William McKinley (January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) is the 25th President of the United States, serving since March 4, 1897 until his murder in September 1901, six months into his second term. McKinley led the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War, raising protective tariffs to promote American industry, and defending the nation on the gold standard in free silver rejection (effective, expansive monetary policy).
McKinley was the last president to serve in the American Civil War, and the only one who started the war as a private enlisted soldier, began as a private in the Union Army and ended up as the main brevet. After the war, he settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton. In 1876, he was elected to Congress, where he became a Republican expert on tariffs of protection, promised to bring prosperity. His 1890 McKinley Tariffs are highly controversial; who together with the Redistricting Democrats aimed to overthrow him out of office, led to his defeat in the Democratic landslide in 1890. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and 1893, directing a moderate course between capital and labor. With the help of his close advisor Mark Hanna, he earned a Republican nomination for president in 1896, amid a deep economic depression. He defeated his Democratic rival, William Jennings Bryan, after a front-porch campaign in which he advocated "healthy money" (the gold standard except changed by international treaties) and promised that high tariffs would restore prosperity.
Rapid economic growth marked McKinley's presidency. He promoted 1897 Dingley Tariff to protect producers and factory workers from foreign competition, and in 1900, he gained part of the Gold Standard Law. McKinley hoped to persuade Spain to grant independence to Cuban rebels without conflict, but when negotiations failed, he led the nation into the Spanish-American War of 1898; US victory is very fast and decisive. As part of a peaceful settlement, Spain surrendered to its foreign colonies in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines; Cuba was promised independence, but at that time remained under the control of the US Army. The United States annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898 and became US territory.
Historians regard McKinley's victory in 1896 as an actual election, where the political stalemate of the post-Civil War era shifts with the Republican-dominated Republican Party System, beginning with the Progressive Era. McKinley defeated Bryan again in the 1900 presidential election, in a campaign that focused on imperialism, protectionism, and free silver. However, his legacy was suddenly cut when he was shot on 6 September 1901 by Leon Czolgosz, a second-generation Polish-American with an anarchist tendency; McKinley died eight days later, and was replaced by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. As an innovator of American interventionism and pro-business sentiment, McKinley's presidency is generally considered above average, although his very positive public perception soon overshadowed Roosevelt.
Video William McKinley
Early life and family
William McKinley Jr. born in 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh son of William McKinley Sr. and Nancy (nÃÆ' Â © e Allison) McKinley (1809-1897). The McKinley is of British and Scottish-Irish descent and has settled in western Pennsylvania in the 18th century, tracing back to David McKinley who was born in Dervock, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland today. There, old McKinley was born in the town of Pinus, Mercer County.
The family moved to Ohio when McKinley senior was a boy, settling in New Lisbon (now Lisbon). She met Nancy Allison there, and married her later. The Allison family is mostly of British descent and among early Pennsylvania settlers. Family trade on both sides was ironmaking, and a senior relic operated by McKinley throughout Ohio, in New Lisbon, Niles, Poland, and finally Canton. The McKinley family, like most of the Western Reserve Ohio, studied Whiggish and abolitionist sentiments, most recently based on strong Methodist family beliefs. William followed the Methodist tradition, becoming active in the local Methodist church at the age of sixteen. He is a pious Methodist for life.
In 1852, the family moved from Niles to Poland, Ohio so their children could attend a better school there. Graduating from the Polish Seminary in 1859, he enrolled the following year at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He remained at Allegheny for only one year, returning home in 1860 after falling ill and depressed. He also spent time at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio as a board member. Despite his health recovering, family finances declined and McKinley was unable to return to Allegheny, first working as a postal clerk and then taking a teaching job at a school near Poland, Ohio.
Maps William McKinley
Civil War
West Virginia and Antietam
When the Southern states broke away from the Union and the American Civil War began, thousands of men in Ohio volunteered for service. Among them was McKinley and his cousin William McKinley Osbourne, who was listed as a soldier in the newly formed Polish Guard in June 1861. The men went to Columbus where they consolidated with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry. People are not happy to know that, unlike previous volunteer regiments in Ohio, they will not be allowed to choose their officers; they will be appointed by Ohio governor, William Dennison. Dennison appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as regimental commander, and people started practicing on the outskirts of Columbus. McKinley quickly took the warrior's life and wrote a series of letters to his city newspaper to praise the army and the Unity. The delay in publishing uniforms and weapons again brought the men into conflict with their officers, but Major Rutherford B. Hayes convinced them to accept what the government had issued; his style of dealing with McKinley's impressive people, started an association and friendship that would last until Hayes's death in 1893.
After a month of training, McKinley and Ohio 23, now headed by Colonel Eliakim P. Scammon, traveled to West Virginia (today part of West Virginia) in July 1861 as part of the Kanawha Division. McKinley initially thought Scammon was a martinet, but when the regiment finally saw the battle, he came to appreciate their endless drilling value. Their first contact with the enemy occurred in September when they were riding a Confederate army at Carnifex Ferry in western Virginia today. Three days after the battle, McKinley was assigned to duty at the quartermaster brigade office, where he worked well to supply his regiment, and as a scribe. In November, the regiment set up winter spots near Fayetteville (today in West Virginia). McKinley spent the winter replacing a sissy commissary sergeant, and in April 1862 he was promoted to that rank. The regiment continued its progress with the command of Hayes (Scammon at the time leading the brigade) and fighting some minor battles against the rebel forces.
In September, the McKinley regiment was summoned east to strengthen General John Pope's Army in Virginia at the Second Bull Run Battle. Postponed in passing Washington, D.C., Ohio the 23rd did not arrive in time for the battle, but joined the Potomac Army as he rushed north to bypass Army Robert E. Lee from Northern Virginia as he advanced to Maryland. The 23rd is the first regiment to meet the Confederacy at the Battle of the South Mountain on September 14th. After big losses, Union forces drove back to the Confederation and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they involved Lee's army at the Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The 23rd was also in the middle of a battle at Antietam, and McKinley himself was under heavy fire when giving rations to front-line people. The McKinley regiment again suffered many casualties, but the Potomac Army won and the Confederacy retreated to Virginia. The regiment was then separated from the Potomac Army and returned by train to West Virginia.
Shenandoah Valley and promotion
While the regiment went to winter near Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio with several other sergeants to recruit new troops. When they arrived in Columbus, Governor David Tod surprised McKinley with a commission as a second lieutenant in recognition of his ministry at Antietam. McKinley and his friends saw little action until July 1863, when the division was hostile to John Hunt Morgan's cavalry in the Battle of Buffington Island. In early 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and the division was assigned to the Army of George Crook in West Virginia. They immediately proceeded to attack, marching to southwestern Virginia to destroy the salt and lead the mines used by the enemy. On May 9, the army deployed Confederate forces on Mount Cloyd, where people accused the enemy camp and expelled the rebels from the fields. McKinley later said that the fighting there was "just as desperate as witnessed during the war." Following that defeat, Union forces destroyed the Confederate supply and resumed hostilities with the enemy.
McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley when soldiers broke out of winter settlements to resume enmity. The Crook Corps clings to Major General David Hunter of the Army of Shenandoah and immediately returns in touch with the Confederate forces, arresting Lexington, Virginia, on June 11. They continued south toward Lynchburg, ripping the railway as they advanced. Hunter believes troops in Lynchburg are too strong, however, and the brigade returns to West Virginia. Before the army could make another attempt, the Confederate General Jubal Beginning attack into Maryland forced their withdrawal northward. The initial army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley suffered a major fire and the army was defeated. Withdrawing to Maryland, the army was reorganized: Major-General Philip Sheridan replaced Hunter, and McKinley, who was promoted to captain after the battle, was transferred to General Crook's staff. In August, Early is retreating south in the valley, with the Sheridan soldiers in pursuit. They fended off a Confederate attack in Berryville, where McKinley caught a horse from below, and advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and chased them further south. They followed up the victory with the others at Fisher's Hill on Sept. 22, and were again engaged at Cedar Creek on October 19th. After initially retreating from the face of the Confederacy, McKinley helped mobilize troops and twisted a wave of battle.
After Cedar Creek, the army stayed around during the election day, when McKinley gave his first presidential vote, to the President of the Republic, Abraham Lincoln. The next day, they moved north toward the valley to the winter places near Kernstown. In February 1865, Crook was arrested by the Confederate invaders. The arrest of Crook adds to the confusion when soldiers are reorganized for the spring campaign, and McKinley finds himself serving on staff of four different generals over the next fifteen days - Crook, John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and Winfield S Hancock. Finally assigned to Carroll's staff again, McKinley acted as first aide and the only general. Lee and his troops surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant a few days later, effectively ending the war. McKinley found time to join the Freemasons cottage (later renamed after him) in Winchester, Virginia, before he and Carroll were transferred to the First Hancock Veterans Corps in Washington. Just before the war ended, McKinley received his final promotion, the brevet commission as major. In July, the Veteran Corps was deployed to not work, and McKinley and Carroll were released from their duties. Carroll and Hancock pushed McKinley to propose a place in the peacetime army, but he refused and returned to Ohio the following month.
On March 7, 1883, McKinley was elected a First Class Companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of Military Order of the United States Loyal Legion (MOLLUS) - a military society of officers serving in the Union armed forces during the American Civil War and their offspring. He was given the MOLLUS 3029 badge number.
McKinley, together with Samuel M. Taylor and James C. Howe, jointly publish and publish twelve working volumes, List of Official Officials of the Ohio State Army in the Rebellion War, 1861-1866 published in 1886.
Career and legal marriage
After the war ended in 1865, McKinley decided on a career in law and began studying in the office of a lawyer in Poland, Ohio. The following year, he continued his studies by attending Albany Law School in New York. After studying there for less than a year, McKinley returned home and was admitted to a bar in Warren, Ohio, in March 1867. That same year, he moved to Canton, county of Stark County, and set up a small office. He soon established a partnership with George W. Belden, an experienced lawyer and former judge. The practice was successful for him to buy the building blocks on Main Street in Canton, which gave him a small but consistent rental income over the next few decades. When his army friend Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated as governor in 1867, McKinley delivered a speech on his behalf in Stark County, his first foray into politics. The district is divided between Democrats and Republicans, but Hayes took him that year in victory in his state. In 1869, McKinley ran for trial of Stark County lawyer, an office normally held by the Democratic Party, and was unexpectedly elected. When McKinley ran for re-election in 1871, Democrats nominated William A. Lynch, a prominent local lawyer, and McKinley was defeated by 143 votes.
As McKinley's professional career flourished, so did his social life as he persuaded Ida Saxton, the daughter of a prominent Cantonese family. They married on January 25, 1871, in the newly built Cantonese Presbyterian Church, though Ida soon joined her Methodist church of her husband. Their first child, Katherine, was born on Christmas Day 1871. A second daughter, Ida, followed in 1873, but died the same year. McKinley's wife fell into a deep depression on the death of her baby and her health, never strong, worsened. Two years later, in 1875, Katherine died of typhoid fever. Ida never recovered from the death of her children; the McKinley family had no more children. Ida McKinley developed epilepsy around the same time and afterwards did not like her husband leaving her side. She remains a devoted husband and tends to the medical and emotional needs of his wife for the rest of her life.
Ida insisted that McKinley continued her increasingly successful career in law and politics. He attended a Republican convention nominated by Hayes for a third term as governor in 1875, and campaigned again for his old friend in falling elections. The following year, McKinley did a big case defending a group of coal miners who were arrested for rioting after a clash with strikers. Opponents Lynch, McKinley in the election of 1871, and his partner, William R. Day, were opposing advisers, and the mine owners included Mark Hanna, a Cleveland businessman. Taking the case pro bono, he managed to get all but one miner freed. This case elevates McKinley's position among the workers, an important part of Stark County voters, and also introduces him to Hanna, who will be his strongest supporter in the coming years.
McKinley's good manners with manpower became useful that year as he campaigned for a Republican nomination for the 17th congress district in Ohio. Delegates to the regional convention thought he could attract blue-collar voters, and in August 1876, McKinley was nominated. By then, Hayes had been nominated for president, and McKinley campaigned for him while running his own congressional campaign. Both are successful. McKinley, campaigning largely on his support for protective tariffs, beat Democratic candidate Levi L. Lamborn, with 3,300 votes, while Hayes won a disputed election to reach the presidency. McKinley's victory comes at a personal cost: his income as a congressman will be half of what he gets as a lawyer.
Increased politician 1877-1895
Spokesperson for protection
Under free trade, traders are masters and slave producers. Protection is only the law of nature, the law of self-preservation, self-development, to secure the highest and best destiny of the human race. [It says] that protection is immoral.... Why, if protection builds and increases 63 million [US inhabitants] of people, the influence of the 63,000,000 people increases the rest of the world. We can not take steps on the path of progress without benefiting mankind anywhere. Well, they say, 'Buy where you can buy the cheapest'.... Of course, it applies to labor like the others. Let me give you a proverb that is a thousand times better than that, and that is a proverbial protection: 'Buy where you can pay for the easiest.' And that point of the earth is where the workforce wins the highest honors.
McKinley first took his congressional seat in October 1877, when President Hayes summoned Congress to a special session. With the Republican minority, McKinley was given the unnecessary task of the committee, which he did in earnest. McKinley's friendship with Hayes makes McKinley a little better on Capitol Hill; The president is not respected by many leaders there. The young congressman broke with Hayes about the currency issue, but that did not affect their friendship. The United States has been effectively placed on the gold standard by the Coinage Act of 1873; when silver prices drop significantly, many are trying to make silver again as a legitimate means of payment, equal to gold. Such courses will be inflationary, but advocates argue that the economic benefits of an increase in money supply will be proportional to inflation; opponents warn that "free silver" will not bring the promised benefits and will harm the United States in international trade. McKinley voted for the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which mandated massive silver purchases by the government for money strikes, and also joined the vast majority in every home that ruled out Hayes's veto. Thus, McKinley voted against the position of Republican leader, fellow Ohioan and his best friend, James Garfield.
From his first term in Congress, McKinley was a strong supporter of the protection tariff. The main purpose of such benefits is not to increase revenues, but to enable American manufacturing to flourish by providing domestic price advantage over foreign competitors. McKinley's biographer Margaret Leech notes that Canton has prospered as a farm-making center for protection, and this may have helped shape his political views. McKinley introduces and supports bills raising protection rates, and opposes tariffs that lower them or impose tariffs only to increase revenue. Garfield's election as president in 1880 created a void in the House Ways and Means Committee; McKinley was chosen to fill it, placing it on the most powerful committee in just two terms.
McKinley increasingly became an important figure in national politics. In 1880, he served as Ohio's representative in the Republican National Committee. In 1884, he was elected a member of the Republican convention delegate that year, where he served as chairman of the Resolution Committee and won praise for handling the convention when called to preside. In 1886, McKinley, Senator John Sherman, and Governor Joseph B. Foraker were regarded as Republican party leaders in Ohio. Sherman, who had helped set up Republicans, ran three times for Republican nomination for president in the 1880s, each time failed, while Foraker began to skyrocket in Ohio politics early in the decade. Hanna, once she entered the public affairs as a political manager and generous contributor, supported Sherman's ambitions, as well as those of Foraker. The last relationship was interrupted at the 1888 National Convention of the Republic, where McKinley, Foraker, and Hanna were all delegates in favor of Sherman. Convinced Sherman could not win, Foraker threw his support to the failed Republican presidential nominee of 1884, Maine Senator James G. Blaine. When Blaine stated he was not a candidate, Foraker returned to Sherman, but the nomination went to former Indiana senator Benjamin Harrison, who was elected president. In the bitterness that follows the convention, Hanna leaves Foraker, and for the rest of McKinley's life, the Ohio Republican Party is divided into two factions, one in tune with McKinley, Sherman, and Hanna and the other with Foraker. Hanna came to admire McKinley and become his close friend and adviser. Although Hanna remained active in business and in promoting other Republicans, in the years after 1888, he spent much time in improving McKinley's political career.
In 1889, with the Republican Party in the majority, McKinley sought election as Speaker of the House. He failed to get a post, which went to Thomas B. Reed of Maine; however, Chairman Reed appointed the McKinley chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The Ohioan led the McKinley Rates of 1890 through Congress; although McKinley's work was changed through the influence of special interests in the Senate, he imposed a number of protective tariffs on foreign goods.
Gerrymandering and defeat for re-election
Acknowledge the potential of McKinley, the Democratic Party, whenever they control the Ohio legislature, trying to rob or deflect him out of office. In 1878, McKinley faced elections in the redrawn 17th district; he won, causing Hayes to cheer, "Oh, good luck McKinley! He gerrymandered and then defeated the gerrymander! We enjoyed it just as much as him." After the election of 1882, McKinley lost the election with the votes of nearby parties. Outside the office, he was depressed by a setback, but soon vowed to run again. The Democrats again shifted Stark County to the election in 1884; McKinley returned to Congress.
For the year 1890, the Democrats seized McKinley for the last time, placing Stark County in the same district as one of the strongest pro-Democrats, Holmes, inhabited by solid Dutch Democrats. The new boundaries look good, based on past results, for the majority of Democrats 2000 to 3000. The Republicans can not overturn the gerrymander because legislative elections will not be held until 1891, but they can dump all their energy into the district, as McKinley Tariff is the theme the main national Democratic campaign, and there is great attention paid to the McKinley race. Republicans sent their orators to Canton, including Blaine (then Secretary of State), Reed Speaker, and President Harrison. The Democrats retaliate with their best spokesman on tariff issues. McKinley tirelessly flooded his new district, reaching out to 40,000 voters to explain his tariffs
framed for people... as a defense for their industry, as a protection against the labor of their hands, as a refuge for the home of happy American workers, and as security for their education, their wages, and their investment... It will lead to the country is unparalleled prosperity in our own history and unrivaled in the history of the world. "
Democrats run strong candidates in former lieutenant governor John G. Warwick. To ride their homes, they hired young people pretending to be peddlers, who went door-to-door offering 25 cents of tin tin to housewives for 50 cents, explaining the price increase was caused by the McKinley Rates. In the end, McKinley lost 300 votes, but Republicans won a statewide majority and claimed a moral victory.
Governor of Ohio (1892-1896)
Even before McKinley finished his term in Congress, he met with the Ohio delegation urging him to run for governor. Governor James E. Campbell, a Democrat, who had defeated Foraker in 1889, was to seek reelection in 1891. The Ohio Republican Party remained divided, but McKinley secretly arranged for Foraker to nominate him at the state convention of 1891, which voted McKinley with the acclamation. The former congressman spent most of the second half of the 1891 campaign against Campbell, beginning at his birthplace Niles. However, Hanna is a bit visible in the campaign; he spent most of his time raising funds for legislative elections promising to elect Sherman in the 1892 senatorial election. McKinley won the 1891 election by about 20,000 votes; The following January, Sherman, with considerable help from Hanna, restored the challenge by Foraker to win the legislative vote for another term in the Senate.
The governor of Ohio has relatively small powers - for example, he can recommend laws, but not veto - but with Ohio as a key swing state, his governor is a leading figure in national politics. Although McKinley believes that the health of the nation depends on his business, he is treated arbitrarily. He obtained a law that established an arbitration council to settle labor disputes and obtained a law that impeded employers who fired workers for being union members.
President Harrison proved unpopular; there were even divisions within the Republican party when 1892 began and Harrison restarted his election. Although no Republican candidate opposes Harrison, many Republicans are ready to throw the President out of the ticket if an alternative emerges. Among the candidates that might be discussed were McKinley, Reed, and aging Blaine. Afraid that the governor of Ohio would appear as a candidate, Harrison's manager arranged for McKinley to become permanent chair of the convention in Minneapolis, which required him to play a public, neutral role. Hanna founded the unofficial McKinley headquarters near the courtroom, although no active effort was made to convert the delegation to McKinley's destination. McKinley objected to delegating the votes given to him; nevertheless he occupied the third position, behind the nominated Harrison, and behind Blaine, who had sent word that he did not want to be considered. Although McKinley campaigned faithfully for Republican tickets, Harrison was defeated by former President Cleveland in the November election. After Cleveland's victory, McKinley was seen by some as a Republican candidate in 1896.
As soon as Cleveland returned to the office, hard times hit the country with Panic of 1893. A businessman in Youngstown, Robert Walker, had lent money to McKinley in their youth; In gratitude, McKinley often guarantees Walker loans for his business. The governor never tracked what he signed; he believes Walker is a healthy businessman. In fact, Walker had cheated McKinley, telling him that the new record is actually an extension of the mature one. Walker is ruined by recession; McKinley was summoned for repayment in February 1893. The amount of debt of over $ 100,000 and the desperate McKinley initially proposed to resign as governor and earn money as a lawyer. In contrast, rich supporters of McKinley, including Hanna and Chicago publisher H. H. Kohlsaat, became the guardians of the funds from which the note would be paid. Both William and Ida McKinley put their properties in the hands of the money watchers (which included Hanna and Kohlsaat), and supporters raised and donated large sums of money. All of the couple's possessions were returned to them at the end of 1893, and when McKinley, who had promised repayment, asked for a list of contributors, he refused. Many people who suffer during difficult times sympathize with McKinley, whose popularity is growing. He was easily reelected in November 1893, receiving the largest percentage of votes from any Ohio governor since the Civil War.
McKinley campaigned extensively for Republicans in the mid-term congressional elections of 1894; many of the party candidates in the district where he spoke succeeded. His political efforts in Ohio were rewarded with elections in November 1895 from a Republican successor as governor, Asa Bushnell, and the Republican legislature who voted Foraker to the Senate. McKinley supports Foraker for Senate and Bushnell (who are Foraker factions) for governors; in return, the newly elected senator agreed to support McKinley's presidential ambitions. With party peace in Ohio reassuring, McKinley turned to the national arena.
Selection year 1896
Getting a nomination
It is not clear when William McKinley began seriously preparing to run for president. As Phillips notes, "there are no documents, no diaries, no secret letters to Mark Hanna (or anyone else) that contains his secret hopes or covert plans." From the beginning, McKinley's preparation had the participation of Hanna, whose biographer William T. Horner noted, "what is true is that in 1888 both men began to develop a close working relationship that helped put McKinley in the White House." Sherman did not run for president again after 1888, so Hanna could support McKinley's ambitions for the office with all his heart.
Backed by Hanna's money and organizational skills, McKinley quietly built support for the president's bid until 1895 and early 1896. When other competitors such as Reed Chairman and Iowa Senator William B. Allison sent agents outside of their state to organize the Republicans to support their nomination, they found that Hanna's agent had preceded them. According to historian Stanley Jones in his study of the election of 1896,
Another common feature for Reed and Allison's campaign is their failure to make progress against the current that goes towards McKinley. In fact, both campaigns since launch are backwards. Calm confidence with each candidate claiming the support of his part [of the country] soon gave way to... a bitter accusation that Hanna with winning support for McKinley on their part had broken the rules of the game.
Hanna, on behalf of McKinley, met with the political tops of the eastern Republic, such as Senator Thomas Platt of New York and Matthew Quay of Pennsylvania, who were willing to guarantee McKinley's nomination in exchange for a promise of patronage and office. McKinley, however, was determined to get the nomination without making a deal, and Hanna accepted the decision. Many of their early efforts focused on the South; Hanna acquired a holiday home in southern Georgia where McKinley visited and met with Republican politicians from the region. McKinley requires 453 ½ votes for delegates to get nominations; it earns almost half of that amount from the South and the border states. Platt complained in his memoir, "[Hanna] has a practically solid South before some of us wake up."
The bosses still hope to reject McKinley as the first majority vote at the convention by increasing support for local favorite boys such as Quay, New York Governor (and former vice president) Levi P. Morton, and Illinois Senator Shelby Cullom. The Illinois rich delegation proved an important battlefield, as McKinley's supporters, such as Chicago businessmen (and future vice president) Charles G. Dawes, attempted to elect delegates pledged to vote for McKinley at a national convention in St. Louis. Cullom proved unable to resist McKinley despite the support of the local Republican machine; at a state convention at the end of April, McKinley completed almost sweeping the Illinois delegates. Former president Harrison is considered a potential competitor if he competes; when Harrison told him that he was not going to seek a third nomination, McKinley's organization controlled Indiana at a speed Harrison personally found inappropriate. Morton's cooperative who traveled to Indiana sent word that they had found a living state for McKinley. Senator Wyoming Francis Warren wrote, "Politicians are fighting hard against him, but if the masses can speak, McKinley is the choice of at least 75% of all Republican voters in the Union."
When the national service starts at St. Louis on June 16, 1896, McKinley has many delegates. The former governor, who remained in Canton, attended strictly on the convention by telephone, and was able to hear parts of the Foraker's speech that nominated him on the phone. When Ohio was contacted in a state call, his vote gave McKinley a nomination, which he celebrated by embracing his wife and mother when his friends left home, anticipating the first of many who gathered at the home of the Republican candidate. Thousands of partisans came from Canton and surrounding towns that night to hear McKinley speak from his front porch. The convention nominated vice-chairman of the Republican National Committee of Garret Hobart of New Jersey to the vice president, a choice actually made, by most accounts, by Hanna. Hobart, a wealthy lawyer, entrepreneur, and former state legislator, is not widely known, but as Hanna's biographer Herbert Croly writes, "if he does not strengthen the ticket, he does nothing to weaken it."
General election campaign
Prior to the Republican convention, McKinley had become a "straddle bug" on currency questioning, supporting a moderate position on silver such as reaching bimetallism by international treaties. In the last days before the convention, McKinley decided, after hearing from politicians and businessmen, that the platform should support the gold standard, although it must allow bimetalism by international treaties. The adoption of the platform led to several western delegations, led by Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller, to quit the convention. However, compared to the Democratic Party, the Republican division on the issue was small, mainly because McKinley promised future concessions to silver supporters.
Poor economic times continue, and strengthen the power of hands to get free silver. This problem bitterly separates the Democratic Party; President Cleveland strongly supports the gold standard, but more and more rural Democrats want silver, especially in the South and West. The Silverites took over the Democratic National Convention of 1896 and chose William Jennings Bryan to become president; he has sent electricity to the delegates with his Cross of Gold speech. Bryan's financial publicity shocked bankers - they thought his inflationary program would bankrupt the banks and destroy the economy. Hanna approached them to support his strategy to win the election, and they gave $ 3.5 million to speakers and over 200 million pamphlets advocating the Republic's position on money and tariff questions.
Bryan's campaign has at most about $ 500,000. With his eloquence and youthful energy as a major asset in the race, Bryan decided to conduct a railroad tour of politics on an unprecedented scale. Hanna urges McKinley to match Bryan's tour with one of his; the candidate refused on the grounds that Democrats are better stump speakers: "I might as well put a trapeze on the front page and compete with some professional athletes when out talking against Bryan.I should think when I speak." - to go to people, McKinley will stay at home in Canton and let people come to him; according to historian R. Hal Williams in his 1896 election, "it turns out, a brilliant strategy." McKinley's Porch Front Campaign became a legend in American political history. "
McKinley made himself available to the public every day except Sunday, receiving delegates from his front porch. Trains subsidize visitors with low traffic rates - Cleveland Plain Dealer's prom-buyer in disgust stating that going to Canton has been made "cheaper than staying at home". Delegates marched through the street from the train station to McKinley's house on North Market Street. Once there, they jostle close to the front porch - from which they steal souvenirs secretly - as their spokesman talks to McKinley. The candidate then replied, talking about campaign issues in a speech that was formed to suit the interests of the delegation. The speeches were carefully written to avoid unexpected comments; even the spokesman's statement was approved by McKinley or a representative. This is done because the candidate is afraid of unwanted comments by others who may rebound on him, as happened to Blaine in 1884.
Most Democrats refuse to support Bryan, the main exception is the New York Journal, controlled by William Randolph Hearst, whose wealth is based on a silver mine. In biased news and through the sharp cartoons of Homer Davenport, Hanna is cruelly characterized as a plutocrat, trampling on labor. McKinley is described as a child, easily controlled by big business. Even today, this portrayal still colors Hanna and McKinley's pictures: one as a heartless businessman, another as Hanna and others of his ilk.
Democrats also have pamphlets, though not many. Jones analyzed how voters responded to both parties' educational campaigns:
For those people it is a campaign of study and analysis, insistence and conviction - an economic and political truth search campaign. Pamphlets fall from the press, read, reread, studied, debated, to guide the economic thinking and political action. They are printed and distributed by millions... but people are looking for more. Favorite pamphlets become dog-eared, grimy, messy when the owners struggle to review their arguments and quote from them in public and private debates.
The battlefield proved to be the Midwest - South and much of the West was given to Bryan - and Democrats spent most of their time in these important countries. The Northeast is considered most likely safe for McKinley after the early states of Maine and Vermont supported it in September. By then, it was clear that public support for silver had subsided, and McKinley began to emphasize tariff issues. By the end of September, the Republic had stopped printing material on silver issues, and fully concentrated on tariff questions. On November 3, 1896, voters had their votes. McKinley won the entire Northeast and Midwest; he won 51% of the vote and the majority in Electoral College. Bryan concentrates entirely on silver issues, and does not appeal to city workers. Voters in the cities supported McKinley; the only city outside the South of more than 100,000 residents that Bryan is transporting is Denver, Colorado.
The presidential election of 1896 is often seen as a re-election, in which McKinley's view of a stronger central government builds American industry through protective tariffs and the gold-based dollar wins. The established voting patterns subsequently replaced it with almost the impasse that has been seen by major parties since the Civil War; Republican domination begins later to continue until 1932, another election that reconciles with Franklin Roosevelt's ascent. Phillips argues that, with the possible exception of Iowa Senator Allison, McKinley is the only Republican who can beat Bryan - he theorized that an eastern candidate like Morton or Reed would make a mistake against the crucially crafted Bryan who was born in Illinois in the Midwest. According to the biographer, although Bryan is popular among rural voters, "McKinley appealed to an American industrialization, which is very different from the industry." Inauguration and appointment
McKinley was sworn in as president on March 4, 1897, when his wife and mother saw. The new President gave a long inaugural speech; he urged tariff reforms, and stated that currency issues must wait for tariff laws. He warned against foreign intervention, "We do not want a war of conquest.We must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression."
The most controversial cabinet appointment of McKinley is that of John Sherman as Secretary of State. Sherman has a remarkable reputation but old age is rapidly reducing his abilities. McKinley had to ask Hanna to be appointed to the Senate to get Senator Sherman up. Sherman's mental aptitude decayed even in 1896; this was widely discussed among politics, but McKinley did not believe the rumor. Nevertheless, McKinley sent his cousin, William McKinley Osborne, to a dinner with a 73-year-old senator; he reported back that Sherman looked as clear as ever. McKinley wrote as his appointment was announced, "stories about Senator Sherman's" mental damage "without foundation... When I saw him last, I was convinced of his perfect health, both physically and mentally, and that the prospect of life was great.
Representative of Maine, Nelson Dingley Jr. is McKinley's choice for the Minister of Finance; he refused, preferring to remain as chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Charles Dawes, who had been Hanna's lieutenant in Chicago during the campaign, was considered Finance, but by some accounts Dawes considered himself too young. Dawes eventually became Currency Financial Supervisor; He noted in his published diary that he strongly urged McKinley to appoint as secretary to successful candidate Lyman J. Gage, president of First National Bank of Chicago and a Democrat Gold. The Department of the Navy was offered to former Massachusetts Congressman John Davis Long, an old friend of the House of Representatives, on January 30, 1897. Although McKinley initially tended to allow Long to choose his own assistant, there was considerable pressure on elected President to appoint Theodore Roosevelt, New York City and naval historian published. McKinley reluctantly stated to one of Roosevelt's boosters, "I want peace and I am told that your friend Theodore is always at loggerheads with everyone." Nevertheless, he made an appointment.
In addition to Sherman, McKinley made another false appointment, the War Secretary, who fell to Russell A. Alger, the former general and governor of Michigan. Fairly competent in peacetime, Alger proved inadequate after the conflict with Spain began. With the War Department ravaged by scandals, Alger resigned at McKinley's request in mid-1899. Hobart's Vice-President, as was customary at the time, was not invited to the Cabinet hearing. However, he proved a valuable adviser both to McKinley and to his cabinet members. The wealthy vice-president rents shelter near the White House; the two families visited each other without formality, and the Vice President's wife, Jennie Tuttle Hobart, was sometimes replaced as the Executive House hostess when Ida McKinley was unwell. For most of McKinley's administration, George B. Cortelyou served as his personal secretary. Cortelyou, who served in three Cabinet positions under Theodore Roosevelt, became joint press secretary and chief of staff for McKinley.
Cabinet
Cuban crisis and war with Spain
For decades, rebels in Cuba have been waging an intermittent campaign for freedom from the Spanish colonial government. By 1895, the conflict had become a war for Cuban independence. As the war hit the island, Spain's retaliation against the rebels grew harder. American public opinion prefers the rebels, and McKinley shares their anger over Spanish policy. But while public opinion calls for a war to liberate Cuba, McKinley likes a peaceful approach, hoping that through negotiations, Spain may be convinced to give Cuban independence, or at least to allow Cuba to measure autonomy. The United States and Spain started negotiations on this in 1897, but it became clear that Spain would never recognize Cuban independence, while the rebels (and their American supporters) would never be content with anything less.
In January 1898, Spain promised some concessions to the rebels, but when the American consul Fitzhugh Lee reported the unrest in Havana, McKinley agreed to send the USS Maine warship there to protect American life and property. On February 15th, Maine exploded and drowned with 266 men killed. The public concern focused on the crisis and consensus is that regardless of who set the bomb, Spain has lost control of Cuba. McKinley insisted that the first inquiry trial determined whether the explosion was unintentional. Negotiations with Spain continued as the court considered evidence, but on March 20, the court ruled that Maine was blown up by an underwater mine. As pressure for war increased in Congress, McKinley continued to negotiate for Cuban independence. Spain rejected McKinley's proposal, and on April 11, McKinley submitted the matter to Congress. He did not ask for war, but Congress declared war on April 20, with the addition of the Teller Amendment, which denied the intention to annex Cuba.
Telegraph expansion and telephone development gave McKinley greater control over the day-to-day management of war than had ever been enjoyed by the previous president, and he used new technology to direct the movement of the army and navy as far as he could. McKinley found Algeria not enough as the Secretary of War, and did not fit in with the Army's military commander, Nelson A. Miles. Passing through them, he sought first strategic advice from Miles's predecessor, General John Schofield, and later from Adj. General Henry Clarke Corbin. The war caused a change in McKinley's cabinet, when the President accepted Sherman's resignation as Secretary of State; Day agreed to serve as Secretary until the end of the war.
Within two weeks, the navy had its first win when the Asian squadron, led by Commodore George Dewey, destroyed the Spanish navy at the Manila Bay Battle of the Philippines. Dewey's great victory expanded the scope of the war from being centered in the Caribbean to the one that would determine the fate of all the Spanish Pacific colonies. The following month, he increased the number of troops sent to the Philippines and gave troop commanders, Major General Wesley Merritt, the power to regulate the legal system and raise taxes - the need for long occupation. By the time the troops arrived in the Philippines in late June 1898, McKinley had decided that Spain would be required to surrender the archipelago to the United States. He claimed to be open to all views on this subject; However, he believes that as the war progresses, people will come to demand the retention of the islands as a reward for war.
Meanwhile, in the Caribbean theater, the great power of regular customers and volunteers gathered near Tampa, Florida, to invade Cuba. The army faced difficulties in supplying the rapidly growing troops even before they left for Cuba, but in June, Corbin had made progress in solving the problem. After long delays, the army, led by Major General William Rufus Shafter, set sail from Florida on June 20, landed near Santiago de Cuba two days later. After a minor battle at Las Guasimas on June 24, Shafter forces invaded Spanish troops on July 2 at the Battle of San Juan Hill. In fierce fighting throughout the day, American troops won, although both sides suffered heavy casualties. The next day, the Spanish Caribbean squadron, who had taken shelter in the port of Santiago, broke out because of open sea but was intercepted and destroyed by Northern Admiral Squadron Admiral William T. Sampson at the greatest naval battle in the war. Shafter besieged the city of Santiago, surrendered on July 17, putting Cuba under effective American control. McKinley and Miles also ordered the Puerto Rican invasion, which met little resistance when it landed in July. The distance from Spain and the destruction of the Spanish navy made it impossible to supply, and the Spanish government began looking for ways to end the war.
Peace and territorial acquisition
The McKinley Cabinet agreed with him that Spain should leave Cuba and Puerto Rico, but they did not agree with the Philippines, with some wanting to annex the whole archipelago and some hoping to keep the naval base in the area. Although public sentiments seem to support the Filipino annexation, some prominent political leaders - including the Bryan Democrats, and Cleveland, and the newly formed American Anti-Imperialist League - made their opposition known.
McKinley proposes to open negotiations with Spain on the basis of Cuban liberation and Puerto Rican annexation, with the latter's status subject to further discussion. He stood firm in that demand even as the military situation in Cuba began to deteriorate as American troops suffered from yellow fever. Spain finally approved a ceasefire on those provisions on August 12, and the treaty negotiations began in Paris in September 1898. The talks continued until December 18, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. The United States acquired Puerto Rico and the Philippines and the island of Guam, and Spain relinquished its claim to Cuba; instead, the United States agreed to pay Spain $ 20 million. McKinley had difficulty convincing the Senate to agree to the agreement with the necessary two-thirds, but the lobby, and Hobart Vice President, finally succeeded, as the Senate voted on February 6, 1899, 57 to 27.
During the war, McKinley also pursued the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii. The new Republic, dominated by business interests, had overthrown the Queen in 1893 when he rejected a limited role for himself. There was strong American support for annexation, and the need for Pacific bases in wartime became apparent after the Battle of Manila. McKinley came to the office as an advocate of annexation, and lobbied Congress for action, warning that doing nothing would invite a royal counter-revolution or a Japanese takeover. Foreseeing the difficulty of getting two-thirds of the Senate to approve an annexation agreement, McKinley instead supported Democratic Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada's efforts to achieve the result by a joint resolution of both houses of Congress. The resulting Newlands resolution passed the two houses by a wide margin, and McKinley signed it into law on July 8, 1898. McKinley's biography H. Wayne Morgan, "McKinley is the guiding spirit behind Hawaiian annexation, showing... the firmness in pursuing it "; The President told Cortelyou, "We need Hawaii as much and much more than we do in California - this is the real destiny."
Expand your influence abroad
Even before the peace negotiations began with Spain, McKinley asked Congress to set up a commission to examine trade opportunities in Asia and support the "Open Door Policy", where all countries will be free to trade with China and no one will attempt to violate the territorial integrity of the country..
American missionaries were threatened with death when the Boxer Rebellion punished foreigners in China. Americans and other westerners in Peking were besieged and, in cooperation with other western powers, McKinley ordered 5,000 troops into the city in June 1900 in the China Relief Expedition. The Westerners were rescued the following month, but several members of the Democratic Congress objected to sending McKinley's troops without consulting the legislature. McKinley's actions set a precedent that led most of his successors to exercise equal independent control over the military. After the uprising ended, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to the Open Door policy, which became the basis of American policy towards China.
Closer to home, McKinley and Hay were involved in negotiations with Britain about the possibility of building a canal in Central America. The Clayton-Bulwer Agreement, signed by the two countries in 1850, is strictly prohibited either from establishing exclusive control over the canals there. The war has revealed the difficulty of maintaining a navy of two oceans without a closer relationship than Cape Horn. Now, with American business and military interests even more involved in Asia, a channel seems more important than ever, and McKinley insists on renegotiating the deal. Hay and the British ambassador, Julian Pauncefote, agree that the United States can control the channel of the future, provided it is open to all shipments and not fortified. McKinley was satisfied with the requirements, but the Senate rejected them, demanding that the United States be allowed to fortify the canal. Hay was embarrassed by the refusal and offered his resignation, but McKinley rejected him and ordered him to continue negotiations to achieve the Senate's demands. He succeeded, and a new agreement was drafted and approved, but not before the murder of McKinley in 1901.
Rates and bimetallism
McKinley has built his reputation in Congress at high tariffs, promising protection for American businesses and expensive American factory workers. With Republican control of Congress, the Dingley Chairman's Ways and Ways introduced the Dingley Act that would raise interest rates on wool, sugar, and luxury goods. McKinley supports it and it becomes law.
American negotiators soon concluded reciprocal agreements with France, and both countries approached England to gauge British enthusiasm for bimetallism. The Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, and his government showed interest in the idea and told the American envoy Edward O. Wolcott that he would be willing to reopen candy in India for silver coins if the Viceroy Executive Board there agreed. News of a possible exit from the gold standard led to direct opposition from supporters, and concerns by the Indian government led Britain to reject the proposal. With the failure of international efforts, McKinley turned away from the silver currency and embraced the gold standard. Even without agreement, agitation for free silver subsides as prosperity begins to return to the United States and gold from a recent strike in the Yukon and Australia increases monetary supply even without silver currency. In the absence of an international agreement, McKinley backed the law to formally confirm the gold standard, but was initially hampered by the silver powers in the Senate. In 1900, with another campaign ahead and good economic conditions, McKinley urged Congress to pass the law, and was able to sign the Gold Standard Law on March 14, 1900, using a golden pen to do so.
Civil rights
After McKinley's election in 1896, African-Americans hoped for progress toward equality. McKinley has spoken out against the death penalty while the governor, and most African-Americans who could vote in favor of him in 1896. McKinley's priority, however, is in ending sectionalism, and they are disillusioned with its policy and appointment. Although McKinley made several African American appointments for low-level government positions, and received some praise for it, the promise was less than they received under previous Republican rule. Blanche K. Bruce, an African American who during the Reconstruction had served as a senator from Mississippi, accepted the post of register at the Treasury; this post is traditionally given to an African American by the president of the Republic. McKinley pointed to some black postmaster; However, when Democrats protested the appointment of Justin W. Lyons as a postmaster of Augusta, Georgia, McKinley asked Lyons to resign (he was later given Treasury post after Bruce's death in 1898). The President did appoint George B. Jackson, a former slave, to a customs collector's post in Presidio, Texas. However, African-Americans in the northern states feel that their contribution to McKinley's victory is ignored; few were appointed to the office.
The government's response to racial violence was minimal, causing him to lose black support. When the black postmasters in Hogansville, Georgia in 1897, and in Lake City, South Carolina the following year, were attacked, McKinley issued no condemnation statements. Although black leaders criticized McKinley for not acting, supporters responded by saying that there was little that the president could do to intervene. Critics replied by saying that he could at least publicly condemn such incidents, as did Harrison.
According to historian Clarance A. Bacote, "Before the Spanish-American War, Negroes, regardless of some mistakes, regarded McKinley as the best friend they had ever had." Under pressure from black leaders, McKinley required the War Department to assign black officers over the rank of lieutenants. McKinley toured the South in late 1898, promoting sectional reconciliation. He visited the Tuskegee Institute and the black educator Booker T. Washington. He also visited Confederate memorials. On his way to the South, McKinley did not mention tension or racial violence. Although the President received a warm welcome from the Southern white, many African Americans, excluded from the official welcome committee, felt alienated by the words and actions of the President. Gould concludes about race, "McKinley has no vision to go beyond the biases of his day and to show a better future for all Americans".
1900 election
Republicans generally succeeded in state and local elections across the country in 1899, and McKinley was optimistic about his chances of re-election in 1900. McKinley's popularity in his first term convinced him of his second re-nomination. The only question about Republican ticket related to the nomination of vice president; McKinley needed a new partner as Hobart died in late 1899. McKinley initially favored Elihu Root, who had succeeded Algeria as Secretary of War, but McKinley decided that Root did an excellent job at the War Department to move it. He considered other important candidates, including Allison and Cornelius N. Bliss, but none as popular as Republican rising star Theodore Roosevelt. After serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt resigned and lifted the cavalry regiment; they fought bravely in Cuba, and Roosevelt returned to ru
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