William McKinley

William McKinley
25th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901
Vice President	Garret Hobart Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Grover Cleveland
Succeeded by	Theodore Roosevelt
39th Governor of Ohio
In office January 11, 1892 – January 13, 1896
Lieutenant	Andrew Harris
Preceded by	James Campbell
Succeeded by	Asa Bushnell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 18th district
In office March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1891
Preceded by	Isaac Taylor
Succeeded by	Joseph Taylor
In office March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885
Preceded by	Addison McClure
Succeeded by	Jonathan Wallace
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 20th district
In office March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1887
Preceded by	David Paige
Succeeded by	George Crouse
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 17th district
In office March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1883
Preceded by	James Monroe
Succeeded by	Joseph Taylor
In office March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1879
Preceded by	Laurin Woodworth
Succeeded by	James Monroe
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 16th district
In office March 4, 1879 – March 4, 1881
Preceded by	Lorenzo Danford
Succeeded by	Jonathan Updegraff
Personal details
Born	January 29, 1843(1843-01-29) Niles, Ohio, U.S.
Died	September 14, 1901(1901-09-14) (aged 58) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ida Saxton
Children	Katherine, Ida
Alma mater	Allegheny College, Albany Law School
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Methodism
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Captain Brevet major
Unit	23rd Ohio Infantry
Battles/wars	American Civil War

William McKinley, Jr. (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States (1897–1901). He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s. He also led the nation to victory in 100 days in the Spanish–American War.

McKinley, a native of Ohio, was of Scots-Irish and English descent, born into a large family, and served with distinction in the Civil War. He became an able lawyer, joined the Ohio Republican party ranks, was married by age 28 and became a father briefly before early suffering the deaths of his two daughters. Wife Ida's health suddenly diminished in 1873 as a result of the proximate deaths of her own mother and a child, and McKinley thereafter assumed an earnest and acclaimed role of caregiving for her, which eventually enabled her to serve as First Lady; it was his need for a diversion from these duties which prompted him to launch his political career.^[1]

By the late 1870s, McKinley had become a national Republican leader. He served in Congress as Representative of Ohio, and also was elected Governor of Ohio. His signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for prosperity, as typified by his McKinley Tariff of 1890. As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election, opposing Democrat William Jennings Bryan, he promoted pluralism among ethnic groups. His campaign, designed by Mark Hanna, introduced revolutionary advertising techniques, and defeated the crusade of archrival Bryan.

McKinley presided over a return to prosperity after the Panic of 1893, with the gold standard as a keystone. He demanded that Spain end its atrocities in Cuba, which were angering Americans;^[2] Spain resisted the interference and the Spanish-American War began in 1898. The U.S. victory was quick and decisive, as the weak Spanish fleets were sunk and both Cuba and the Philippines were captured within a few months. As a result of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were annexed by the United States as unincorporated territories, and U.S occupation of Cuba began; this occurred in the face of opposition from Democrats and anti-imperialists who feared a loss of republican values. McKinley also annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898, with all its inhabitants becoming American citizens.

McKinley was reelected in the 1900 presidential election following another intense campaign against Bryan, which focused on foreign policy and the return of prosperity. President McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in September of the following year in Buffalo, and was succeeded by his Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt. Scholars often see McKinley as having been an average president.

Early life and family

William McKinley, Jr., was born in 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of William McKinley, Sr., and Nancy (Allison) McKinley.^[3] His father's English and Scotch-Irish ancestors had settled originally in western Pennsylvania in the 18th century, where the senior McKinley was born in Pine Township.^[3] The family moved to Ohio when the elder McKinley was a boy, settling in New Lisbon (now Lisbon). There he met and married McKinley's mother, Nancy Allison, in 1829.^[3] Nancy Allison's ancestors were mostly English and were among Pennsylvania's earliest settlers.^[4] The family trade on both sides of McKinley's family was iron-making, and McKinley senior operated foundries in New Lisbon, Niles, Poland, and finally Canton, Ohio.^[5]

The McKinley household was, like many from Ohio's Western Reserve, steeped in Whiggish and abolitionist sentiment.^[6] Religiously, the family was staunchly Methodist and young William followed in that tradition, becoming a member of the local Methodist church at the age of sixteen.^[7] He would remain a pious Methodist for his entire life.^[8] In 1852, the family moved from Niles to Poland so that their children could attend the school there, which they judged better than the schools near Niles.^[9] McKinley was a diligent student and participated in debating societies.^[9] Graduating in 1859, he enrolled the following year at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.^[9] He remained at Allegheny for only one year, returning home in 1860 after becoming ill and depressed.^[10] After his health had recovered, family finances declined and McKinley was unable to return to Allegheny, instead first working as a postal clerk and later taking a job teaching at a school outside of Poland.^[11]

Civil War

McKinley at 19 years old in 1862

West Virginia and Antietam

When the southern states seceded from the Union and the American Civil War began, thousands of men in Ohio volunteered for service.^[12] Among them were McKinley and his cousin, William Osbourne, who enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland Guards in June 1861.^[13] The men soon left for Columbus where they were consolidated with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry.^[14] The 23rd Ohio contained an unusual number of men who would rise to post-war prominence, including two presidents (McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes), a Supreme Court justice (Stanley Matthews), and a two lieutenant-governors of Ohio (Robert P. Kennedy and William C. Lyon).^[15] The men were unhappy to learn that, unlike Ohio's earlier volunteer regiments, they would not be permitted to elect their officers; they would be designated by Ohio's governor, William Dennison.^[14] Dennison appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as the commander of the regiment, and the men soon began to train at Camp Chase on the outskirts of Columbus.^[14] McKinley quickly took to the solider's life and wrote a series of letters to his hometown newspaper extolling the army and their cause.^[16] Delays in issuance of uniforms and weapons soon brought the men again into conflict with their officers, but Major Hayes convinced them to accept what the government has issued them; his style in dealing with the men impressed McKinley, beginning an association and friendship that would last the rest of Hayes's life.^[17]

After a month of training, McKinley and the 23rd Ohio set out for western Virginia in July 1861 as a part of the Kanawha Division.^[18] Rosecrans had been promoted, so the 23rd Ohio was now led by Colonel Eliakim P. Scammon. McKinley initially thought Scammon was a martinet, but when the regiment finally saw battle, he came to appreciate the value of their relentless drilling.^[19] Except for encounters with bushwhackers, they passed the next few months out of contact with the enemy until September, when the regiment encountered Confederates at Carnifex Ferry in present-day West Virginia and drove them back.^[20] Three days after the battle, McKinley was assigned to duty in the brigade quartermaster office, where he carried out clerical duties as well as working to supply the regiment.^[21] In November, the regiment moved deeper into western Virginia, where they entered winter quarters near Fayetteville.^[22] McKinley spent the winter filling the duties of a commissary sergeant who was ill, and in April 1862 he was promoted to that rank.^[23] The regiment resumed its advance that spring with Hayes in command (Scammon now led the brigade) and fought several minor engagements against the rebel forces.^[24]

That September, McKinley's regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope's Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run.^[25] Delayed in passing through Washington, D.C., the 23rd Ohio did not arrive in time for the battle, but joined the Army of the Potomac as it hurried north to cut off Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which was advancing into Maryland.^[25] Marching north, the 23rd was the lead regiment to encounter the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14.^[26] After severe losses, they drove back the Confederates and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they engaged Lee's army at the Battle of Antietam.^[27] The 23rd was also in the thick of the fighting at Antietam, and McKinley himself came under heavy fire when bringing rations to the men on the line.^{[27][note 1]} McKinley's regiment again suffered many casualties, but the Army of the Potomac was victorious and the Confederates retreated into Virginia.^[27] After a brief pursuit of some rebel cavalry, the regiment was detached from the Army of the Potomac and returned by train to western Virginia.^[28]

Shenandoah Valley and promotion

Rutherford B. Hayes was McKinley's mentor during the Civil War and afterward.

While the regiment went into winter quarters near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio with some other sergeants to recruit fresh troops.^[29] When they arrived in Columbus, Governor David Tod surprised McKinley with a promotion to second lieutenant in recognition of his service at Antietam.^[29] After a brief visit home, McKinley finished his recruiting and returned to the regiment.^[30] They saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan's cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island.^[31] Returning to Charleston for the rest of the summer, McKinley spent some time in the town courting a local girl until Hayes banned his officers from such fraternization.^[32] Early in 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and the division was assigned to George Crook's Army of West Virginia.^[33] They soon resumed the offensive, marching into southwestern Virginia to destroy Confederate salt and lead mines there.^[33] On May 9, the army engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd's Mountain, where the men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove the rebels from the field.^[33] McKinley later said the combat there was "as desperate as any witnessed during the war."^[33] Following the rout, the Union forces destroyed Confederate supplies and skirmished with the enemy again successfully.^[33]

McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley for the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Crook's corps was attached to Major General David Hunter's Army of the Shenandoah and soon back in contact with Confederate forces, capturing Lexington, Virginia on June 11.^[34] They continued south toward Lynchburg, tearing up railroad track as they advanced.^[34] Hunter believed the troops at Lynchburg were too powerful, however, and the brigade returned to West Virginia.^[34] Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early's raid into Maryland forced their recall to the north.^[35] Early's army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley came under heavy fire and the army was defeated.^[36] After the battle, he was promoted to captain.^[37] Retreating into Maryland, the army was reorganized again, with Major General Philip Sheridan replacing Hunter, and McKinley was transferred to General Crook's staff.^[38] By August, Early was retreating down the valley, with Sheridan's army in pursuit.^[39] They fended off a Confederate assault at Berryville, where McKinley had a horse shot out from under him, and advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south.^[40] They followed up the victory with another at Fisher's Hill on September 22, and were engaged once more at Cedar Creek on October 19.^[41] After initially falling back from the Confederate advance, McKinley help to rally the troops and turn the tide of the battle.^[41]

After Cedar Creek, the army stayed in the vicinity through election day, when McKinley cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln.^[41] The next day, the moved north up the valley into winter quarters near Kernstown.^[41] The year 1865 opened with Union forces across the country advancing, and McKinley and his fellow soldiers were in good spirits.^[42] That changed in February when Crook was captured by Confederate raiders.^[43] Crook's capture added to the confusion as the army was reorganized for the spring campaign, and McKinley found himself serving on the staffs of four different generals over the next fifteen days—Crook, John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and Winfield S. Hancock.^[43] Finally assigned to Carroll's staff again, McKinley acted as the general's only adjutant.^[44] Lee's army surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant a few days later, and the war was nearly at an end. McKinley found the time to join a Freemason lodge in Winchester, Virginia before he and Carroll were transferred to Hancock's First Veterans Corps in Washington.^[45] Just before the war's end, McKinley received his final promotion, a brevet commission as major.^[46] In July, the Veterans Corps was mustered out of service, and McKinley and Carroll were relieved of their duties.^[46] Carroll and Hancock encouraged McKinley to apply for a position in the peacetime army, but he declined and returned to Ohio the following month.^[46]

Legal career and marriage

Ida Saxton McKinley

After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in the law and began studying in the office of Charles Glidden, an attorney in Poland, Ohio.^[47] The following year, he continued his studies by attending Albany Law School in New York.^[48] After studying there for a year, McKinley returned home and was admitted to the bar in Warren, Ohio in March 1867.^[48] That same year, he moved to Canton, the county seat, and set up a small office.^[48] He soon formed a partnership with George W. Belden, an experienced lawyer and former judge.^[49] McKinley's practice was successful enough for him to buy a block of buildings on Main Street in Canton, which would provide him with small but consistent rental income for decades to come.^[49] When Hayes was nominated for governor in 1867, McKinley spoke on his behalf around Stark County, his first foray into politics.^[50] The county was closely divided between Democrats and Republicans but Hayes carried it that year.^[50] In 1869, McKinley ran for the office of prosecuting attorney of Stark County, an office usually held by Democrats at the time, and was unexpectedly elected.^[51] When McKinley ran for re-election in 1871, the Democrats nominated William A. Lynch, a prominent local lawyer, and McKinley was defeated by 143 votes.^[51]

McKinley's social life was developing at the same time as his professional life, as he began courting Ida Saxton, the daughter of a prominent Canton family.^[51] They were married on January 25, 1871 in the newly built First Presbyterian Church of Canton, although Ida soon joined her husband's Methodist church.^[52] Their first child, Katherine, arrived on Christmas Day 1871.^[52] A second daughter, Ida, was born in 1873, but died the same year.^[52] McKinley's wife descended into a deep depression at her baby's death and her health, never robust, grew worse.^[52] Two years later, in 1875, Katherine died of typhoid fever; Ida never recovered from her daughters' deaths, and the McKinleys never had any more children.^[52] She developed epilepsy around the same time and hated for McKinley to leave her side.^[52] He remained a devoted husband and tended to his wife's medical and emotional needs for the rest of his life.^[52]

Ida insisted that McKinley continue his increasingly influential career in law and politics.^[53] He attended the state Republican convention that nominated Hayes for a third term as governor in 1875, and campaigned again for his old friend in the election that fall.^[53] The next year, McKinley undertook a high-profile case defending a group of coal miners arrested for rioting after a clash with strikebreakers.^[54] Lynch, McKinley's opponent in the 1871 election, and his partner, William R. Day, were the opposing counsel, and the mine owners included Mark Hanna, a Cleveland businessman.^[54] Taking the case pro bono, he was successful in getting all but one of the miners acquitted.^[54] The case raised McKinley's standing among laborers, a crucial part of the Stark County electorate, and also introduced him to Hanna, who would become his strongest backer in years to come.^[54]

Congressional career

Congressman McKinley

McKinley first took his congressional seat in October 1877, when President Hayes summoned Congress into special session. With the Republicans in the minority, McKinley was given unimportant committee assignments, which he undertook conscientiously. The McKinleys undertook few social calls in Washington due to Ida's health; ^[55] their closest friends there were President and Lucy Hayes. In later years, Ida McKinley (who always loved children) was fond of telling friends of two weeks spent with her husband at the Executive Mansion (as the White House was still known) supervising the Hayes children while their parents were away on a trip.^[56]

The friendship with Hayes did McKinley little good on Capitol Hill; the President was not well-regarded by many congressional leaders.^[57] The young congressman broke with Hayes on the question of the currency, though it did not affect their friendship.^[58] The United States had effectively been placed on the gold standard by the Coinage Act of 1873; when silver prices dropped significantly, many sought to make silver again a legal tender, equally with gold. Such a course would be inflationary; advocates argued that the economic benefits of the increased money supply would be worth the inflation; opponents warmed that "free silver" would not bring the promised benefits and would harm the United States in international trade.^[59] McKinley voted for the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which mandated large government purchases of silver for striking into money, and also joined the large majorities in each house which overrode Hayes' veto of the legislation. In so doing, McKinley voted against the position of the House Republican leader, his fellow Ohioan and friend, James Garfield. Later, in the 1896 presidential campaign, McKinley became a strong advocate of the gold standard, a change Hanna explained, "He did not pretend to be a doctor of finance and followed the popular trend of that time."^[60][61]

From his first term in Congress, McKinley was a strong advocate of protective tariffs. The primary purposes of such imposts was not to raise revenue, but to allow American manufacturing to develop by giving it a price advantage in the domestic market over foreign competitors. McKinley biographer Margaret Leech noted that Canton had become prosperous as a center for the manufacture of farm equipment because of protection. He introduced and supported bills which raised protective tariffs, and opposed those which lowered them or imposed tariffs simply to raise revenue. This was a popular stance—Leech noted the unpopularity of foreigners (especially the British) in America at the time: "Though McKinley was too reasonable and temperate to become a demagogue, his diatribes against foreign importations, and against the products of British industry in particular, were appeals to popular prejudice."^[62][63] Garfield's election as president in 1880 created a vacancy on the House Ways and Means Committee; McKinley was selected to fill it, placing him on the most powerful committee after only two terms.^[64] In 1889, with the Republicans in the majority, McKinley sought election as Speaker of the House. He failed to gain the post, which went to Thomas B. Reed of Maine; however Speaker Reed appointed McKinley chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The Ohioan guided through Congress the McKinley Tariff of 1890, which though heavily amended in the Senate, imposed a number of protective tariffs on foreign goods.^[65]

As the 1880s continued, McKinley increasingly became a significant figure in national politics. In 1880, he served a brief term as Ohio's representative on the Republican National Committee. In 1884, he was elected a delegate to that year's Republican convention, where he served as chair of the Committee on Resolutions and won plaudits for his handling of the convention when called upon to preside. By 1886 McKinley, Senator Sherman, and Governor Joseph B. Foraker were considered the leaders of the Republican party in Ohio.^[66] Sherman, who had helped to found the Republican Party in the 1850s, three times ran for the Republican nomination for president in the 1880s, each time failing,^[67] while Foraker began a meteoric rise in Ohio politics in the 1880s. Hanna, once he entered politics as a political manager and generous contributor in the early 1880s, was a supporter of Sherman's ambitions, as well as those of Foraker. This changed at the 1888 Republican National Convention, to which McKinley, Foraker, and Hanna were all delegates pledged to Sherman. Convinced Sherman could not win, Foraker threw his support first to Blaine, and when Blaine stated he was not a candidate, to the successful candidate, Indiana Governor Benjamin Harrison, who was elected president. In the bitterness which followed the convention, Hanna abandoned Foraker, and for the remainder of McKinley's lifetime, the Ohio Republican Party was divided into two factions, one aligned around Foraker and the other around McKinley, Sherman, and Hanna.^[68] The Cleveland industrialist had come to admire McKinley, and in the years that followed, became a close adviser to him.^[69]

Recognizing McKinley's potential, the Democrats, whenever they controlled the Ohio legislature, sought to redistrict him out of office.^[70] In 1878, McKinley faced election in a redrawn 18th district; he won anyway, causing Hayes to exult, "Oh, the good luck of McKinley! He was gerrymandered out and then beat the gerrymander! We enjoyed it as much as he did."^[71] After the 1882 election, he was unseated on an election contest by a near party-line House vote.^[72] McKinley was briefly depressed by the setback, but soon vowed to run again. The Democrats again redistricted Stark County for the 1884 election; he was returned to Congress anyway, though the national ticket, headed by Maine Senator James G. Blaine was defeated.^[73] For 1890, the Democrats gerrymandered McKinley one final time, placing Stark County in the same district as one of the strongest pro-Democrat counties, Holmes. Damaged by voter resentment over the tariff and the redistricting, the congressman was projected to lose by 3,000 votes, based on past votes. McKinley was defeated, though only by 300 votes.^[74]

Governor of Ohio

Even before McKinley completed his term in Congress, he met with a delegation of Ohioans urging him to run for governor. James E. Campbell, who had defeated Foraker in 1889, would seek re-election in 1891. McKinley, who was already ambitious to be president, considered waiting until 1892 and then seeking a return for Congress, but ultimately decided to run for governor. The Ohio Republican party remained divided, but McKinley quietly arranged for Foraker to nominate him at the 1891 state Republican convention, and he was nominated by acclamation. The former congressman spent much of the later half of 1891 campaigning against Campbell, beginning in his hometown of Niles. Hanna, however, was little seen in the campaign; he spent much of his time raising funds for the election of legislators pledged to vote for Sherman, whose seat would be up for election by the legislature in 1892.^[75] McKinley won the 1891 election by some 20,000 votes.^[76]

Ohio's governor had relatively little power—for example, he could recommend legislation, but not veto it—but with Ohio a key swing state, its governor was a major figure in national politics, consulted by congressmen and Cabinet officials.^[77] Although McKinley believed that the health of the nation depended on that of business, he was evenhanded in dealing with labor,^[78] procuring legislation to set up an arbitration board at which work disputes could be settled, and obtaining passage of a law which fined employers who fired workers for belonging to a union. This led to accusations against Governor McKinley that he went too far in accommodating labor; he retorted, "My whole public life has been devoted to the advocacy of a system which gave men employment and kept the shops running."^[79]

President Harrison had proven unpopular; there were divisions even within the Republican party as the year 1892 began and Harrison began his re-election drive. Although no declared candidate emerged to oppose Harrison, many Republicans were ready to dump the President from the ticket if an alternative emerged. Among the possible candidates spoken of by Republicans were the aging Blaine, Speaker Reed, and McKinley. Fearing that the Ohio governor would emerge as a candidate, Harrison's managers arranged for McKinley to be permanent chairman of the convention in Minneapolis, thus forcing him to play a public, neutral role. Hanna established an unofficial McKinley headquarters near the convention hall, though no active effort was made to covert delegates to McKinley's cause. Although McKinley objected to delegate votes being cast for him, he nevertheless finished third, behind the renominated Harrison, and behind Blaine, who had sent word he did not wish to be nominated. By most accounts, McKinley did not wish the nomination, but wanted to have his name before the delegates to set up a future run. According to Hanna biographer William T. Horner,

[McKinley was] clearly building a foundation for the future, beyond 1892. McKinley was certainly ambitious, but he was also a very skilled politician. He knew an open attempt to win the nomination in 1892—which Hanna's canvassing told him would fail—would hurt him in future campaigns. Even if he thought it was possible to wrest the nomination from Harrison, there was a strong feeling that no Republican could win the general election ... Much of McKinley's public performance at the convention in Minneapolis was a show of downplaying the efforts of Hanna and his other boosters.^[80]

In 1893, hard times struck the nation with the Panic of 1893. A businessman in Youngstown, Robert Walker, had lent money to McKinley in their younger days; in gratitude, McKinley had often guaranteed Walker's business notes. The governor had never kept track of what he was signing; he believed Walker a sound businessman; in fact Walker had deceived McKinley, telling him that new notes were actually renewals of expired old ones. Walker was ruined by the recession; McKinley was called upon for repayment. The normally composed McKinley raged on the train to Youngstown about what he would say to Walker; when the two men met, the governor expressed no anger, but was gentle and encouraging.^[81] The total owed was over $100,000 and a despairing McKinley initially proposed to resign as governor and earn the money as an attorney.^[82] Instead, McKinley's wealthy supporters, including Hanna and Chicago publisher H. H. Kohlsaat became trustees of a fund from which the notes would be paid. Both William and Ida McKinley placed their property in the hands of the fund's trustees (who included Hanna and Kohlsaat), and the supporters raised and contributed a substantial sum of money. All of the couple's property was returned to them, and when McKinley, who had promised eventual repayment, asked for the list of contributors, it was refused him. Many people who had suffered in the hard times sympathized with McKinley, whose popularity grew.^[82] He was easily re-elected in November 1893, receiving the largest percentage of the vote of any Ohio governor since the Civil War.^[83]

In 1894, the economic upset led to strikes among coal miners in the Hocking Valley in southern Ohio. When owners brought in strikebreakers from Virginia and West Virginia, the miners responded by destroying a railroad trestle. The local sheriff wired McKinley using alarming terms, and the governor responded by sending a large force of militia, correctly assuming, based on his Civil War experience, that an overwhelming force would make violence unlikely. In January 1895, upon learning that many miners were starving, he made a statewide appeal for funds, and quickly sent trains loaded with food and other necessities to relieve them. McKinley was criticized by conservatives for his actions towards the miners; the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that "bridge burners, trainwreckers, and highwaymen are usually shot on sight".^[84] However, McKinley biographer, Kevin Phillips noted that although McKinley was later caricatured as a puppet of heartless capitalists, "the reality was altogether different."^[84]

McKinley campaigned widely for Republicans in the 1894 midterm congressional elections; many Republican candidates in districts where he spoke were successful. His political efforts in Ohio were rewarded by the election of a Republican successor, Asa Bushnell in November 1895, and a Republican legislature which elected Foraker to the Senate. In return for McKinley's support, Foraker had agreed to support McKinley's presidential ambitions. With party peace in Ohio assured, McKinley turned to the national arena.^[85]

1896 presidential election

Electoral map shows McKinley's 1896 victory (in red).

Governor McKinley left office in early 1896 and, on the recommendation of his friend and campaign manager Mark Hanna, began actively campaigning for the Republican party's presidential nomination. After sweeping the 1894 congressional elections, Republican prospects appeared bright at the start of 1896. The Democratic Party was split on the issue of silver and many voters blamed the nation's economic woes on incumbent Grover Cleveland. McKinley's well-known expertise on the tariff issue, his successful record as governor, and genial personality appealed to many Republican voters. His major opponent for the nomination, House Speaker Thomas B. Reed of Maine, had acquired too many enemies within the party over his political career and his supporters could not compete with Hanna's organization on behalf of McKinley, who thereby won the nomination on the first ballot; Garret A. Hobart received the nomination as Vice-President.^[86] Biographer Leech observed that Hanna and McKinley complemented each other very well, the former being the practical businessman, unclouded by idealistic thinking, the clever organizer and fund raiser, while the latter was the zealous party protagonist, inspiring speaker and diplomat.^[87]

After winning the nomination he went home and conducted his campaign exclusively from his front porch, addressing hundreds of thousands of voters, including organizations ranging from traveling salesmen to bicycle clubs. Many of these voters campaigned for McKinley after returning home. McKinley left Canton only twice during the campaign, and his home town took on quite a carnival atmosphere.^[88] The Republican National Committee raised an unprecedented $3.5 million.^[89]

McKinley's opponent was William Jennings Bryan, who ran on a single issue of "free silver" and money policy. In his letter formally accepting his nomination, McKinley issued a dissertation on the currency question of primary concern, saying "Good money never made times hard", and his remarks eminently satisfied the sound money men, from goldbugs to bimetallists, and also made clear his support of tariffs.^[90] McKinley promised that he would promote industry and banking, and guarantee prosperity for every group in a pluralistic nation. A Democratic cartoon ridiculed the promise, saying it would rock the boat. McKinley replied that the protective tariff would bring prosperity to all groups, city and country alike, while Bryan's free silver would create inflation but no new jobs, would bankrupt railroads, and would permanently damage the economy.

McKinley succeeded in getting votes from the urban areas and ethnic labor groups. Campaign manager Hanna adopted new advertising techniques to spread McKinley's message.^[91] Although Bryan was ahead in August, McKinley's counter-crusade put him on the defensive and gigantic parades for McKinley in every major city a few days before the election undercut Bryan's allegations that workers were coerced to vote for McKinley. He defeated Bryan by a large margin. His appeal to all classes is thought by many to have marked a realignment of American politics and initiated the progressive era. His success in industrial cities gave the Republican party a grip on the North comparable to that of the Democrats in the South.

Presidency 1897–1901

First year popularity

President McKinley's first year in office opened popularly with what would be known as a "presidential honeymoon".^[92] In contrast to President Cleveland, who was viewed as reclusive, President McKinley opened the White House to the public and walked openly around the Capitol.^[92] In 1897, President McKinley publically dedicated Grant's Tomb, unveiled a statute of founding father George Washington, and opened up museums in Philadelphia.^[92] These initial actions encouraged an increase of public sentiment for the office of the Presidency.^[92]

Domestic policies

McKinley, then aged 54, became the nation's chief executive at a salary of $50,000. The family became regular attendees at the Metropolitan Methodist Church and Mrs. McKinley appeared quite ready and able, with some assistance, to assume her duties as the White House hostess.^[93] When he had initially filled all of his cabinet positions, all but two were over the age of 60, and only three would continue in office for more than two years.^[94] His inauguration marked the beginning of the greatest consolidation in American business that had ever been seen.^[95] The administration did not aggressively enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act, as Theodore Roosevelt later would, and therefore business trusts were allowed to expand.

McKinley campaigns on gold coin (gold standard) with support from soldiers, businessmen, farmers and professionals.

McKinley's claim as the "advance agent of prosperity" was confirmed when 1897 brought a revival of business, agriculture, and general prosperity, ending the Panic of 1893 which dated back to the Civil War and was marked by persistent underconsumption.^[96] The end of the deflationary period resulted largely from a gradual adoption of gold, culminating in passage of the Gold Standard Act of 1900, which set the value of the dollar and alleviated monetary concerns that had plagued the United States since the 1870s.^[97] This wave of prosperity, bolstered by US victory in the Spanish-American War, continued into the 20th century until the Panic of 1907, and ensured McKinley's reelection in 1900.

In civil service administration, McKinley reformed the system to make it more flexible in critical areas. The Republican platform, adopted after President Cleveland's extension of the merit system, emphatically endorsed this, as did McKinley himself. Against extreme pressure, particularly in the Department of War, the President resisted until May 29, 1899. His order of that date withdrew from the classified service 4,000 or more positions, removed 3,500 from the class theretofore filled through competitive examination or an orderly practice of promotion, and placed 6,416 more under a system drafted by the Secretary of War. The order declared as permanent a large number of temporary appointments made without examination, including thousands who had served during the Spanish War. In the way of patronage, McKinley adeptly employed appointments to cultivate the favor of members of the Senate, but also made appointments which flowed to his singular benefit. While many suspected otherwise, newly appointed Senator Mark Hanna was not allowed to assume an insider's role in McKinley's appointments.^[98] The President had earlier offered Hanna the patronage-dispensing position of Postmaster General, which Hanna refused.

Republicans pointed to the deficit under the Wilson Law of 1894, which had reduced the McKinley tariff, with much the same concern manifested by President Grover Cleveland in 1888 over the surplus. A new tariff law had to be passed, if possible before a new Congressional election. An extra session of Congress was therefore summoned for March 15, 1897. The Ways and Means Committee reported through Chairman Nelson Dingley the bill which bore his name, the House passed the bill and it reached the Senate the last day of March. The Senate passed the bill after toning up its schedules with some 870 amendments, most of which pleased the Conference Committee and it became law. The President signed the act July 24, 1897. The Dingley Act was estimated by its author to advance the average rate from the 40 percent of the Wilson Bill to approximately 50 percent or a shade higher than the McKinley rate. As proportioned to consumption the tax imposed by, it was probably heavier than that under either of its predecessors.

Reciprocity, a feature of the McKinley Tariff, had been suspended by the Wilson Act. The Republican platform of 1896 declared protection and reciprocity twin measures of Republican policy. Clauses graced the Dingley Act allowing reciprocity treaties to be made, "duly ratified" by the Senate and "approved" by Congress. Under the third section of the Act some concessions were given and received, but the treaties negotiated under the fourth section, which involved lowering of strictly protective duties, met summary defeat when submitted to the Senate.

George B. Cortelyou served as the first presidential press secretary of sorts. He was the first individual in the president's office who regularly called for correspondents when an announcement was to be made, provided them with workspace in the White House, and also prepared and distributed statements to the press.^[99]

Civil rights

As part of a Methodist family, McKinley was raised an abolitionist by his mother in Poland, Ohio. He was sympathetic to African Americans who struggled under the "Jim Crow" system of second class citizenship in the South. McKinley did not try to reverse Jim Crow (which had won Supreme Court approval in 1896)^[100], but he did name some blacks to federal office in the South, including George B. Jackson, a former slave (to the post of customs collector in Presidio) and Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans, a leader of the Black and Tan Republican faction, as a customs inspector.^[101]

McKinley made several speeches on African American equality and justice:

Despite McKinley's laudatory rhetoric, the political realities prevented any real action on the part of his administration in regards to race relations. McKinley did little to alleviate the backwards situation of black Americans because he was "unwilling to alienate the white South."^[97] During the Spanish-American War, McKinley made certain that black soldiers served, and even countermanded army orders preventing recruitment of African-American soldiers. Such efforts, as Gerald Bahles points out, however, did little to "stem the deteriorating position of blacks in American society."^[97]

Foreign policies

McKinley strove to advance the interests of American producers in world markets, and so his administration promoted the opening of foreign markets, especially in China. While serving as a Congressman, McKinley supported annexation of Hawaii because he wanted to Americanize it and establish a naval base, but Senate resistance previously proved insurmountable as domestic sugar producers and committed anti-expansionists blocked any action. One notable observer of the time, Henry Adams, declared that the nation at this time was ruled by "McKinleyism", a "system of combinations, consolidations, and trusts realized at home and abroad." Although many of his diplomatic appointments went to political friends such as former Carnegie Steel president John George Alexander Leishman (minister to Switzerland and Turkey), professional diplomats such as Andrew Dickson White, John W. Foster, and John Hay also capably served. John Bassett Moore, the nation's leading scholar of international law, frequently advised the administration on the technical legal issues in its foreign relations.

John Sherman

William Rufus Day

Alvey A. Adee

Discussions of the possible annexation of Hawaii by the United States began during the Harrison administration, but had been tabled by Grover Cleveland. McKinley immediately reopened negotiations and on June 16, 1897, an annex treaty was signed.^[103] The Government of Hawaii speedily ratified this, and the Japanese protested it, but it lacked the necessary two-thirds vote in the U.S. Senate. The solution was to annex Hawaii by joint resolution. The resolution provided for the assumption by the United States of the Hawaiian debt up to $4,000,000. The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) was extended to the islands, and Chinese immigration from Hawaii to the mainland was prohibited. The joint resolution passed on July 6, 1898, a majority of the Democrats with several Republicans, among these Speaker Reed, opposing. Shelby M. Cullom, John T. Morgan, Robert R. Hitt, Sanford B. Dole, and Walter F. Frear, made commissioners by its authority, drafted a territorial form of government, which became law April 30, 1900.

The President's selection of leadership in the State Department was a mélange. First, McKinley's appointment of aging Ohio Senator John Sherman to head the State Department was questioned from the outset. While McKinley genuinely hoped Sherman's reputation and experience would bolster the integrity of his Cabinet, it quickly became apparent that Sherman was too old to function in his role.^[104] (McKinley's first choice for the State Department, Senator William Allison of Iowa, declined the offer.) Sherman, who previously served as Secretary of the Treasury, initially appeared to be a strong selection. Although Sherman was indeed an experienced statesman, he was too advanced in years, but succeeded for a time in obscuring his increased senility. McKinley named longtime friend William Rufus Day as First Assistant to Sherman, to serve as the de-facto department head, even though Day lacked any experience as a diplomat, and demonstrated it.^[104] McKinley further relied on the deaf career diplomat, Alvey A. Adee, as Second Assistant to Sherman, to mentor Day in his role. This lineup was thus often maligned: "The Secretary knows nothing, the First Assistant says nothing, and the Second Assistant hears nothing."^[104]

Spanish-American War

The seminal endeavor of McKinley's presidency was the Spanish-American War. The conflict between the two countries stemmed from Spanish atrocities in Cuba, spearheaded by Governor General Weyler in attempts to curb a rebellion by the people.^[105] The Spanish repeatedly promised, and then postponed new reforms. Some historians believe that Democrats and the sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst's newspapers were primarily responsible for the American public opinion against Spain, but according to biographer Leech, the newspapers did not create the frenzy, but solidified the public belief that intervention was required based on the situation in Cuba.^[105] McKinley and the business community, as well as House Speaker Reed, did not share the public's preference for war.^[106][107] While McKinley understood the public's anger toward Spanish atrocities, he was slow in engaging the Spanish, initially by delay in getting his minister to Spain, General Stewart L. Woodford, to assume the post.^[105] Spain's new Premier, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, then replaced General Weyler with Gen. Ramon y Arenas in Cuba to allay the fear of continued atrocities, allowed the U.S. to send food and medicine to Cuba, and all U.S. citizens held in Cuba were released. In the wake of these actions, McKinley asked the country to exercise patience.^[108]

The USS Maine, whose explosion triggered the Spanish-American War

Nevertheless, to demonstrate continued American resolve for immediate reform, a warship, the U.S.S. Maine, was dispatched to Havana harbor and placed on call for the U.S. consul general Fitzhugh Lee, to be later joined by the Montgomery.^[109] The Department of the Navy, led by Secretary John D, Long, was to be more directly involved in the Cuban problems than any other department, except for State. Long, recently well recovered from a nervous breakdown, was an ambitious member of the cabinet, while also yearning for the peace and quiet of his farm at home. With the rank of admiral having lapsed, this civilian boss dealt directly with line officers in running the department. Notably at his right hand was a younger, irrepressible and energetic Assistant Secretary, Theodore Roosevelt, anxious to modernize and enlarge the fleet.^[110] Long initially succeeded in reining in his junior, at least as concerned increasing the fleet – one additional battleship and accompanying torpedo boats were approved in the Pacific.^[111]

On February 15, 1898, the Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in the Havanna harbor, causing the deaths of 250 men, along with a hew and cry from the public for war against Spain; at the same time the State Dept. began intense efforts at negotiations with Spain. The Navy named a board of inquiry to investigate, and McKinley asked the public to withhold judgment until the inquiry, as well as diplomatic negotiations, were complete.^[112] The President received a report of the investigation on a Friday, which concluded the explosion was caused by a submarine mine of unknown origin. McKinley immediately prepared a message for Congress, which included a key request for its "deliberate consideration" as well as forbearance while negotiations for peace continued. A copy of the report was leaked that weekend, and significant Congressional and public support for war was emboldened.^[113] The President's message was then delayed by another 5 days, to allow for military preparations and evacuation of American citizens from Cuba.^[114]

When the President finalized his message to Congress, he softened his stance of preference for negotiation, in favor of a policy of "neutral intervention".^[115] Congress initially passed a joint resolution, recognizing Cuban independence (but not a free standing republic), demanding Spanish withdrawal from Cuba, and directing the President to use armed forces for enforcement.^[116] The Maine tragedy also led to a sudden realization of naval ill-preparedness, and Congress quickly passed an appropriation bill for $50 million for defense.^[117] The onus of Navy purchases fell to Assistant Secretary Roosevelt, who burned to launch the Atlantic Squadron full tilt against Havanna, and who viewed the more sanguine McKinley as "having no more backbone than a chocolate éclair."^[117] Nevertheless, Mckinley had promptly issued an ultimatum to Spain to cease and desist, and also ordered a blockade of Cuba.^[118] A few days later Congress voted to declare war against Spain, effective with the blockade.^[119]

A week after the President's ultimatum, the Navy Department pressed for authority to immediately begin offensives against the Spanish fleet in the Philippines, in light of Britain's declared neutrality and presence in the area. The President responded with authorization to Asiatic Squadron commander George Dewey.^[119] Dewey's victory in the Philippines was quick and decisive, and the President promoted him to Rear Admiral for his efforts.^[120] McKinley assigned Major General Wesley Merritt the role of military governor in the Philippines, with orders to establish military rule, but to avoid severity upon civilians, and to disown any intent to make war or to ally with any faction.^[121] Merritt's mission temporarily stalled in California, for lack of personnel and transportation.^[122]

Expeditious victory despite missteps

War Secretary Russell A. Alger

At the outset of the war, in many respects the War Department was thus not well prepared, under the leadership of Secretary Russell A. Alger. McKinley was also forced to suspend his initial order for an attack on Havana, due to inadequate supplies and troops to proceed. Alger placed unsupported blame on the President for restricting expenditures to coastline defenses.^[123] The Navy Department as well was not without its own difficulties in its initial offensive operations in the Caribbean. While the Spanish naval commander Pascual Cervera idled in port at Santiago, U.S. commander Winfield Scott Schley refused to carry out orders to pursue the Spanish fleet, claiming a shortage of coal. Shley also refused to recognize rival William T. Sampson as the top commander in the Cuba operation.^[124]

It was only after multiple false starts and chaotic supply management and transportation problems that the Army succeeded in dispatching 17,000 troops (the largest force in U.S. history at the time) from Tampa en route to Santiago under the leadership of William R. Shafter.^[125] Once in transit, Shafter consistently directed the campaign of the ground war with minimal consultation or even communication with Sampson and the Navy, shunning use of the marines or the benefit of Naval bombardment.^[126] By his own admission, Shafter commented, "there was no strategy about it – just to do it quick."^[127] Once unloaded, the troops' orders were first and foremost to move rapidly on Las Gasimas; the offensive was a success, except for the fact that due to continued inefficiencies in the Quartermaster Corps., Shafter had outrun his supplies.^[128]

The President was very much aware of the inefficiencies of waging war, and worked mightily to reduce the problems; nevertheless, he had witnessed first hand much worse, in fresh memories of the Civil War. There was a fair amount of finger pointing inherent in the midst of military missteps; McKinley was reluctant to react precipitously, assuming that some of these problems would be experienced regardless of who was in place. Nevertheless, he was quick to point out shortcomings when frustrated, as when Shafter delayed in finishing the campaign in Santiago, when he said to Shafter, "What you went to Santiago for was the Spanish army. If you allow it to evacuate with its arms you must meet it somewhere else. This is not war."^[129] While the war was still in its infancy though, McKinley had already begun to focus on the terms of peace, saying, "We must be certain to keep what we have worked to acquire."^[130] The President did ultimately ask for Secretary Alger's resignation in the wake of the War Department's many inefficiencies; many thought the action came later than warranted.^[131]

Volunteer militia and national guard units indeed rushed to the colors, including Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders".^[132] The famous Battle of Las Guasimas and Battle of San Juan Hill were pivotal successes in the war effort, though they came at an inordinate number of casualties equal to ten percent of Shafter's forces.^[133] The naval war in Cuba was ultimately also a success, the shortest war in U.S. history. Secretary of State John Hay called it a "splendid little war."

Peace, annexation and criticism of the War Department

McKinley's main conditions for peace in negotiating with the Spanish were 1) relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty over Cuba; 2) cession of Puerto Rico and other islands in the West Indies; and 3) relinquishment of the Philippines including Manila and additional territory.^[134] At the Peace Conference, which grew out of an initial armistice agreement, Spain sold its rights to the Philippines to the U.S., which took control of the islands and suppressed local rebellions, over the objection of the Democrats and the newly formed Anti-Imperialist League.The President included three senators on the U.S negotiating team so as to facilitate ratification of the resulting treaty.^[135] He made the following statement on the negotiations: "We took up arms...in the fulfillment of high public and moral obligations. We had no...ambition of conquest. The United States in making peace should follow the same high rule of conduct...and not ulterior designs which might tempt us into excessive demands."^[136] Ratification was assured after conflict erupted on the island of Luzon so as to allow the administration to respond to the emergency there.^[137]

Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador in the U.S., signs the peace treaty for Spain

McKinley sent William Howard Taft to the Philippines and then to Rome to settle the long-standing dispute over lands owned by the Catholic Church. By 1901 the Philippines were peaceful again after a decade of turmoil.^[138] The United States also gained possession of Guam and Puerto Rico from Spain, and political and economic control over Cuba through the Platt Amendment.^[139] According to many historians, the United States had thus begun to display attributes of strong imperialism.^[140] Hawaii, which for years had tried to join the U.S., was annexed.^[138]

In the wake of the combat in Cuba came a scandal over the evacuation of ill and injured troops on two private ships, the Seneca and the Concho, chartered by the Army. Allegations included severe overcrowding on board as well as profiteering in the chartering arrangements. Secretary Alger was said to have acted as an intermediary on behalf of the charter companies which resulted in the premature conclusion of the investigation ordered by the President.^[141] Indeed, the rapid victory could not overshadow many areas of mismanagement found in the War Department, including supply management problems by the Quartermaster, food poisoning found throughout the Commissary, and incompetence within the Medical Corps.^[142] By the time of the mid-term elections, the President was under pressure from the press, emboldened by public comments critical of the Army from General Nelson Miles; McKinley formed a commission, lead by Granville M. Dodge, to investigate the various issues within the War Department.^[143] Miles' testimony was discounted as politically motivated, and the final report of the commission, viewed with considerable skepticism, found deplorable lapses in war preparations but no corruption.^[144]

There is a disputed recollection by one person who said McKinley told him in 1899," ... one night it came to me this way...(1) That we could not give them [the Philippines] back to Spain – that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France or Germany – our commercial rivals in the Orient – that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves – they were unfit for self-government – and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain's was; and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them."^[145] The above recollection is not corroborated, according to biographer Gould, who rejects the quotation as unlikely to have been made.^[146]

Historians Schweikart and Allen indicate that the "Christianize" point represented a minor factor in the President's policy, though Protestant American missionaries had a presence on the islands. Other historians have dismissed the missionary element as an excuse for sheer secular expansionism.^[147] Leech points out that the Fillipinos represented the largest group of Catholics in the Far East.^[148] McKinley's policy in favor of annexation was in large part based on the inability of the U.S. to defend the various islands from a limited position in Manila. Great Britain was in favor of the policy and Spain was financially unable to sustain the islands. Annexation was a difficult position for the President, as he had previously denounced "the greed of conquest" and "the criminal aggression of annexation".^[149]

Election of 1900 and second term

As this campaign poster indicates, McKinley ran on his record of prosperity and victory in 1900, winning easy reelection over Bryan.

The President was nominated by his party with Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate. He was publicly silent on the V.P. choice, but privately preferred Sen. William B. Allison, the "father of the Senate" as the V.P. nominee, who declined the offer; McKinley thought Roosevelt should head the War Department.^[150] He was re-elected in 1900, this time with economic prosperity in hand and an ebullient national mood after the successful war. Foreign policy was the paramount issue, with the Democrats denouncing the colonialism of the Republicans and insisting the Constitution should follow the flag to annexed territories.^[151] William Jennings Bryan, again the Democratic candidate, also reprised the silver issue. McKinley easily won re-election, giving Republicans the largest electoral margin since 1872.^[152][153]

All of McKinley's cabinet at the time of the election continued in service with the exception of the Attorney General.^[154] In early 1901 the President pressed for settlement of the constitutional and governmental questions in Cuba so that the focus could be turned to the Philippines. He also led negotiations with Congress on the Spooner bill authorizing establishment of a civil government in the Philippines.^[155] Taft was made provisional governor there to demonstrate the nation's resolve to emphasize civil versus military solutions.^[156]

The President and Mrs. McKinley took a trip west to California in May 1901. She became quite ill on the trip, and McKinley spent most of his time with his wife, but he was able to deliver a speech in San Jose, California on May 13 and to attend his parade in San Francisco on May 14. The president went to Oakland without his wife, to speak on May 17. The President visited the Union Iron Works of San Francisco to observe the launching of the battleship, USS Ohio (BB-12). Mrs. William McKinley attended the ceremony, but the First Lady became critically (though temporarily) ill in San Francisco and a planned tour of the Northwest was cancelled.^[157]

Assassination

Anarchist and Assassin Leon Czolgosz

The President and Mrs. McKinley spent the summer of 1901 at home in Canton, Ohio and then attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York beginning in late August.^[158] He delivered a speech about his positions on tariffs and foreign trade on September 5, 1901. The following morning, McKinley visited Niagara Falls before returning to the Exposition. That afternoon McKinley had an engagement to greet the public at the Temple of Music. Standing in line, Leon Frank Czolgosz waited with a .32 caliber pistol in his right hand concealed by a handkerchief. At 4:07 pm Czolgosz fired twice at the president. The first bullet grazed his shoulder, but the second went through his stomach, pancreas, and kidney, and finally lodged in the muscles of his back. McKinley whispered to his secretary, George Cortelyou, “My wife, Cortelyou, be careful how you tell her, oh be careful.”^[159] Czolgosz would have fired again, but he was struck by a bystander and then subdued by an enraged crowd. The wounded McKinley reportedly called out, "Boys! Don't let them hurt him!"^[160] because the angry crowd beat Czolgosz so severely it looked as if they might kill him on the spot.

One bullet was easily found and extracted, but doctors were unable to locate the second bullet. It was feared that the search for the bullet might cause more harm than good. In addition, McKinley appeared to be recovering, so doctors decided to leave the bullet where it was.^[161]

The newly developed x-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it might have on him. The operating room at the exposition's emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings at the extravagant exposition were covered with thousands of light bulbs. The surgeons were unable to operate by candlelight because of the danger created by the flammable ether used to keep the president unconscious, so doctors were forced to use pans instead to reflect sunlight onto the operating table while they treated McKinley's wounds.

McKinley's doctors believed he would recover, and he convalesced for more than a week in Buffalo at the home of the exposition's director. On the morning of September 12, he felt strong enough to receive his first food orally since the shooting – toast and a small cup of coffee.^[162] However, by afternoon he began to experience discomfort and his condition rapidly worsened. McKinley began to go into shock. At 2:15 am on September 14, 1901, eight days after he was shot, he died at age 58 from gangrene surrounding his wounds.^[163] His last words were, "It is God's way; His will be done, not ours."^[164] He was originally buried in the receiving vault of West Lawn Cemetery in Canton, Ohio. His remains were later reinterred in the McKinley Memorial, also in Canton.

The scene of the assassination, the Temple of Music, was demolished in November 1901, along with the rest of the Exposition grounds. A stone marker in the middle of Fordham Drive, a residential street in Buffalo, marks the approximate spot where the shooting occurred. Czolgosz's revolver is on display in the Pan-American Exposition exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in Buffalo.

McKinley was the last veteran of the American Civil War in the White House; he was the last president of the 19th century and the first of the 20th.

• 

  "Temple of Music, Buffalo, N.Y. (Where Pres. McKinley was shot)," historical postcard.

• 

  McKinley entering the Temple of Music shortly before his assassination.

• 

  Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley with a concealed revolver.

• 

  McKinley casket at Capitol.

• 

  McKinley's coffin passing the Treasury building.

Administration and appointments

President McKinley and his cabinet

Judicial appointments

Supreme Court

McKinley appointed the following Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States:

• Joseph McKenna – 1898

Other judges

Along with his Supreme Court appointment, McKinley appointed six judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 28 judges to the United States district courts.

Monuments and memorials

McKinley memorial in front of the Ohio Statehouse

A funeral was held at the Milburn Mansion in Buffalo, after which the body was removed to Buffalo City Hall where it lay in-state for a public viewing. It was taken later to the White House, United States Capitol and finally to the late President's home in Canton for a memorial. Memorials for the President were held in London, England at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral.^[165][166]

• William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, Canton, Ohio.
• McKinley Memorial Mausoleum, Canton, Ohio, his final resting place.
• National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Library and Museum, Niles, Ohio, designed by McKim, Mead and White, dedicated October 5, 1917.^[167]
• McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center, Niles, Ohio, a reconstruction on the site where he was born.
• The statue of McKinley in Muskegon, Michigan is believed to be the first raised in his honor in the country, put in place on May 23, 1902.^[168] It was sculpted by Charles Henry Niehaus.
• At Bluff Point, near Plattsburgh, New York, a small monument topped with a memorial urn was erected following the assassination at the site of a large pine tree, known locally as the "McKinley Pine." Beneath this tree, the President would often relax while summering at the nearby Hotel Champlain. One year after the assassination, the tree was struck by lightning and destroyed. Little remains of the monument today.
• McKinley Classical Junior Academy, middle school in St. Louis, Missouri
• McKinley Monument, Buffalo, New York
• McKinley Monument, Springfield, Massachusetts
• McKinley Monument, Scranton, Pennsylvania
• McKinley Statue, Adams, Massachusetts
• McKinley Bust Redlands, California. This 3 foot tall bronze bust, created by the sculptor William Couper, is located in Smiley Park and was placed there in 1903.
• William McKinley Monument, Panhandle park and McKinley Square Park, Potrero Hill (dates to 1870, renamed for McKinley), San Francisco, California
• William McKinley Monument, Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland (dedicated October 13, 1903)^[169]
• Statue of McKinley [Arcata Plaza, Arcata, California]

Film of McKinley's inauguration

McKinley was the first President to appear on film extensively. His inauguration was also the first Presidential inauguration to be filmed. Most of the films were recorded by the Edison Company.

Video clip of the "Black Horse Cavalry" leading the presidential delegation down Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington D.C. for the inauguration of McKinley

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	American Civil War portal

• History of the United States (1865-1918)
• List of assassinated American politicians
• List of Presidents of the United States
• U.S. presidential election, 1896
• U.S. presidential election, 1900
• U.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stamps

Notes

References

Sources

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Works cited

• Gould, Lewis L. The Spanish–American War and President McKinley (1982)
• Hamilton, Richard. President McKinley, War, and Empire (2006).
• Jensen, Richard. The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888–1896 (1971)
• McKinley, William. Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley: from his election to Congress to the present time (1893)
• Olcott, Charles S. The Life of William McKinley. (1916), online at Google
• Schweikart, Larry; Michael Allen (2004). A Patriot's History of the United States. Easton Press. 

Other sources

Domestic policy

• Faulkner, Harold U. Politics, Reform, and Expansion, 1890–1900 (1959). standard scholarly survey online edition
• Glad, Paul W. McKinley, Bryan, and the People (1964). short history of 1896 election
• Jones, Stanley L. The Presidential Election of 1896. the standard history.
• Josephson, Matthew. The Politicos: 1865–1896 (1938) a leftist perspective
• Morgan, H. Wayne. From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877–1896 (1969), online edition
• Rhodes, James Ford. The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations, 1897–1909 (1922), early scholarly history full text online
• Williams, R. Hal. Years of Decision: American Politics in the 1890s (1993) survey by scholar

Foreign policy

• Dobson, John M. Reticient Expansionism: The Foreign Policy of William McKinley. (1988).
• Fry Joseph A. "William McKinley and the Coming of the Spanish-American War: A Study of the Besmirching and Redemption of an Historical Image," Diplomatic History 3 (Winter 1979): 77–97
• Harrington, Fred H. "The Anti-Imperialist Movement in the United States, 1898–1900," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Sept. 1935), pp. 211–230 in JSTOR
• Holbo, Paul S. "Presidential Leadership in Foreign Affairs: William McKinley and the Turpie-Foraker Amendment," The American Historical Review 1967 72 (4): 1321–1335. in JSTOR
• May, Ernest. Imperial Democracy: The Emergence of America as a Great Power (1961)
• Offner, John L. "McKinley and the Spanish-American War," Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 34#1 (2004) pp 50+. online edition
  • Offner, John L. An Unwanted War: The Diplomacy of the United States and Spain over Cuba, 1895–1898 (1992) online edition
• Paterson. Thomas G. "United States Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpretations of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War," The History Teacher, Vol. 29, No. 3 (May 1996), pp. 341–361 in JSTOR
• Trask, David. The War with Spain in 1898. (1981).

Speeches and manuscripts

• McKinley, William. Abraham Lincoln. An Address by William McKinley of Ohio. Before the Marquette Club. Chicago. February 12, 1896(1896)
• McKinley, William. Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley: from March 1, 1897, to May 30, 1900 (1900)
• McKinley, William. The Tariff; a Review of the Tariff Legislation of the United States from 1812 to 1896 (1904)

External links

Find more about William McKinley on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• Essay on William McKinley and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• William McKinley: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• McKinley Assassination Ink: A Documentary History
• William McKinley Presidential Library and Memorial
• Works by William McKinley at Project Gutenberg, presidential messages
• A film clip McKinley's inaugural parade is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Q&A interview with Scott Miller on The President and the Assassin, June 22, 2011

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