William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
was born in 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh of nine children of William McKinley Sr.
The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which the two nations signed in 1850, prohibited either from establishing exclusive control over a canal there.
He was a lifelong pious Methodist. In 1852, the family moved from Niles to Poland, Ohio so that their children could attend its better schools.
Graduating from Poland Seminary in 1859, McKinley enrolled the following year at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
He remained at Allegheny for one year, returning home in 1860 after becoming ill and depressed.
Among them were McKinley and his cousin William McKinley Osbourne, who enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland Guards in June 1861.
Scammon, set out for western Virginia (today part of West Virginia) in July 1861 as a part of the Kanawha Division.
Howe, co-authored and published a twelve-volume work, Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1866, published in 1886. ==Legal career and marriage== After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in the law and began studying in the office of an attorney in Poland, Ohio.
McKinley spent the winter substituting for a commissary sergeant who was ill, and in April 1862 he was promoted to that rank.
McKinley and his comrades saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan's cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island.
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.
In February 1865, Crook was captured by Confederate raiders.
Howe, co-authored and published a twelve-volume work, Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1866, published in 1886. ==Legal career and marriage== After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in the law and began studying in the office of an attorney in Poland, Ohio.
After studying there for less than a year, McKinley returned home and was admitted to the bar in Warren, Ohio, in March 1867. That same year, he moved to Canton, the county seat of Stark County, and set up a small office.
Hayes was nominated for governor in 1867, McKinley made speeches on his behalf in Stark County, his first foray into politics.
In 1869, McKinley ran for the office of prosecuting attorney of Stark County, an office that had historically been held by Democrats, and was unexpectedly elected.
When McKinley ran for re-election in 1871, the Democrats nominated William A.
They were married on January 25, 1871, in the newly built First Presbyterian Church of Canton.
Their first child, Katherine, was born on Christmas Day 1871.
Lynch, McKinley's opponent in the 1871 election, and his partner, William R.
On November 6, 1900, he was proven correct, winning the largest victory for any Republican since 1872.
A second daughter, Ida, followed in 1873 but died the same year.
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.
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.
In 1876, he was elected to Congress, where he became the Republican Party's expert on the protective tariff, which he promised would bring prosperity.
Delegates to the county conventions thought he could attract blue-collar voters, and in August 1876, McKinley was nominated.
McKinley's victory came at a personal cost: his income as a congressman would be half of what he earned as a lawyer. ==Rising politician (1877–1895)== ===Spokesman for protection=== McKinley took his congressional seat in October 1877, when President Hayes summoned Congress into special session.
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 that overrode Hayes's veto of the legislation.
In 1878, McKinley was redistricted to the 16th congressional 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." After the 1882 election, McKinley was unseated on an election contest by a near party-line House vote.
Garfield's election as president in 1880 created a vacancy on the House Ways and Means Committee; McKinley was selected to fill it, gaining a spot on the most powerful committee after only two terms. 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.
Sherman, who had helped to found the Republican Party, ran three times for the Republican nomination for president in the 1880s, each time failing, while Foraker began a meteoric rise in Ohio politics early in the decade.
In 1878, McKinley was redistricted to the 16th congressional 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." After the 1882 election, McKinley was unseated on an election contest by a near party-line House vote.
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.
Blaine, the unsuccessful Republican 1884 presidential nominee.
The Democrats again redistricted Stark County for the 1884 election; McKinley was returned to Congress anyway. 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, populated by solidly Democratic Pennsylvania Dutch.
This was done as the candidate feared an offhand comment by another that might rebound on him, as had happened to Blaine in 1884. Most Democratic newspapers refused to support Bryan, the major exception being the New York Journal, controlled by William Randolph Hearst, whose fortune was based on silver mines.
Howe, co-authored and published a twelve-volume work, Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1866, published in 1886. ==Legal career and marriage== After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in the law and began studying in the office of an attorney in Poland, Ohio.
By 1886, McKinley, Senator John Sherman, and Governor Joseph B.
The latter relationship broke off at the 1888 Republican National Convention, where McKinley, Foraker, and Hanna were all delegates supporting Sherman.
Although Hanna remained active in business and in promoting other Republicans, in the years after 1888, he spent an increasing amount of time boosting McKinley's political career. In 1889, with the Republicans in the majority, McKinley sought election as Speaker of the House.
Horner noted, "What is certainly true is that in 1888 the two men began to develop a close working relationship that helped put McKinley in the White House." Sherman did not run for president again after 1888, and so Hanna could support McKinley's ambitions for that office wholeheartedly. Backed by Hanna's money and organizational skills, McKinley quietly built support for a presidential bid through 1895 and early 1896.
Although Hanna remained active in business and in promoting other Republicans, in the years after 1888, he spent an increasing amount of time boosting McKinley's political career. In 1889, with the Republicans in the majority, McKinley sought election as Speaker of the House.
Campbell, a Democrat, who had defeated Foraker in 1889, was to seek re-election in 1891.
His 1890 McKinley Tariff was highly controversial and, together with a Democratic redistricting aimed at gerrymandering him out of office, led to his defeat in the Democratic landslide of 1890.
The Ohioan guided the McKinley Tariff of 1890 through Congress; although McKinley's work was altered through the influence of special interests in the Senate, it imposed a number of protective tariffs on foreign goods. ===Gerrymandering and defeat for re-election=== Recognizing McKinley's potential, the Democrats, whenever they controlled the Ohio legislature, sought to gerrymander or redistrict him out of office.
The Democrats again redistricted Stark County for the 1884 election; McKinley was returned to Congress anyway. 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, populated by solidly Democratic Pennsylvania Dutch.
He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and 1893, steering a moderate course between capital and labor interests.
The Republicans could not reverse the gerrymander, as legislative elections would not be held until 1891, but they could throw all their energies into the district.
Campbell, a Democrat, who had defeated Foraker in 1889, was to seek re-election in 1891.
The Ohio Republican party remained divided, but McKinley quietly arranged for Foraker to nominate him at the 1891 state Republican convention, which chose McKinley by acclamation.
The former congressman spent much of the second half of 1891 campaigning against Campbell, beginning in his birthplace of Niles.
(State legislators still elected US Senators.) McKinley won the 1891 election by some 20,000 votes; the following January, Sherman, with considerable assistance from Hanna, turned back a challenge by Foraker to win the legislature's vote for another term in the US Senate. 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.
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 in the 1892 senatorial election.
He procured legislation that set up an arbitration board to settle work disputes and obtained passage of a law that fined employers who fired workers for belonging to a union. 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.
He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and 1893, steering a moderate course between capital and labor interests.
Hayes convinced them to accept what the government had issued them; his style in dealing with the men impressed McKinley, beginning an association and friendship that would last until Hayes's death in 1893. After a month of training, McKinley and the 23rd Ohio, now led by Colonel Eliakim P.
In the wake of Cleveland's victory, McKinley was seen by some as the likely Republican candidate in 1896. Soon after Cleveland's return to office, hard times struck the nation with the Panic of 1893.
Walker was ruined by the recession; McKinley was called upon for repayment in February 1893.
All of the couple's property was returned to them by the end of 1893, and when McKinley, who had promised eventual repayment, asked for the list of contributors, it was refused him.
He was easily re-elected in November 1893, receiving the largest percentage of the vote of any Ohio governor since the Civil War. McKinley campaigned widely for Republicans in the 1894 midterm congressional elections; many party candidates in districts where he spoke were successful.
The new republic, dominated by business interests, had overthrown the Queen in 1893 when she rejected a limited role for herself.
He was easily re-elected in November 1893, receiving the largest percentage of the vote of any Ohio governor since the Civil War. McKinley campaigned widely for Republicans in the 1894 midterm congressional elections; many party candidates in districts where he spoke were successful.
His political efforts in Ohio were rewarded with the election in November 1895 of a Republican successor as governor, Asa Bushnell, and a Republican legislature that elected Foraker to the Senate.
Horner noted, "What is certainly true is that in 1888 the two men began to develop a close working relationship that helped put McKinley in the White House." Sherman did not run for president again after 1888, and so Hanna could support McKinley's ambitions for that office wholeheartedly. Backed by Hanna's money and organizational skills, McKinley quietly built support for a presidential bid through 1895 and early 1896.
By 1895, the conflict had expanded to a war for Cuban independence.
With the aid of his close adviser Mark Hanna, he secured the Republican nomination for president in 1896 amid a deep economic depression.
The United States annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898 and it became a United States territory. Historians regard McKinley's 1896 victory as a realigning election in which the political stalemate of the post-Civil War era gave way to the Republican-dominated Fourth Party System, beginning with the Progressive Era.
In the wake of Cleveland's victory, McKinley was seen by some as the likely Republican candidate in 1896. Soon after Cleveland's return to office, hard times struck the nation with the Panic of 1893.
With party peace in Ohio assured, McKinley turned to the national arena. ==Election of 1896== ===Obtaining the nomination=== It is unclear when William McKinley began to seriously prepare a run for president.
Horner noted, "What is certainly true is that in 1888 the two men began to develop a close working relationship that helped put McKinley in the White House." Sherman did not run for president again after 1888, and so Hanna could support McKinley's ambitions for that office wholeheartedly. Backed by Hanna's money and organizational skills, McKinley quietly built support for a presidential bid through 1895 and early 1896.
According to historian Stanley Jones in his study of the 1896 election, Hanna, on McKinley's behalf, met with the eastern Republican political bosses, such as Senators Thomas Platt of New York and Matthew Quay of Pennsylvania, who were willing to guarantee McKinley's nomination in exchange for promises regarding patronage and offices.
Louis on June 16, 1896, McKinley had an ample majority of delegates.
The silverites took control of the 1896 Democratic National Convention and chose William Jennings Bryan for president; he had electrified the delegates with his Cross of Gold speech.
Hal Williams in his book on the 1896 election, "it was, as it turned out, a brilliant strategy.
On November 3, 1896, the voters had their say.
Voters in cities supported McKinley; the only city outside the South of more than 100,000 population carried by Bryan was Denver, Colorado. The 1896 presidential election is often seen as a realigning election, in which McKinley's view of a stronger central government building American industry through protective tariffs and a dollar based on gold triumphed.
Sherman's mental faculties were decaying even in 1896; this was widely spoken of in political circles, but McKinley did not believe the rumors.
By 1900, with another campaign ahead and good economic conditions, McKinley urged Congress to pass such a law, and was able to sign the Gold Standard Act on March 14, 1900, using a gold pen to do so. ===Civil rights=== In the wake of McKinley's election in 1896, African Americans were hopeful of progress towards equality.
McKinley had spoken out against lynching while governor, and most African Americans who could still vote supported him in 1896.
The Democratic convention convened the next month in Kansas City and nominated William Jennings Bryan, setting up a rematch of the 1896 contest. The candidates were the same, but the issues of the campaign had shifted: free silver was still a question that animated many voters, but the Republicans focused on victory in war and prosperity at home as issues they believed favored their party.
As in 1896, Bryan embarked on a speaking tour around the country while McKinley stayed at home, this time making only one speech, to accept his nomination.
Bryan's campaigning failed to excite the voters as it had in 1896, and McKinley never doubted that he would be re-elected.
In 1896, a gold prospector gave McKinley's name to Denali, the tallest mountain in North America at .
Klinghard argued that McKinley's personal control of the 1896 campaign gave him the opportunity to reshape the presidency—rather than simply follow the party platform—by representing himself as the voice of the people.
Some political scientists, such as David Mayhew, questioned whether the 1896 election truly represented a realignment, thereby placing in issue whether McKinley deserves credit for it.
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
He promoted the 1897 Dingley Tariff to protect manufacturers and factory workers from foreign competition and in 1900 secured the passage of the Gold Standard Act.
According to the biographer, though Bryan was popular among rural voters, "McKinley appealed to a very different industrialized, urbanized America." ==Presidency (1897–1901)== ===Inauguration and appointments=== McKinley was sworn in as president on March 4, 1897, as his wife and mother looked on.
The Navy Department was offered to former Massachusetts Congressman John Davis Long, an old friend from the House, on January 30, 1897.
The United States and Spain began negotiations on the subject in 1897, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence, while the rebels (and their American supporters) would never settle for anything less. In January 1898, Spain promised some concessions to the rebels, but when American consul Fitzhugh Lee reported riots in Havana, McKinley agreed to send the battleship USS Maine.
When black postmasters at Hogansville, Georgia in 1897, and at Lake City, South Carolina the following year, were assaulted, McKinley issued no statement of condemnation.
McKinley was president during the Spanish–American War of 1898, raised protective tariffs to boost American industry, and rejected the expansionary monetary policy of free silver, keeping the nation on the gold standard. A Republican, McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War; he was the only one to begin his service as an enlisted man, and end as a brevet major.
McKinley hoped to persuade Spain to grant independence to rebellious Cuba without conflict, but when negotiation failed, requested and signed Congress's declaration of war to begin the Spanish-American War of 1898.
The United States annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898 and it became a United States territory. Historians regard McKinley's 1896 victory as a realigning election in which the political stalemate of the post-Civil War era gave way to the Republican-dominated Fourth Party System, beginning with the Progressive Era.
The United States and Spain began negotiations on the subject in 1897, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence, while the rebels (and their American supporters) would never settle for anything less. In January 1898, Spain promised some concessions to the rebels, but when American consul Fitzhugh Lee reported riots in Havana, McKinley agreed to send the battleship USS Maine.
By the time the troops arrived in the Philippines at the end of June 1898, McKinley had decided that Spain would be required to surrender the archipelago to the United States.
Spain ultimately agreed to a ceasefire on those terms on August 12, and treaty negotiations began in Paris in September 1898.
The resulting Newlands Resolution passed both houses by wide margins, and McKinley signed it into law on July 8, 1898.
McKinley toured the South in late 1898, promoting sectional reconciliation.
Elected governor of New York on a reform platform in 1898, Roosevelt had his eye on the presidency.
The territorial expansion of 1898 is often seen by historians as the beginning of
McKinley had difficulty convincing the Senate to approve the treaty by the requisite two-thirds vote, but his lobbying, and that of Vice President Hobart, eventually saw success, as the Senate voted in favor on February 6, 1899, 57 to 27. During the war, McKinley also pursued the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii.
Gould concluded regarding race, "McKinley lacked the vision to transcend the biases of his day and to point toward a better future for all Americans". ===1900 election=== Republicans were generally successful in state and local elections around the country in 1899, and McKinley was optimistic about his chances at re-election in 1900.
The only question about the Republican ticket concerned the vice presidential nomination; McKinley needed a new running mate as Hobart had died in late 1899.
He promoted the 1897 Dingley Tariff to protect manufacturers and factory workers from foreign competition and in 1900 secured the passage of the Gold Standard Act.
McKinley defeated Bryan again in the 1900 presidential election in a campaign focused on imperialism, protectionism, and free silver.
Americans and other westerners in Peking were besieged and, in cooperation with other western powers, McKinley ordered 5000 troops to the city in June 1900 in the China Relief Expedition.
By 1900, with another campaign ahead and good economic conditions, McKinley urged Congress to pass such a law, and was able to sign the Gold Standard Act on March 14, 1900, using a gold pen to do so. ===Civil rights=== In the wake of McKinley's election in 1896, African Americans were hopeful of progress towards equality.
Gould concluded regarding race, "McKinley lacked the vision to transcend the biases of his day and to point toward a better future for all Americans". ===1900 election=== Republicans were generally successful in state and local elections around the country in 1899, and McKinley was optimistic about his chances at re-election in 1900.
On November 6, 1900, he was proven correct, winning the largest victory for any Republican since 1872.
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
His achievements were cut short when he was fatally shot on September 6, 1901, by Leon Czolgosz, a second-generation Polish-American anarchist.
He was successful, and a new treaty was drafted and approved, but not before McKinley's assassination in 1901. ===Tariffs and bimetallism=== McKinley had built his reputation in Congress on high tariffs, promising protection for American business and well-paid American factory workers.
Bryan carried only four states outside the solid South, and McKinley even won Bryan's home state of Nebraska. ===Second term=== Soon after his second inauguration on March 4, 1901, William and Ida McKinley undertook a six-week tour of the nation.
Traveling mostly by rail, the McKinleys were to travel through the South to the Southwest, and then up the Pacific coast and east again, to conclude with a visit on June 13, 1901, to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
Czolgosz, put on trial for murder nine days after McKinley's death, was found guilty, sentenced to death on September 26, and executed by electric chair on October 29, 1901. ==Funeral, memorials, and legacy== ===Funeral and resting place=== According to Gould, "The nation experienced a wave of genuine grief at the news of McKinley's passing." The stock market, faced with sudden uncertainty, suffered a steep decline—almost unnoticed in the mourning.
Many supporters recommended him to McKinley for the second spot on the ticket, and Roosevelt believed it would be an excellent stepping stone to the presidency in 1904.
She remained in Canton for the remainder of her life, setting up a shrine in her house, and often visiting the receiving vault, until her death at age 59 on May 26, 1907.
She died only months before the completion of the large marble monument to her husband in Canton, which was dedicated by President Roosevelt on September 30, 1907.
Controversy and public interest surrounded Roosevelt throughout the seven and a half years of his presidency as memories of McKinley faded; by 1920, according to Gould, McKinley's administration was deemed no more than "a mediocre prelude to the vigor and energy of Theodore Roosevelt's".
The voting patterns established then displaced the near-deadlock the major parties had seen since the Civil War; the Republican dominance begun then would continue until 1932, another realigning election with the ascent of Franklin Roosevelt.
After the assassination, the present United States Secret Service came into existence, when the Congress deemed it necessary, that presidential protection be part of its duties.United States Secret Service controversial aspect of McKinley's presidency is territorial expansion and the question of imperialism—with the exception of the Philippines, granted independence in 1946, the United States retains the territories taken under McKinley.
Beginning in the 1950s, McKinley received more favorable evaluations; nevertheless, in surveys ranking American presidents, he has generally been placed near the middle, often trailing contemporaries such as Hayes and Cleveland.
The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to Denali in 1975, which is what it was called by locals.
Similarly, Denali National Park was known as Mount McKinley National Park until December 2, 1980, when it was changed by legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter. ===Legacy and historical image=== McKinley's biographer H.
Based on past results, Democrats thought the new boundaries should produce a Democratic majority of 2000 to 3000.
Bush in the 2000s—a realignment that did not happen.
Korzi argued in 2005 that while it is tempting to see McKinley as the key figure in the transition from congressional domination of government to the modern, powerful president, this change was an incremental process through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Phillips writes that McKinley's low rating is undeserved, and that he should be ranked just after the great presidents such as Washington and Lincoln.
The Department of the Interior followed suit in August 2015 as a part of a visit to Alaska by President Barack Obama.
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