William McKinley
At the 1896 Republican convention, in time of depression, the wealthy Cleveland businessman Marcus Alonzo Hanna ensured the nomination of his friend William McKinley as the “the advance agent of prosperity.” The Democrats, advocating the “free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold” — which would have mildly inflated the currency-nominated William Jennings Bryan.While Hanna amassed large contributions from eastern Republican