Sparks Commentary: William McKinley: President during the Spanish-American War

In 1898, President William McKinley sent American troops to fight in Cuba and the Philippines. This conflict is now known as the “Spanish-American War.” It lasted for only six months, but had a profound influence on world affairs. The war is now controversial – but at the time, it was viewed as a great success. But only three years after the war, William McKinley would be assassinated. In 1901, he was visiting Buffalo, New York, when he was shot by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Who was William McKinley? What was his legacy as president? Why was he struck down at the height of his glory? And where exactly did this unknown man come from? These are the questions that this post will try to answer.

William McKinley

Early life and career, through the presidential elections of 1896

William McKinley Jr. was born in Ohio in 1843. He was the seventh of what would eventually be nine children. Like his parents, William McKinley Jr. was a lifelong Methodist. He graduated from Poland Seminary in 1859, and also attended Allegheny College and Mount Union College. When the Civil War began, William McKinley and his brother joined the Union Army. The young William started out as an enlisted man, and saw action in Western Virginia and Antietam. William McKinley also took part in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and ended the war as a brevet major. McKinley is the last president to have served in the Civil War. After the war, he attended Albany Law School in New York state. When he finished his legal education, McKinley was then admitted to the bar back in his home state of Ohio. With a promising legal career ahead of him, McKinley married his only wife Ida Saxton in 1871. William McKinley was a lifelong Republican. He began his first term as a United States Congressman in March 1877, the month that Reconstruction ended. In all, William McKinley would serve for thirteen years in the federal House of Representatives, with a brief gap in between his two major Congressional periods. During all of that time, McKinley represented various districts in Ohio. William McKinley served as the Chair of the “House Ways and Means Committee” during the second of these major periods. In January 1892, McKinley became the Governor of Ohio, and occupied that position until January 1896. Thus, William McKinley was a private citizen when he first ran for president in 1896.

William McKinley

William McKinley is elected president in 1896 …

In 1896, the incumbent president was a Democrat named Grover Cleveland. President Cleveland was then finishing out his second and final term. But, by 1896, Mr. Cleveland had become somewhat unpopular. Thus, there were initially many contenders for his own party’s Democratic nomination. On the fifth ballot, the nomination instead went to William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Congressman from Nebraska. Mr. Bryan had galvanized support with his famous “Cross of Gold” speech. This called for monetary reform, and blamed business leaders for the Panic of 1893 – and the ongoing economic depression from this panic. In 1896, Mr. Bryan also won the nominations of the Populist Party and the Silver Party, in addition to the major Democratic nomination. As Wikipedia puts it, “Bryan presented his campaign as a crusade of the working man against the rich, who impoverished America by limiting the money supply. Silver, he said, was in ample supply and if coined into money would restore prosperity while undermining the illicit power of the money trust.” (Source: Their page on the “1896 United States presidential election”) But on the Republican side, William McKinley prevailed on the very first ballot of the Republican convention. William McKinley had now gained the nomination. As Wikipedia also puts it, “Since the onset of the Panic of 1893, the nation had been mired in a deep economic depression, marked by low prices, low profits, high unemployment, and violent strikes. Economic issues, especially tariff policy and the question of whether the gold standard should be preserved for the money supply, were central issues. McKinley forged a conservative coalition in which businessmen, professionals, prosperous farmers, and skilled factory workers turned off by Bryan's agrarian policies were heavily represented.” (Source: Their page on the “1896 United States presidential election”) McKinley campaigned for the gold standard, unless altered by international agreement – or, as McKinley called it, “sound money.” And he continued the support for tariffs that he had begun during his years in Congress. When the election came, William Jennings Bryan won 46.7% of the popular vote, and 39.3% of the electoral vote – a dismal showing. But William McKinley won 51% of the popular vote (an actual majority), and 60.6% of the electoral vote. This was a decisive margin. Thus, William McKinley had just become the 25th President of the United States.

William McKinley

… and then re-elected in 1900, with some comments upon his presidency

As president, McKinley promoted the 1897 Dingley Tariff, and secured the passage of a “Gold Standard Act” in the year 1900. He was able to take credit for great economic growth. But foreign policy would be the biggest issue of his administration. In 1898, he sent American troops to fight in the Spanish-American War. Following some brief fighting in Cuba and the Philippines, the war ended after only six months. In the postwar peace treaty, Spain ceded Cuba and the Philippines, along with Guam and Puerto Rico. Later on, the United States also annexed the independent “Republic of Hawaii.” Thus, Hawaii soon became a United States territory. Long after McKinley’s death, Hawaii would eventually become the 50th American state in 1959. During McKinley’s first term of office, his vice president was Garret Hobart, who had held numerous state offices in New Jersey. But, in 1899, Garret Hobart would die of heart disease. Thus, there was now no vice president, and McKinley needed a new running mate in 1900. Crucially, McKinley chose Theodore Roosevelt, then the Governor of New York. Mr. Roosevelt had once served as McKinley’s “Assistant Secretary of the Navy,” but had left that position to fight on Cuba’s front lines in the Spanish-American War. On the Democratic side, some Democrats favored Admiral George Dewey, but Dewey soon withdrew from the race. Thus, the Democratic nomination again went to William Jennings Bryan in the year 1900. There was now a rematch between Bryan and McKinley. Neither one faced much opposition within his own party in 1900. Protectionism and free silver remained major issues. Due to economic prosperity and the recent victory in the Spanish-American War, circumstances favored McKinley. Thus, William Jennings Bryan won 45.5% of the popular vote, and 34.7% of the electoral vote – another dismal showing. By contrast, William McKinley won 51.6% of the popular vote (another actual majority), and 65.3% of the electoral vote. Again, this was a decisive margin. Thus, William McKinley was elected to a second term in 1900.

William McKinley

However, McKinley never gets to finish his second term, because he’s assassinated in 1901

But seven months into McKinley’s second term, he made a trip to Buffalo, New York. While McKinley was there, an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz shot him twice in the abdomen. Mr. Czolgosz had lost his job back in the Panic of 1893, and saw President McKinley as a symbol of oppression. Eventually, Czolgosz was sentenced to death for the murder, and executed in the electric chair. Shortly after the gunshots, McKinley would live for eight additional days. It initially looked like McKinley might recover from these gunshot wounds. Thus, Vice President Roosevelt was encouraged to take his vacation as scheduled. But McKinley had developed some gangrene in his wounds. Thus, President William McKinley died in September 1901 at the age of 58. Two presidents before McKinley had been assassinated, which were Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield. President John F. Kennedy would later suffer the same fate in 1963. Thus, in 1901, William McKinley was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, the hero of the Spanish-American War.

McKinley entering the Temple of Music, shortly before his assassination there (1901)

Conclusion: McKinley died at the height of his glory, although controversies still remain

William McKinley died at the height of his glory. McKinley is generally considered an above-average president today, although the Spanish-American War remains controversial in many circles. And his popularity would soon be overshadowed by that of his successor, the still-quite-young Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the youngest president that the country had ever seen.

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