Marcus Alonzo Hanna

Marcus Alonzo Hanna (1837-1904), American politician and businessman, born in New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Ohio. Called Uncle Mark Hanna, after one year at Western Reserve College (now Western Reserve University), he entered his father's wholesale grocery business. He was singularly successful in this and other enterprises, including the coal and iron business, the operation of railway and steamship lines, and banking.

Beginning in 1880, Hanna became increasingly active in the Republican Party. At the Republican National Convention of 1888 he managed the unsuccessful bid of U.S. senator John Sherman for the presidential nomination. In 1896, Hanna did secure the Republican presidential nomination for another protégé of his, Governor William McKinley of Ohio. As chairman of the Republican National Committee, Hanna managed the promotion of his candidate as well as the subsequent campaign, raising a huge war chest as a means to win the election for McKinley.

In 1897 the governor of Ohio appointed Hanna to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate; he was elected to a full Senate term the following year. One of the most influential advisers of President McKinley, Hanna advocated and secured a lasting alliance between the Republican Party and corporate business interests. After the assassination of McKinley in 1901, Hanna acted as adviser to the new president, Theodore Roosevelt, and helped him settle the anthracite coal strike of 1902. His influence, however, declined in the new administration.