Historical Figure
William McKinley
1843–1901
President of the United States from 1897 to 1901
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Biography
William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely dominant in the industrial states and nationwide for decades. McKinley successfully led the U.S. in the Spanish–American War and oversaw a period of American expansionism, with the annexations of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and American Samoa.
Timeline
The story of William McKinley, told in moments.
Elected to Congress from Ohio. Became the Republican expert on protective tariffs. His 1890 McKinley Tariff raised import duties to nearly 50%. It was so unpopular that Democrats gerrymandered his district and voted him out.
Led the U.S. into the Spanish-American War after the USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor. Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The U.S. annexed Hawaii the same year. McKinley turned a hemispheric republic into a global power in four months.
Shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was shaking hands in a receiving line. Czolgosz had hidden a pistol under a bandaged hand.
Died eight days after the shooting. Gangrene had spread along the bullet track. He was 58. Theodore Roosevelt, his vice president, took the oath of office. Czolgosz was executed by electric chair 45 days later.
In Their Own Words (13)
Expositions are the timekeepers of progress.
Speech delivered at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York (September 5, 1901)., 1901
Without competition we would be clinging to the clumsy antiquated processes of farming and manufacture and the methods of business of long ago, and the twentieth would be no further advanced than the eighteenth century.
Speech delivered at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York (September 5, 1901)., 1901
Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not in conflict; and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.
Speech delivered at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York (September 5, 1901)., 1901
Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness, and peace to all our neighbors, and like blessings to all the peoples and powers of earth.
Speech delivered at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York (September 5, 1901)., 1901
The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.
Letter (December 21, 1898)., 1898
Artifacts (15)
William McKinley
Strohmeyer & Wyman, active 1890s
William McKinley and Garret Augustus Hobart
Pach Brothers Studio, active 1867 - 1993
Signing of the Peace Protocol
Frances Benjamin Johnston
![[Group of 3 Stereograph Views of the 1901 Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, New York]](https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/original/DP75698.jpg)
[Group of 3 Stereograph Views of the 1901 Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, New York]
James M. Davis|Kilburn Brothers|William McKinley|First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley
Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley: From His Election to Congress to the Present Time
1. The Wood Tariff Bill 1 2. Congressional Gerrymandering 28 3. Free and Fair Elections 83 4. Crimes against the Ballot — Ohio Repubucan State Conybntion OF 1880 55 5. The Contest against Judge...
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