 When journalist Murat Halstead telephoned McKinley from Chicago to inform him that Bryan would be nominated , he responded dismissively and hung up the phone . Bryan 's nomination briefly gratified the Republicans , believing that his selection would lead to an easy victory for McKinley . In those days when the presidential campaign did not begin in earnest until September , Hanna had planned a vacation while McKinley anticipated a quiet summer . The Republicans were caught by surprise by the wave of enthusiasm that Bryan 's speech and nomination caused , and scuttled these plans ; as Hanna wrote to McKinley on July 16 , " the Chicago convention has changed everything " . 
