 Harrison was defeated in the November 1892 election by former president Grover Cleveland , a Democrat , who returned to the White House in March 1893 . President Harrison left office proclaiming the nation 's prosperity , but in May , amid economic uncertainty that caused many people to convert assets into gold , the stock market crashed , and many firms went bankrupt . The depression that ensued became known as the Panic of 1893 . Among those who became insolvent in 1893 was a McKinley friend , Robert Walker . McKinley had co @-@ signed promissory notes for Walker , and thought the total to be $ 17 @,@ 000 . Walker had deceived McKinley , telling the governor that fresh loans were renewals of old ones , and the total indebtedness , for which McKinley had made himself liable , was over $ 130 @,@ 000 . That sum was beyond McKinley 's means , and he planned to resign and earn the money as a lawyer . He was rescued by Hanna and other wealthy supporters , who raised the money to pay the loans . According to McKinley biographer Kevin Phillips , the governor 's backers " paid off the cosigned notes so that McKinley — by now , the probable next president — did not need to go back to practicing law " . 
