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U.S Presidents — William McKinley

OVERVIEW Name: William McKinley President: # 25 Term Number(s): 28, 29 Term Length: 4.5 Took Office: March 4, 1897 Left Office: September, 14, 1901 Age when Elected: 54 Party: Republican Also Known As: "Idol of Ohio" BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Education: Allegheny College, Albany Law School Occupation: Lawyer Other Governmental Position: Member of U.S. House of Representatives, Governor of Ohio. Military Service: Captain (brevet major) in the United States Army Union Army Religion: Methodist Spouse(s): Ida Saxton McKinley (January 25, 1871) Children: None Birthdate: January 29, 1843 Birthplace: Niles, Ohio Deathdate: September, 14, 1901 Deathplace: Buffalo, New York Age at Death: 58 Cause of Death: assassinated Place of Internment: McKinley Memorial Mausoleum in Canton, Ohio Signature FIRST ELECTION Election Year: 1896 Main Opponent: William Jennings Bryan Voter Participation: 79.30%   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 271 (61.00%) 7,102,246 (51.10%) 23 Main Opponent 176 (39.37%) 6,492,559 (45.80%) 22 total 447 13,905,691 45 SECOND ELECTION Election Year: 1900 Main Opponent: William Jennings Bryan Voter Participation: 73.20%   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 292 (65.00%) 7,228,864 (51.60%) 28 Main Opponent 155 (34.68%) 6,370,932 (45.50%) 17 total 447 13,997,426 45 CABINET AND COURT APPOINTMENTS Vice President: Garret Hobart, vacant, Theodore Roosevelt Secretary of State: John Sherman (1897–1898), William R. Day (1898), John Hay (1898–1901) Secretary of the Treasury: Lyman J. Gage (1897–1901) Secretary of War: Russell A. Alger (1897–1899), Elihu Root (1899–1901) Secretary of the Navy: John D. Long (1897–1901) Secretary of the Interior: Cornelius N. Bliss (1897–1899), Ethan A. Hitchcock (1899–1901) Secretary of Agriculture: James Wilson (1897–1901) Attorney General: Joseph McKenna (1897–1998), John W. Griggs (1898–1901), Philander C. Knox (1901) Postmaster General: James A. Gary (1897–1898), Charles E. Smith (1898–1901) Supreme Court Assignments: Joseph McKenna (1898) PRESIDENT'S BIOGRAPHY At the 1896 Republican Convention, in time of depression, the wealthy Cleveland businessman Marcus Alonzo Hanna ensured the nomination of his friend William McKinley as "the advance agent of prosperity." The Democrats, advocating the "free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold"—which would have mildly inflated the currency—nominated William Jennings Bryan. While Hanna used large contributions from eastern Republicans frightened by Bryan's views on silver, McKinley met delegations on his front porch in Canton, Ohio. He won by the largest majority of popular votes since 1872. Born in Niles, Ohio, in 1843, McKinley briefly attended Allegheny College, and was teaching in a country school when the Civil War broke out. Enlisting as a private in the Union Army, he was mustered out at the end of the war as a brevet major of volunteers. He studied law, opened an office in Canton, Ohio, and married Ida Saxton, daughter of a local banker. At 34, McKinley won a seat in Congress. His attractive personality, exemplary character, and quick intelligence enabled him to rise rapidly. He was appointed to the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Robert M. La Follette, Sr., who served with him, recalled that he generally "represented the newer view," and "on the great new questions... was generally on the side of the public and against private interests." During his 14 years in the House of Representatives, he became the leading Republican tariff expert, giving his name to the measure enacted in 1890. The next year he was elected governor of Ohio, serving two terms. When McKinley became president, the depression of 1893 had almost run its course and with it the extreme agitation over silver. Deferring action on the money question, he called Congress into special session to enact the highest tariff in history. In the friendly atmosphere of the McKinley Administration, industrial combinations developed at an unprecedented pace. Newspapers caricatured McKinley as a little boy led around by "Nursie" Hanna, the representative of the trusts. However, McKinley was not dominated by Hanna; he condemned the trusts as "dangerous conspiracies against the public good." Not prosperity, but foreign policy, dominated the McKinley Administration. Reporting the stalemate between Spanish forces and revolutionaries in Cuba, newspapers screamed that a quarter of the population was dead and the rest suffering acutely. Public indignation brought pressure upon the president for war. Unable to restrain Congress or the American people, McKinley delivered his message of neutral intervention in April 1898. Congress thereupon voted three resolutions tantamount to a declaration of war for the liberation and independence of Cuba. In the 100-day war, the United States destroyed the Spanish fleet outside Santiago harbor in Cuba, seized Manila in the Philippines, and occupied Puerto Rico. "Uncle Joe" Cannon, later Speaker of the House, once said that McKinley kept his ear so close to the ground that it was full of grasshoppers. When McKinley was undecided what to do about Spanish possessions other than Cuba, he toured the country and detected an imperialist sentiment. Thus the United States annexed the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. In 1900, McKinley again campaigned against Bryan. While Bryan inveighed against imperialism, McKinley quietly stood for "the full dinner pail." His second term, which had begun auspiciously, came to a tragic end in September 1901. He was standing in a receiving line at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition when an anarchist shot him twice. He died eight days later. FIRST LADY'S BIOGRAPHY Ida Saxton McKinley There was little resemblance between the vivacious young woman who married William McKinley in January 1871—a slender bride with sky-blue eyes and fair skin and masses of auburn hair—and the petulant invalid who moved into the White House with him in March 1897. Now her face was pallid and drawn, and her close-cropped hair gray; her eyes were glazed with pain or dulled with sedative. Only one thing had remained the same: love which had brightened early years of happiness and endured through more than twenty years of illness. Ida had been born in Canton, Ohio, in 1847, the elder daughter of a socially prominent and well-to-do family. James A. Saxton, a banker, was indulgent to his two daughters. He educated them well in local schools and a finishing school, and then sent them to Europe on the grand tour. Being pretty, fashionable, and a leader of the younger set in Canton did not satisfy Ida, so her broad-minded father suggested that she work in his bank. As a cashier she caught the attention of Major William McKinley, who had come to Canton in 1867 to establish a law practice, and they fell deeply in love. While he advanced in his profession, his young wife devoted her time to home and husband. A daughter, Katherine, was born on Christmas Day, 1871; a second, in April 1873. This time Ida was seriously ill, and the frail baby died in August. Phlebitis and epileptic seizures shattered the mother's health; and even before little Katie died in 1876, she was a confirmed invalid. As Congressman and then as governor of Ohio, William McKinley was never far from Mrs. McKinley's side. He arranged their life to suit her convenience. She spent most of her waking hours in a small Victorian rocking chair that she had had since childhood; she sat doing fancy work and crocheting bedroom slippers while she waited for her husband, who indulged her every whim. At the White House, the McKinleys acted as if her health were no great handicap to her role as first lady. Richly and prettily dressed, she received guests at formal receptions seated in a blue velvet chair. She held a fragrant bouquet to suggest that she would not shake hands. Contrary to protocol, she was seated beside the president at state dinners and he, as always, kept close watch for signs of an impending seizure. If necessary, he would cover her face with a large handkerchief for a moment. The first lady and her devoted husband seemed oblivious to any social inadequacy. Guests were discreet and newspapers silent on the subject of her "fainting spells." Only in recent years have the facts of her health been revealed. When the president was shot by an assassin in September 1901, after his second inauguration, he thought primarily of her. He murmured to his secretary, "My wife—be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her—oh, be careful." After his death, Mrs. McKinley lived in Canton, cared for by her younger sister, visiting her husband's grave almost daily. She died in 1907, and lies entombed beside the president and near their two little daughters in Canton's McKinley Memorial Mausoleum. MAJOR EVENTS 1898: Spanish-American War. War between U.S. and Spain begins after the USS Maine explodes in Havana harbor during Cuba's struggle for independence. Fought in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam, the U.S. wins and pays Spain $20 million for the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and control over Cuba. 1898: Annexation of Hawaii. 1899–1900: Open Door Policy/Boxer Rebellion. Protecting its interests in the Far East, the U.S. creates the open door policy stating that the United States and all European nations can trade with China. Chinese natives known as "Boxers" rebel against Western "foreigners" and evangelists. 1900: Gold Standard Act makes gold the only standard for redemption of paper money. TRIVIA 1. William McKinley was the first president to ride in an automobile while in office. 2. McKinley was the first president to use a telephone for campaigning.. 3. McKinley wore a carnation as a good luck charm. Seconds before he was shot by an assassin's bullet, he had given his famous red carnation to a little girl.