Republican frontrunners in 1900 if Bryan wins

So, say McKinley dies shortly befor the Republican convention in 1896, and Bryan goes on to win. Who would be the likely Republican candidates in 1900?
 
So, say McKinley dies shortly befor the Republican convention in 1896, and Bryan goes on to win. Who would be the likely Republican candidates in 1900?

You would think Mark Hanna might be on the list. (Republicans don't like nominating losers, so David McKinley is not an option probably).
 
Bumping.

Assuming the Spanish-American war still happens (Bryan supported it) and TR becomes a war hero and governor of new york, would he consider running?
 
Well looking at the other candidates for the nomination in 1896 would be a start. It appears Thomas Reed, the speaker of the house, was the runner-up in delegates, although McKinley was nominated on the first ballot and must have been greatly preferable. Some of the other candidates include Matthew Quay of PA and Levi Morton of NY (the most important swing state).
 
If McKinley were not available in 1896, the strongest and IMO most likely Republican nominee would be William B. Allison. See my post at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/soc.history.what-if/JdGV9CyfZu4/kJGvh2rxv3wJ

If Allison loses in 1896--my own view is that he would probably win, though narrowly--I wouldn't rule him out as a possible GOP candidate in 1900. A number of candidates from Thomas Jefferson on (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Andrew Jackson, and William Henry Harrison are other early cases) have lost presidential elections, yet have gone on to be re-nominated by their party. (The thrice-nominated William Jennings Bryan is an extreme example, as is Henry Clay. Cleveland was also nominated three times, but of course the fact that he won the first time makes his third nomination a little different.) In the twentieth century alone, besides Bryan, there were Dewey, Stevenson, and Nixon, and in the twenty-first it is plausible that Al Gore could have won the Democratic nomination in 2004 had he sought it...
 
Well looking at the other candidates for the nomination in 1896 would be a start. It appears Thomas Reed, the speaker of the house, was the runner-up in delegates, although McKinley was nominated on the first ballot and must have been greatly preferable. Some of the other candidates include Matthew Quay of PA and Levi Morton of NY (the most important swing state).

Reed left politics before 1900, and Allison, Quay and Morton would be over 65. I'm not sure if they'd go for the nomination again.
 
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