Prez 25 - McKinley

Scramblin' thru... the U.S. Presidents

"The Idol of Ohio"
"The Napoleon of Protection"
"The Stocking-Footed Orator"
"The Liberator of Cuba"

Personal Information

January 29, 1843
Niles, Ohio

September 14, 1901
(age 58)
Buffalo, New York

Cause of Death:
Assassination by firearm & gangrene from wound

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 198 lbs.

Methodist

Level: College +
(Started at Allegheny College but withdrew;
Albany Law School)

Married: Once
(Ida, 1871)

Biological Kids: 2

Wrote:
1 book

Career BEFORE Presidency:
soldier, lawyer,
U.S. Congressman, Governor of Ohio

Career AFTER Presidency:
Died in office

Presidential Information

Began: March 4, 1897
(age 54)

Ended: Sept. 14, 1901
(age 58)

# Months Served: 54
(1 full term)

# Vice Presidents: 2
(Garret A. Hobart
& Theodore Roosevelt)

Political Affiliation:
Republican

Salary:
$50,000/year

Election Information

Election of 1896

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Election of 1900

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A Presidential Life in Review

Click on the banner above to go to the William McKinley homepage at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Click on the buttons below for in-depth information about McKinley's Presidency.

A life in brief

Life before the presidency

Campaigns & elections

William McKinley served in the U.S. Congress and as the Governor of Ohio before running for the Presidency in 1896. As a longtime champion of protective tariffs, the Republican McKinley ran on a platform of promoting American prosperity and won a landslide victory to become the 25th U.S. President. Serving from 1897 to 1901, McKinley led the nation into the Spanish-American War (1898) over the issue of Cuban independence (and American imperialism). The brief and decisive conflict ended with the U.S. in possession of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam – but also sparked the costly Philippine-American Ware (1899-1902). In general, McKinley's bold foreign policy opened the doors for the U.S. to play an increasingly active role in world affairs. Re-elected in 1900, McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. Source: The History Channel

Historical Rankings

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William McKinley Fun Facts

McKinley holds the record for Presidential handshaking, having shook over 2,500 hands in one hour during a campaign stop.

McKinley was the first President to use a telephone to campaign.

During the Civil War, McKinley's commanding officer was Rutherford B. Hayes, who also became President.

McKinley's wife, Ida, disliked the color yellow so much she had all things yellow removed from the White House, including the yellow flowers in the garden. (OCD, much?)

McKinley was the only President between Andrew Johnson (17th President) and Woodrow Wilson (28th President) to be clean shaven.

McKinley's portrait was featured on the $500 bill, which was last printed in 1934.

McKinley had a parrot named "Washington Post" who could whistle to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

McKinley's inauguration was the first Presidential inauguration to be filmed.

McKinley served as President during the Spanish-American War (1898). Considered an imperialistic endeavor by Americans to gobble up territory around the world, the war ended when the Treaty of Paris gave the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the U.S.

McKinley traveled more than any President up to that time, and he was on the road again on the morning of September 6, 1901. Standing at the head of a moving line of greeters in Buffalo, New York, McKinley shook as many hands as he could. However, when he reached for another hand to shake, two sharp cracks broke the hum of human voices. Leon F. Czolgosz, a Detroit resident of Polish heritage and an unemployed mill worker of anarchist sentiments, had fired a concealed .32 Iver Johnson revolver point blank into McKinley's chest. McKinley doubled over and fell backward into the arms of his Secret Service escorts. The crowd subdued Czolgosz and began to beat him severely. Amazingly, the wounded McKinley shouted "Boys! Don't let them hurt him!" Rushed to a nearby hospital, McKinley's doctors predicted a recovery. Gangrene had set in around the bullet wounds, however, and he died on September 14, 1901, just six months after his second inauguration. Czolgosz admitted to the shooting. He had taken aim at McKinley because he believed him to have been the "enemy of the people, the good working people". He expressed no remorse for his actions and died in the electric chair on October 29, 1901.

McKinley loved carnations and wore them as a good luck charm. While attending the Pan-American Exposition on September 6, 1901, he greeted a line of people. McKinley pulled his famous red carnation from his lapel and gave it to a little girl waiting in line. Seconds later, he was struck by an assassin's bullet. McKinley died eight days later.

McKinley was the first President to ride in an automobile while in office. After he was shot on September 6, 1901, he was transported to the hospital in an electric ambulance.