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Matthew Quay (1833–1904) represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death. As chair of the Republican National Committee and thus party campaign manager, he helped elect Benjamin Harrison president in 1888; he was also instrumental in the 1900 election of Theodore Roosevelt as vice president. Quay received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg. Beginning in 1867, he became part of the political machine run by Senator Simon Cameron. Quay served as the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia county recorder, and Pennsylvania state treasurer. The last office, to which he was elected in 1885, made him the state's Republican political boss. At his height, Quay influenced appointments to thousands of state and federal positions in Pennsylvania, the occupants of which had to help finance the machine. After his death, the machine was taken over by the state's other senator, Boies Penrose, who continued to run it until his own death in 1921. (Full article...)