Historian R. Hal Williams summarized the relationship between McKinley and Hanna : Through the months leading up to the Republican convention in June in St. Louis , Hanna built his organization , paying for expenses , and applying the techniques of business to politics . Hanna met with many politicians at his Cleveland home . He paid for thousands of copies of McKinley 's speeches to be printed and shipped quantities of McKinley posters , badges , and buttons across the nation . New Hampshire Senator William E. Chandler commented , " If Mr. Hanna has covered every district in the United States , in the same manner , he did those in Alabama , McKinley will be nominated . " McKinley 's most formidable rival for the nomination was former president Harrison , but in February 1896 , Harrison declared he would not run for president a third time . The eastern bosses were hostile to McKinley for failing to agree to the offer they had made to Hanna , and they decided to seek support for local favorite son candidates , believing that McKinley could be forced to bargain for support at the convention if he was denied a majority . The bosses supported candidates such as Speaker Reed , Senator Quay and former vice president Levi P. Morton of New York . Hanna spent much money and effort to undercut Reed in his native New England , and on " McKinley Clubs " in Pennsylvania to force Quay to spend time and money shoring up his base
the Republican convention
1896 Republican National Convention
Mark Hanna