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.
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.