Without Marcus Hanna, there may be no Donald Trump. Back in the late 19th-century, the Cleveland businessman overturned the traditional presidential campaign model, which included starting just before the party’s convention and operating on a modest budget. In 1896 Hanna got William McKinley elected with a lengthy campaign that focused on fundraising and promotion. Cleveland History Center’s Power and Politics exhibit, which starts July 14 and runs through January, delves into Hanna’s remarkable campaign through buttons, telegrams and fliers. Eric Rivet, curator of collections and exhibits, tells us why Hanna was a game changer.
Go for the Gold: Candidates typically only financed their meager campaigns by asking members of their own party. But Hanna used the biggest issue of the 1896 election — whether the U.S. would continue to back its currency by gold and silver — to sway businesses to donate. “He raised about $3 million for the campaign,” Rivet says. “[His opponent, William Jennings] Bryan, by contrast raised about $600,000.”
Start Early: While most candidates waited until they got the nomination to heavily campaign, Hanna began more than two years before the convention, often having McKinley offer front porch speeches from his Canton home. “That is the foundation of presidential campaigns as we have them today,” Rivet says, “getting backing for business, getting multi- or national support well before you even go to the convention.”
Reach Wide: Until that time, candidates distributed a sparse button or ribbon, but all that money Hanna raised meant he could implement mass mailings, phone calls and buttons.
Hanna especially targeted immigrants
by printing materials in more than a dozen languages. “They could reach millions of people that would not have been able to be reached otherwise,” Rivet says.
