Editing William McKinley (section)

==Legal career and marriage==
[[File:ISMcKinley.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ida Saxton McKinley]]
[[File:Katherine McKinley.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Katherine McKinley]]
After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in the law and began [[Reading law|studying]] in the office of an attorney in [[Poland, Ohio]].{{sfn|Morgan|pp=28–30}} The following year, he continued his studies by attending [[Albany Law School]] in New York state.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=30–31}} After studying there for less than a year, McKinley returned home and in March 1867 was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in [[Warren, Ohio]].{{sfn|Morgan|pp=30–31}}

That same year, he moved to Canton, the county seat of [[Stark County, Ohio]], and set up a small office.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=30–31}} He soon formed a partnership with George W. Belden, an experienced lawyer and former judge.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=31–33|Leech||2pp=12, 21}} His practice was successful enough for him to buy a block of buildings on Main Street in Canton, which provided him with a small but consistent rental income for decades.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=31–33|Leech||2pp=12, 21}}

When his Army friend Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated for governor in 1867, McKinley made speeches on his behalf in Stark County, his first foray into politics.{{sfn|Leech|pp=11–12}} The county was closely divided between [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], but Hayes carried it that year in his statewide victory.{{sfn|Leech|pp=11–12}} In 1869, McKinley ran for the office of [[District attorney|prosecuting attorney]] of Stark County, an office that had historically been held by Democrats, and was unexpectedly elected.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=34–35}} When McKinley ran for re-election in 1871, the Democrats nominated [[William A. Lynch]], a prominent local lawyer, and McKinley was defeated by 143 votes.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=34–35}}

As McKinley's professional career progressed, so too did his social life blossom: he wooed [[Ida Saxton McKinley|Ida Saxton]], a daughter of a prominent Canton family.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=34–35}} They were married on January 25, 1871, in the newly built First Presbyterian Church of Canton. Ida soon joined her husband's Methodist church.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} Their first child, Katherine, was born on Christmas Day 1871.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} A second daughter, Ida, followed in 1873 but died the same year.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} McKinley's wife descended into a deep depression at her baby's death and her health, never robust, declined.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} Two years later, Katherine died of [[typhoid fever]]. Ida never recovered from their daughters' deaths, and the McKinleys had no more children.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} Ida McKinley developed [[epilepsy]] around the same time and depended strongly on her husband's presence.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}} He remained a devoted husband and tended to his wife's medical and emotional needs for the rest of his life.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=37–39|Leech||2pp=16–20}}

Ida insisted that her husband continue his increasingly successful career in law and politics.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=39–40}} He attended the state Republican convention that nominated Hayes for a third term as governor in 1875, and campaigned again for his old friend in the election that fall.{{sfn|Morgan|pp=39–40}} The next year, McKinley undertook a high-profile case defending a [[Coal miners' strike of 1873#Aftermath|group of striking coal miners]], who were arrested for rioting after a clash with [[strikebreaker]]s.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=40–41|Weisenburger||2pp=78–80}} Lynch, McKinley's opponent in the 1871 election, and his partner, [[William R. Day]], were the opposing counsel, and the mine owners included [[Mark Hanna]], a [[Cleveland]] businessman.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=40–41|Weisenburger||2pp=78–80}} Taking the case ''[[pro bono]],'' McKinley 
was successful in getting all but one of the miners acquitted.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=40–41|Weisenburger||2pp=78–80}} The case raised McKinley's standing among laborers, a crucial part of the Stark County electorate, and also introduced him to Hanna, who would become his strongest backer in years to come.{{sfnm|Morgan||1pp=40–41|Weisenburger||2pp=78–80}}

McKinley's good standing with labor became useful that year as he campaigned for the Republican nomination for [[Ohio's 17th congressional district]].{{sfn|Morgan|p=42}} Delegates to the county conventions thought he could attract [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar]] voters, and in August 1876, McKinley was nominated.{{sfn|Morgan|p=42}} By that time, Hayes had been nominated for president, and McKinley campaigned for him while running his own congressional campaign.{{sfn|Morgan|p=43}} Both were successful. McKinley, campaigning mostly on his support for a [[Tariff|protective tariff]], defeated the Democratic nominee, [[Levi L. Lamborn]], by 3,300 votes. Hayes won [[1876 United States presidential election|a hotly disputed election]] to reach the presidency.{{sfn|Morgan|p=43}} McKinley's victory came at a personal cost: his income as a congressman would be half of what he earned as a lawyer.{{sfn|McElroy|p=31}}