William McKinley

William McKinley
Born	William McKinley Jr. 29 1, 1843
Birthplace	Niles, Ohio, United States
Died	Template:Death date and age Buffalo, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, lawyer, military officer
Known for	25th President of the United States; Spanish–American War; McKinley Tariff; Gold Standard Act of 1900
Education	Albany Law School (attended)
Spouse(s)	Ida Saxton McKinley
Children	2
Awards	Brevet Major (Civil War)
Website	[http://www.mckinleymuseum.org/ Official site]

William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was an American politician, lawyer, and military officer who served as the 25th President of the United States from 1897 until his assassination in September 1901. Born in small-town Ohio during the era before the Civil War, McKinley rose from enlisted private to brevet major during that conflict, built a career in law and Republican politics in Canton, Ohio, and ultimately presided over a transformative period in American history marked by economic recovery, the gold standard, protective tariffs, and the dramatic expansion of American territory overseas. A member of the Republican Party, he led a political realignment that made the Republicans the dominant party in the industrial states and across much of the nation for decades to come. McKinley successfully guided the United States through the Spanish–American War of 1898, a swift conflict that resulted in American acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and effective control over Cuba. His administration also oversaw the annexation of the independent Republic of Hawaii and the partition of the Samoan Islands. McKinley won re-election in 1900 but was shot by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, and died eight days later on September 14, becoming the third American president to be assassinated.

Early Life

William McKinley Jr. was born on January 29, 1843, in Niles, Ohio, a small community in the Mahoning Valley. He was the seventh of nine children born to William McKinley Sr. and Nancy Allison McKinley. His father operated an iron foundry, and the family was of Scots-Irish and English descent. The McKinleys were a middle-class family with strong ties to the iron industry that characterized northeastern Ohio during the mid-nineteenth century.

When McKinley was nine years old, the family moved to Poland, Ohio, so that the children could attend a better school. He was described as a studious and serious young man. McKinley attended the Poland Academy and later enrolled at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, though illness and financial difficulties forced him to leave after a single term. He returned to Poland, where he taught at a local school and worked at the post office before the outbreak of the Civil War.

When the Civil War began in 1861, the eighteen-year-old McKinley enlisted as a private in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that also included future president Rutherford B. Hayes, who served as one of its officers. McKinley saw extensive action during the war, participating in several major engagements including the battles of Antietam, Kernstown, and Cedar Creek. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, when, as a commissary sergeant, he drove a mule-drawn wagon of hot food and coffee to troops under fire on the front lines. This act of bravery earned him a promotion. McKinley was the last president to have served in the Civil War, and he was the only one to have begun his military service as an enlisted man and ended it as a brevet major. He received his brevet promotion to major for gallantry and meritorious service, a rank by which he was addressed for the rest of his life.

Education

After the Civil War, McKinley returned to Ohio and pursued the study of law. He briefly attended Albany Law School in Albany, New York, though he did not complete a degree there. He was admitted to the bar in 1867 and established a law practice in Canton, Ohio, which became his permanent home and political base. Canton would remain closely associated with McKinley for the rest of his life, serving as the site of his famous front porch campaign in 1896 and the location of his eventual burial at the McKinley National Memorial.

Career

Early Political Career and Congress

McKinley's entry into politics was facilitated by his military reputation and his connections within the Ohio Republican Party. He served as the Stark County, Ohio, prosecuting attorney before winning election to the United States House of Representatives in 1876. He served in Congress, with one brief interruption, for fourteen years, representing Ohio's 17th and later 18th congressional districts.

In the House, McKinley became the Republican Party's leading authority on the protective tariff, a central issue in American politics during the Gilded Age. He believed that protectionism — the imposition of high import duties to shield American manufacturers and workers from foreign competition — was essential to national prosperity. His expertise and advocacy on the issue culminated in the passage of the McKinley Tariff of 1890, which significantly raised duties on imported goods. The tariff proved controversial, as it raised consumer prices and provoked a political backlash. Combined with a Democratic redistricting effort designed to gerrymander him out of his congressional seat, the McKinley Tariff contributed to his defeat in the Democratic landslide of 1890.

Governor of Ohio

Despite his congressional defeat, McKinley's political career was far from over. In 1891, he was elected Governor of Ohio, winning by a comfortable margin. He was re-elected in 1893, further burnishing his credentials as one of the leading Republicans in the country. As governor, McKinley steered a moderate course between the interests of capital and labor, a balancing act that broadened his appeal within the party and beyond. His gubernatorial tenure coincided with the severe economic depression that began with the Panic of 1893, and McKinley's response to the crisis and his continued advocacy of protective tariffs positioned him as a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination.

During his time as governor, McKinley built a close relationship with the wealthy Ohio industrialist and political operative Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who became his chief political adviser, fundraiser, and campaign manager. Hanna played an instrumental role in organizing McKinley's presidential campaigns and in shaping the modern practice of political fundraising and organization.

Presidential Campaign of 1896

McKinley secured the Republican nomination for president at the party's convention in St. Louis in June 1896. The nation was in the grip of a deep economic depression, and the central issues of the campaign were the tariff and the currency question — specifically, whether the United States should maintain the gold standard or adopt the free coinage of silver, which proponents argued would inflate the money supply and ease the burden on indebted farmers and workers.

McKinley's Democratic opponent, William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska, ran an energetic campaign crisscrossing the country and delivering impassioned speeches in favor of free silver. McKinley, by contrast, conducted a "front porch campaign" from his home in Canton, Ohio, in which delegations of supporters traveled by railroad to hear him speak from his front porch. This strategy, organized by Hanna, allowed McKinley to control his message while avoiding the appearance of undignified stumping. McKinley advocated "sound money" — the gold standard unless altered by international agreement — and promised that high tariffs would restore prosperity.

McKinley won the election decisively, carrying the industrial states of the Northeast and Midwest and receiving approximately 7.1 million popular votes to Bryan's 6.5 million. Senator James K. Jones, Bryan's campaign chairman, sent a telegram conceding the election to McKinley. The 1896 election marked a major political realignment, establishing Republican dominance that persisted for more than three decades.

Presidency: Domestic Policy

McKinley was inaugurated on March 4, 1897, and immediately turned his attention to the economic issues that had defined his campaign. His presidency saw a period of rapid economic growth as the depression of the 1890s receded.

On the tariff question, McKinley signed the Dingley Tariff of 1897, which raised import duties to their highest levels in American history to that date. The tariff was designed to protect American manufacturers and factory workers from foreign competition and to generate revenue for the federal government.

On the currency question, McKinley rejected the free silver position and worked to secure the nation's commitment to the gold standard. This effort culminated in the passage of the Gold Standard Act of 1900, which formally established gold as the sole basis for redeeming paper money in the United States. The act ended years of debate over bimetallism and provided a stable monetary foundation for the expanding economy.

McKinley's domestic agenda also reflected his moderate approach to labor issues. While he was closely allied with industrial interests, he sought to avoid the kind of violent confrontations between labor and capital that had characterized the previous decade.

Presidency: Foreign Policy and the Spanish–American War

McKinley's foreign policy marked a significant departure from the relative isolationism of previous administrations and reflected the era's broader trend of overseas imperialism among the great powers. Under his leadership, the United States acquired an overseas empire spanning the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The most consequential foreign policy event of McKinley's presidency was the Spanish–American War of 1898. The war arose from the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which had generated significant public sympathy in the United States, fueled in part by sensationalized press coverage of Spanish atrocities against Cuban civilians. McKinley initially hoped to persuade Spain to grant independence to Cuba through diplomatic means without resort to armed conflict. However, the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in February 1898, under mysterious circumstances, inflamed American public opinion and increased pressure on the administration to act. When diplomatic negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory resolution, McKinley requested and signed Congress's declaration of war against Spain in April 1898.

The war was swift and decisive. American forces achieved quick victories in both the Caribbean and the Pacific theaters. The United States Navy, under Commodore George Dewey, destroyed the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines on May 1, 1898. In Cuba, American ground forces, including the famous Rough Riders led by Theodore Roosevelt, fought at the battles of El Caney and San Juan Hill in July 1898. Spain sued for peace, and the resulting Treaty of Paris, signed in December 1898, required Spain to cede its main overseas colonies — Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines — to the United States. Cuba was promised independence but remained under American military occupation and effective control until 1902, after McKinley's death.

The acquisition of the Philippines proved especially contentious. Filipinos who had fought alongside the Americans against Spain expected independence, and when it became clear that the United States intended to retain the archipelago, a pro-independence rebellion erupted. The resulting Philippine–American War was a protracted and bloody conflict that was eventually suppressed by American forces, though it continued beyond McKinley's lifetime.

Annexation of Hawaii and Samoa

McKinley's expansionist policies extended beyond the spoils of the Spanish–American War. In 1898, his administration oversaw the annexation of the independent Republic of Hawaii, which had been the subject of American interest for decades due to its strategic location in the Pacific and its importance to American sugar planters. Hawaii became an organized territory of the United States in 1900.

McKinley's administration also acquired what is now American Samoa through the Tripartite Convention of 1899, in which the United States, Great Britain, and Germany partitioned the Samoan Islands. The convention reflected a period of warming relations between the United States and the United Kingdom, known as the Great Rapprochement.

Re-election in 1900

McKinley ran for re-election in 1900 with Theodore Roosevelt, the hero of San Juan Hill and then-governor of New York, as his vice presidential running mate. The campaign again pitted McKinley against William Jennings Bryan, and the issues included the tariff, the gold standard, and the new question of American imperialism. McKinley won by an even larger margin than in 1896, solidifying the Republican realignment and affirming public support for his policies of economic protectionism and overseas expansion.

Assassination

On September 6, 1901, McKinley attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, where he was greeting the public in a receiving line at the Temple of Music. A 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approached McKinley in the line with a pistol concealed beneath a bandage wrapped around his right hand and shot the president twice at close range.

One bullet grazed McKinley, but the second penetrated his abdomen, passing through his stomach. Surgeons operated on the president but were unable to locate the bullet. Initially, McKinley appeared to rally, and his doctors issued optimistic reports. However, gangrene set in around the bullet wounds and along the path of the bullet through the tissues. McKinley's condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died on September 14, 1901, eight days after the shooting. The physicians' public announcement stated that "death resulted from the gangrene, which affected the stomach around the bullet wounds as well as the tissues around the further course of the bullet."

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th President of the United States following McKinley's death. Czolgosz was tried, convicted, and executed by electrocution on October 29, 1901.

Personal Life

After the Civil War, McKinley settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and became active in local civic and political life. In 1871, he married Ida Saxton, the daughter of a prominent Canton banker. The couple had two daughters, Katherine ("Katie") and Ida, but both children died in infancy — a series of tragedies that profoundly affected Ida McKinley, who suffered from epilepsy and depression for much of her adult life.

McKinley was known for his devotion to his wife throughout their marriage. He adapted his schedule and public appearances to accommodate her health needs, and their relationship was widely noted by contemporaries. Despite her condition, Ida McKinley accompanied her husband during much of his political career, including his time in the White House.

McKinley was a devout Methodist and a lifelong member of the Republican Party. He was remembered by contemporaries as courteous, patient, and dignified in manner. His personal warmth and ability to maintain relationships across factional lines within the party contributed to his political success.

Following his assassination, McKinley was buried in Canton, Ohio. The McKinley National Memorial, a large domed mausoleum, was constructed on a hill overlooking the city and dedicated in 1907. Both William and Ida McKinley, who died in 1907, are interred there. The adjacent McKinley Presidential Library & Museum serves as a repository for artifacts and documents related to his life and presidency.

Recognition

McKinley's name has been attached to numerous places, institutions, and landmarks across the United States. Most prominently, North America's highest peak, then known as Mount McKinley in Alaska, bore his name from 1917 until 2015, when the Obama administration officially restored the mountain's indigenous name, Denali. The renaming proved controversial and has remained a point of political debate. In 2026, on the occasion of the 183rd anniversary of McKinley's birth, a presidential message commemorated McKinley and his contributions to the nation as part of America's 250th anniversary celebrations.

The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton, Ohio, preserves his legacy and serves as an educational institution dedicated to his life, his presidency, and the history of the era. McKinley has been the subject of numerous biographies, scholarly studies, and media portrayals. The C-SPAN television network has featured programming on his life and presidency as part of its presidential history series.

In surveys of historians and political scientists ranking the presidents of the United States, McKinley's placement has varied over time. His reputation declined significantly during the mid-twentieth century, when scholars viewed his presidency primarily through the lens of imperialism and his close association with big business. In more recent decades, some historians have reassessed his presidency more favorably, noting his political skill, his management of the Spanish–American War, and his role in the 1896 realignment.

Legacy

William McKinley's presidency occupies a pivotal position in the history of American politics and foreign policy. His two election victories, in 1896 and 1900, established a Republican political coalition that dominated American national politics for more than three decades, until the Great Depression and the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. The 1896 election in particular is considered one of the most consequential realigning elections in American history, as it consolidated Republican support among urban workers, industrialists, and middle-class voters in the Northeast and Midwest.

McKinley's economic policies — the protective tariff and the gold standard — defined the domestic agenda of his era and shaped debates about trade and monetary policy that have continued into the twenty-first century. His signing of the Dingley Tariff and the Gold Standard Act represented the triumph of the protectionist and "sound money" wings of the Republican Party. In the 2020s, McKinley's tariff policies have attracted renewed attention in American political discourse, with commentators drawing comparisons between the economic nationalism of McKinley's era and contemporary trade policy debates.

In foreign policy, McKinley's presidency marked the emergence of the United States as a global power with overseas territorial possessions. The Spanish–American War and the subsequent acquisitions of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, Hawaii, and American Samoa transformed the nation's role in world affairs. These acquisitions raised fundamental questions about the relationship between democracy and empire, self-determination and colonial rule — questions that have continued to shape American foreign policy and the political status of these territories to the present day.

McKinley's assassination at the hands of an anarchist shocked the nation and contributed to a broader public concern about political violence and the threat of anarchism in the early twentieth century. His death elevated Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency, inaugurating the Progressive Era and a more assertive approach to both domestic reform and international affairs.

The Library of Congress maintains a comprehensive collection of resources related to McKinley's life and presidency, and the National Archives holds records from his administration. McKinley remains a subject of scholarly interest and public commemoration, his legacy reflecting the complex and transformative era over which he presided.