1893]] was a McKinley friend in [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]].  McKinley, out of gratitude for loans in his younger days, had guaranteed the friend's business notes, without ever grasping the full amount of the obligations he was taking on.  He was called upon to pay over $100,000 and proposed to resign as governor and earn the money as an attorney.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=129–134}}  Hanna was absent from the state when the crisis broke, causing the governor to say "I wish Mark was here."{{sfn|Stern|p=11}}  McKinley's wealthy supporters, including Hanna once he learned of the situation, undertook to buy up or pay the notes.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=129–134}}  McKinley was reluctant to take gifts, and eventually agreed to accept money only from those who expected nothing by lending the money but repayment.{{sfn|Williams|p=51}}  Even though both McKinley and [[Ida Saxton McKinley|his wife Ida]] insisted on putting their property in the hands of the supporters, who served as trustees, Hanna and his associates fundraised with such success from business owners and the general public that all McKinley property was returned intact, and when President McKinley died in 1901, no claims were made against his estate.  A request by McKinley for the names of the subscribers so he might repay them was refused by the trustees.  The episode made McKinley more popular with the public, as many Americans had suffered in the hard times and sympathized with the Ohio governor.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=129–134}}

McKinley was easily re-elected as governor in 1893.  Despite the poor economic times in Ohio, he remained popular and spoke across much of the nation for Republican candidates.  He followed the usual Ohio custom and stepped down at the end of two two-year terms, returning home to Canton in January 1896 to municipal celebrations.  The Canton [[The Repository|''Repository'']] stated, "It is just plain Mr. McKinley of Canton now, but wait a little while."{{sfn|Morgan|pp=135–139}}  To devote full-time to McKinley's presidential campaign, Hanna in 1895 turned over management of his companies to his brother Leonard.{{sfn|Croly|pp=173–174}} Mark Hanna was certain, as he stated as McKinley's campaign began, that  "nothing short of a miracle or death will prevent his being the nominee of the party in '96".{{sfn|Williams|p=55}}