Hanna, Marcus A. (Marcus Albert), 1898-1978

Marcus Albert Hanna (1898 - 1978) completed field work for the US Biological Survey in Montana, May 1916 - September 1919. His collecting is documented in the Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_612_pid_EACP609

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Marcus Alonzo Hanna

Marcus Alonzo Hanna was born on September 24, 1837, in New Lisbon, Ohio, to Leonard and Samantha Converse Hanna. He was educated in Cleveland public schools and attended Western Reserve College. He left college after a few months and went to work at the family grocery and commission firm. He became a partner in the business in 1862. Marcus Hanna was raised a Quaker in an anti-slavery and reform environment, and politically aligned with the Republican Party. He served in the Union Army for three months during the Civil War, and was part of a volunteer regiment involved in the defense of Washington, D. C. in May 1864. Marcus Hanna married Charlotte Augusta Rhodes, daughter of Democrat Daniel P. Rhodes, on September 7, 1864. At first, Rhodes opposed the marriage for political reasons, but he later consented.

In 1867, Marcus Hanna transferred all of his business interests to the new iron and coal firm of Rhodes and Company. This firm was reorganized in 1885 to become M. A. Hanna and Company. Hanna's other business interests included the Union National Bank, the Cleveland Herald, the Cleveland opera house, and the Cleveland street railway system. He realized the need for a close alliance between business and political interests, working for Garfield's presidential candidacy and soliciting contributions from businessmen in Cleveland on behalf of the Republican Party. He became a member of the Republican State Committee of Ohio, subsequently increasing his political power and prestige.

During the 1888 Republican convention, Marcus Hanna attempted to take an active role for presidential candidate John Sherman, an Ohio Senator. He came into conflict with Joseph B. Foraker, formerly a Hanna collaborator. Hanna next became a promoter of William McKinley of Ohio, a former fellow advocate of Sherman. McKinley, while in Congress, had worked for the protectionist tariff of 1890, a stance that pleased Hanna. McKinley suffered defeat in an effort to achieve re-election to Congress in 1891, but Hanna strongly endorsed him for the Ohio governorship. He succeeded in getting the backing which resulted in McKinley's election. Hanna also assisted Sherman in the latter's bid for re-election to the Senate that year. By 1892, Hanna was working towards the nomination and election of McKinley to the presidency of the United States.

In 1893, a financial panic found McKinley in embarrassing circumstances which were subsequently eased by Hanna. The latter, at this time, likewise aided in his re-election to the Ohio governorship. Hanna continued promoting McKinley for the Republican presidential nomination from 1894-1895, and gave up the direction of his Cleveland businesses for a time to work on this promotion. On June 18, 1896, McKinley was nominated on the first ballot at the St. Louis Republican National Convention. This was largely due to Hanna's careful and extensive efforts among the party members well beforehand. Hanna, in recognition of his expert organizational abilities, was asked to become chairman of the Republican National Committee. He continued to work on McKinley's election campaign until he won the presidency. McKinley offered him the Postmaster Generalship in his new cabinet, but Hanna declined. Instead, Hanna became Ohio's new senator by appointment when John Sherman was named Secretary of State.

During Marcus Hanna's re-election to the Senate in 1897, bribery charges were made against him, and he was later cleared. He initially opposed imperialism and United States intervention in Cuba, but he later altered these beliefs. He was the chief money-raiser for the Republicans in 1898 Congressional campaigns. He remained close with President McKinley, advocating the "spoils system" for victorious Republicans. Hanna again supported McKinley for the presidential nomination in 1900, reluctantly accepting Theodore Roosevelt as running mate. Hanna again served as chairman of the National Committee, attracting large financial contributions from the business community, and making a personal tour. In the Senate, he took the lead in favoring subsidies for United States shipping interests, and while the measure passed the Senate, it failed in the House. Also, he gave personal support to Panama as the route for the proposed Isthmian canal.

Subsequent to the assassination of McKinley in 1901, President Roosevelt continued to seek advice from Marcus Hanna. Hanna refused to take an active, personal interest in the drive among certain Republicans to unseat Roosevelt in his favor as the leader and nominee of the party in 1904. Hanna, however, did not specifically concede to Roosevelt. Many business interests considered him to be the only foil to the "trust busting" President.

Hanna came to be noted for his contributions to industrial labor disputes, including the anthracite coal conflict. He became chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Civic Federation. Hanna was in favor of labor's right to organize, just as he favored a similar role for business. The employees of his own city railway system and the M. A. Hanna Company were fairly treated and not prone to strikes.

Marcus Hanna was re-elected to the Senate in 1903, and died on February 15, 1904, after an illness.

From the guide to the Marcus A. Hanna Photograph Album, 1900-1904, (Western Reserve Historical Society)