The two men certainly met in 1876 , when McKinley , a lawyer , represented a number of coal miners who had gone on strike following attempts by owners to cut wages . Hanna was one of the mine owners affected by subsequent unrest . The militia , called in by Governor Rutherford Hayes to restore order , had fired on the strikers , and 23 miners were arrested and put on trial in Canton , Ohio , the hometown of Major McKinley ( as he was often known , for his Civil War service ) . McKinley was hired to represent them , and only one was convicted . McKinley 's victory won him the gratitude of labor elements in both major parties , and he won election to Congress later that year . Hanna remembered , " I became intimate with him soon after he entered Congress , and our friendship ripened with each succeeding year . " With Cowles ' enmity ended by Hanna 's sale of the '' Herald '' , the latter had little trouble being elected as a district delegate to the 1888 Republican National Convention . Among the delegates , at-large were Governor Foraker and Congressman McKinley . Hanna financed many of the arrangements for the Sherman campaign and was widely regarded as its manager . Sherman , as was customary at the time , remained in Washington and did not attend the convention in Chicago . There was widespread speculation in the press that Governor Foraker , nominally a Sherman supporter , would declare a favorite son candidacy or else support Blaine if he entered the race . The convention deadlocked , with Sherman in the lead but unable to secure the nomination . According to Hanna biographer Thomas Beer , McKinley began to pick up small numbers of votes although not a declared candidate . Hanna became convinced that McKinley was the only Ohioan who could gain the nomination , and by telegram hinted that Sherman should withdraw in the congressman 's favor as the only Ohio Republican with a chance at the presidency . Sherman , believing this to be his best chance for election , refused , a decision which Hanna accepted , fighting for Sherman to the end . Hanna was greatly impressed by McKinley 's loyal conduct in refusing to begin a run himself . Foraker threw his support to Blaine , though he returned to Sherman when the New Englander did not run . In the end , the nomination fell to former Indiana senator Benjamin Harrison . Hanna never forgave what he saw as Foraker 's treason . After 1888 , there was a strong dislike between the two men , and the separation split the Ohio Republican Party into two factions , a rupture that did not heal until after Hanna 's death in 1904 . Foraker stated in his memoirs that the break occurred because Hanna bribed black delegates from the South in 1888 . However , Ohio newspaper publisher J. B. Morrow contradicted Foraker 's account , stating : " I was at the convention in 1888 and know Senator Foraker as he later became brought great scandal to the Ohio people who were there and to the delegates with his secret work with Mr. Blaine 's friends ... Mr. Hanna became thoroughly angered at what he thought was Senator Foraker 's bad faith . " According to Horner , Foraker was the more embittered of the two as the years passed , feeling that if it had not been for that dispute , Foraker , not McKinley , might have become president
1888 Republican National Convention
1888 Republican National Convention
Mark Hanna