William McKinley

      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.





                              President Bush Biography
                              Vice President Cheney Biography
                              Laura Bush Biography
                              Lynne Cheney Biography





      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, 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 McKinley's 
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 a deranged anarchist shot him twice. He died 
eight days later.
      U.S. Presidents: United in Service
      Take a look at presidential biographies made by kids and videos about 
service from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

      Twenty-Fifth President
      1897-1901

      Born: January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio

      Died: September 14, 1901 after being shot in Buffalo, New York

      Married to Ida Saxton McKinley

              Presidents by Date1789-97 Washington1797-1801 Adams, J.1801-09 
Jefferson1809-17 Madison1817-25 Monroe1825-29 Adams, J.Q.1829-37 
Jackson1837-41 Van Buren1841 Harrison, W.1841-45 Tyler1845-49 Polk1849-50 
Taylor1850-53 Fillmore1853-57 Pierce1857-61 Buchanan1861-65 Lincoln1865-69 
Johnson, A.1869-77 Grant1877-81 Hayes1881 Garfield1881-85 Arthur1885-89 
Cleveland1889-93 Harrison1885-89 Cleveland1897-1901 McKinley1901-09 
Roosevelt, T.1909-13 Taft1913-21 Wilson1921-23 Harding1923-29 
Coolidge1929-33 Hoover1933-45 Roosevelt, F.1945-53 Truman1953-61 
Eisenhower1961-63 Kennedy1963-69 Johnson, L.1969-74 Nixon1974-77 Ford1977-81 
Carter1981-89 Reagan1989-93 Bush, G.H.W.1993-2001 Clinton2001-now Bush, G.W.

      Presidents by Date

              Presidents by NameAdams, JohnAdams, John QuincyArthur, 
ChesterBuchanan, JamesBush, George H.W.Bush, George W.Carter, 
JimmyCleveland, GroverClinton, WilliamCoolidge, CalvinEisenhower, 
DwightFillmore, MillardFord, GeraldGarfield, JamesGrant, UlyssesHarding, 
WarrenHarrison, BenjaminHarrison, WilliamHayes, RutherfordHoover, 
HerbertJackson, AndrewJefferson, ThomasJohnson, AndrewJohnson, 
LyndonKennedy, John F.Lincoln, AbrahamNixon, RichardMadison, JamesMcKinley, 
WilliamMonroe, JamesPierce, FranklinPolk, JamesReagan, RonaldRoosevelt, 
FranklinRoosevelt, TheodoreTaft, William HowardTaylor, ZacharyTruman, 
HarryTyler, JohnVan Buren, MartinWashington, GeorgeWilson, Woodrow

      Presidents by Name