President William McKinley

On January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born. In his early life, William McKinley served in the Union Army, starting as a private and eventually working his way up to brevet major. Years later, in 1877,  he was elected to Congress, where he acted as a Republican representative for Ohio and the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. He supported high tariffs on imported goods and was later blamed for raising prices and moved back to Ohio after 14 years in the House, where he ran for and won the position of governor. He served two terms as the governor of Ohio and in 1896 decided to run for the presidency.

During the election, the issue of free silver was large in the minds of many Americans, causing dissent in both the Democratic and Republican parties. McKinley decided to follow the gold standard, going against the Democratic nominee, William Jennings Bryan, who supported free silver and attacked the gold standard. McKinley was able to win the popular vote by the biggest popular vote margin in 25 years (7.1 to 6.1 million votes) and also won handily in the electoral college.

McKinley’s presidency is often-times classified as mediocre, however, he did much to change America’s standing in the world. For example, in 1898 McKinley declared war against Spain after conflicts in Cuba, starting the first American-foreign major conflict since the War of 1812. The Spanish-American War lasted just a few months and resulted in the acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines and a new viewpoint on America’s ability to intervene in foreign affairs. McKinley adopted the “Open Door Policy” which allowed for all nations to freely trade with China, and supported this policy when he sent 5000 American troops to shut down the Boxer Rebellion when American missionaries were threatened.

In the election of 1900, McKinley, increasingly popular due to his success in the Spanish-American War, once again beet Bryan by a huge margin. Following his inauguration, McKinley took a tour of the nation, meeting with the public and making speechings. During the tour on September 6, 1901, while McKinley was meeting the public, Leon Czolgosz approached the president with a gun concealed in his handkerchief, and when he reached the front of the crowd, shot the president twice in the stomach.

The president collapsed and the crowd engulfed Czolgosz, stopping his escape. McKinley was taken off the premises and doctors were unable to locate the second bullet which had lodged itself in McKinley’s abdomen. In the days following the attack, McKinley was showing signs of recovery; however, unbeknownst to his doctors, gangrene had spread and poisoned his blood, and would eventually kill him. Czolgosz was sentenced to death by electric shock 7 weeks later. McKinley currently rests in the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-mckinley/

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-mckinley

https://www.history.com/news/the-assassination-of-president-william-mckinley

https://millercenter.org/president/mckinley/life-in-brief

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Czolgosz