According to Hanna biographer Herbert Croly , Hobart , an early supporter of McKinley , helped ensure New Jersey 's support for him at the Republican convention . Historian Stanley Jones , in his study of the 1896 election , stated that Hobart stopped off in Canton , Ohio , McKinley 's hometown , en route to the convention in St. Louis . Jones wrote that the future vice president was selected several days in advance , after Speaker of the House Thomas Reed of Maine turned down the nomination . Croly asserted that McKinley and Hanna desired an easterner on the ticket to balance it and boost support in the Mid-Atlantic region . The conventional means of assuring this was to nominate a politician from New York , then the largest state in population . As many New York delegates supported their favorite son candidate , Governor ( and former vice president ) Levi P. Morton , instead of McKinley , giving the state the vice-presidential nomination would be an unmerited reward . According to Croly , McKinley was nominated for president on the first ballot . Hobart described his subsequent first-ballot nomination for vice president as a tribute from his friends , but Hatfield noted , " it came equally as a tribute from Hanna , who wanted a ticket to satisfy the business interests of America , and Hobart , a corporate lawyer , fit that requirement perfectly " . Although a Hobart nomination had been talked about at least since Griggs ' victory the previous November , Hobart expressed reluctance in a letter to his wife from the convention : " It looks to me I will be nominated for Vice-President whether I want it or not , and as I get nearer to the point where I may , I am dismayed at the thought ... If I want a nomination , everything is going my way . But when I realize all that it means in work , worry , and loss of home and bliss , I am overcome , so overcome I am simply miserable . " Despite Hobart 's expressed hesitation , he was welcomed home by a crowd of 15,000 at the Paterson Armory . City officials , feeling they had insufficient fireworks to properly honor Hobart , obtained more from New York City
the Republican convention
1896 Republican National Convention
Garret Hobart