Of all the lost presidents in history, William McKinley is undoubtedly my favorite. He was a distinguished Civil War veteran, kept the US on the gold standard, won the Spanish American War within a few months (literally), and presided over one of the greatest economic booms in American history. His presidency was marked by striking economic growth, territorial expansion, and decisive wins in international politics. And he paved the way for America in the twentieth century. Not too shabby for a melancholy, former postal clerk from Ohio.
1870s America was a pretty dismal place. Yes, the Civil War was finally over, but Reconstruction was taxing and stressful for all involved. Figuring out how a previously hostile enemy was going to become a functional, economically strong part of American democracy was a tall order, not to mention what we were now going to do with the former slaves that were now clamoring for silly little things like fundamental rights. Further, the country was plunged into a deep depression due to the closure of multiple banks, the shut down of the New York Stock Exchange and a railroad strike. Amid all of this turmoil, McKinley was elected to Congress in 1876. He was a staunch Republican and, as such, focused heavily on the rights of former slaves, protectionism (an economic thing), upholding the gold standard, and expanding US territory and influence throughout the Western hemisphere specifically. During his Congressional term, McKinley's cornerstone legislation was the 1890 McKinley Tariff (no shit, right?). Highly controversial, at the time, as it raised the average duty on imports to nearly 50%, it was designed to protect (hence the term "protectionism") American manufacturers from foreign competition. And, for the most part, it worked the way it was intended to.
Regardless of his Congressional success, McKinley was voted out of office shortly after the McKinley Tariff was passed, and left Congress for his fall back job: Governor of Ohio. By all accounts McKinley was, well, governor. At the time, the governor had relatively little power in Ohio so there's really not much to say except "Yep. He was totally governor". (Yes I know I could expand upon this and talk about how the governor impacts presidential politics, especially in a swing state, but I'm not going to. It's boring. And would take up a lot of space with its boring-ness. Don't email me regarding this. Just don't do it.)
After this less than exciting governorship, McKinley was elected president in 1896. In today's world of increasing imports, decreasing exports, long drawn out wars and philandering politicians, it's serioulsy hard not to get a little turned on by McKinley's presidency. The protection of the gold standard (keeping the American dollar tied to the value of gold) was a huge victory at the time, as was his protectionist policies that spurred some seriously rapid economic growth. He won his campaign against William Jennings Bryan (America's biggest loser) without ever leaving his front porch. That's not a turn of phrase, he actually called it his "front porch campaign" and gave speeches about the gold standard and the necessity of high tariffs from his porch since his wife was too sick to accompany him on a nation-wide campaign. And that's just the beginning.
The crowning achievment of McKinley's presidency was the decisive American victory in the Spanish American War. I'm aware that many of you are now thinking "what the hell is the Spanish American War?", so let me explain.....
Between 1895 and 1898 the Spanish were deeply embroiled in conflict with one of their territories-- Cuba. American's always get very deeply nervous when shit starts to hit the fan in Cuba due to its proximity to the Sunshine State (Florida. Honestly guys, I really hope that didn't need to be stated). For a variety of reasons, including American business interests, the US sided with Cuba and began calling on Spain to grant Cuba independence and stop hostilities in the Western hemisphere (because this is our hemisphere, dammit!). The Spanish found this request to be adorable and blatantly ignored it. We continued our vocal opposition to Spanish rule in Cuba, but did not directly engage the Spanish.
Until February 1898, with the sinking of the USS Maine.
The USS Maine was stationed off of Havana, Cuba to "protect American interests" during the revolt. Yes, even in 1898 we were involving ourselves militarily under the guise of "protecting American interests", which usually meant then, as it often does now, protecting things in other countries with which Americans make money. Regardless, on February 15, 1898 the USS Maine exploded and sank, killing nearly three-quarters of the 355 man crew. The reason for the explosion has never been definitively determined, but at the time American's blamed the Spanish and called for vengeance.
Things moved rapidly after the sinking of the Maine, but McKinley, in all his awesome presidential glory, remained pretty level-headed, considering the circumstances. He conferred with his staff and in April recognized the sovereign state of Cuba. One of the many lessons that history can teach us is that there really is no better way to piss another country off than by acknowledging the independence of territory they consider part of their empire. Think about the last time Texas tried seceding from the US (I think it was last week sometime), now imagine that Mexico recognized Texas independence. Wouldn't that piss you off? Of course it would! Screw you, Mexico! Texas is ours! Well, maybe Texas was a bad example.... But you get the idea. Anyway, two days later the Spanish did something that only a handful of nations have ever even seriously considered, they declared war on the US.
Historically, declaring war on the United States tends to unleash a shitstorm of astronomical proportions (just ask that Japanese guy), and this was no different in the case of the Spanish. It took us only four months to kick the Spanish back to the Iberian Peninsula (the cease-fire was signed in August 1898). McKinley proved to be an able commander in chief, but an even better negotiator. When the US and Spanish signed the Treaty of Paris in December of that same year, Cuba was granted its independence, which had drawn us into the conflict to begin with, which is cool and all, but what McKinley did next was pretty kick ass. At this time in history, Spain as a world power was on the decline, however, they still controlled a serious amount of territory and somehow, probably through the sheer force of his sexiness and fantastic politics, McKinley also won us control of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Phillippines. Though that last one cost us around twenty million dollars.
Oh yeah, and we also somehow annexed Hawaii, which was never under Spanish control to begin with. Ladies and gentlemen: William McKinley.
But McKinley wasn't just a pretty face that kicked a lot of ass. He was deeper than that. He had a sensitive side. Case in point: his Open Door Policy regarding China. China had isolated itself for most of history, but in 1895, after the First Sino Japanese War, China was weak and staring down the barrel of partition by world powers. This was still the age of empire, it would not have been really that unusual of a story at the time: a China weakened by war, but rich in resources, is partitioned and colonized by strong Western powers until a military coup wins independence somewhere between 1940 and 1970. Substitute the term "China" for the term "Africa" or "literally almost any nation in the Middle East", and that is actually a pretty accurate history right there. But McKinley believed in an inherent equality between all nations, and by that I mean American commercial interests allowed to do as they please without having to take shit from the Russians or Brits. Regardless, the McKinley administration, John Hay specifically, pushed for an agreement between all western powers that none would partition China and that each would have equal access to the country. It worked. Which is surprising considering he literally sent a series of notes asking these nations very nicely to please not partition China. Not that any of this really turned out all that great for the Chinese, but it's one of the few times in history where a bunch of countries agreed on something without killing each others' citizens.
Considering all of this magical McKinley sexiness, in 1900 he easily defeated William Jennings Bryan yet again (WJB was kind of the Buffalo Bills of presidential politics). McKinley was expected to continue his legacy of economic growth and prosperity through his second term. His policies were working, he had won a war, the people loved him. It was good to be McKinley in 1901. Until he made a decision that, as many college students know, often proves disastrous: he decided to go to Buffalo.
Just six months into his second term, the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY was all anyone could talk about. The building boasted electric lighting (gasp!) and some of the most innovative ideas of the time were on display. McKinley made a visit in September, where he was shot on September 6, 1901 by a child of Polish immigrants named Leon Czolgosz (please don't ask me how to pronounce that) after a speech at the Temple of Music. Apparently no one told Czolgosz that Buffalonians have a long history of nearly killing people they like over hockey games, so he was broadsided when a mob mauled him shortly after shooting the president. He was reportedly injured so badly that his survival was seriously in question. Because Buffalonians don't half ass anything. Except football.
Initially, it seemed as though the president would make a full recovery. He was shot in the abdomen and was tended to by some of the best doctors available, such as Dr Roswell Park. He took the shots like a champ (phrasing!), insisting that he was fine, and imploring everyone around him not to worry his wife. But eight days later the president succumbed to infection and gangrene and the nation was plunged into mourning.
Czolgosz was kept under the tightest security, since the good people of Buffalo were intent on killing him, until his trial on September 23. He testified on his own behalf, though his statements are a little incoherent he did confess to the assassination. He also stressed that he had committed the crime alone, due to his deeply held belief in anarchism. Czolgosz was convicted and sentenced to death. The entire trial lasted eight hours, twenty-six minutes. He was executed at Auburn State Prison in NY on October 29, 1901.
*Conspiracy Theory Break* Supposedly, though there are no contemporary reports confirming this, Czolgosz was found to have, in his personal effects, a coin stamped with the number 2218 and bearing the face of an unknown man. Of course the only possible explanation for this is that Leon Czolgosz was a time traveling, anarchist, assassin. Czolgosz was Polish-American, as am I; my people can barely walk without bumping into things, let alone fucking time travel, but if you want to believe a website called "creepypasta.com", be my guest. I'll throw a link at the bottom if anyone would like to explore this more.
McKinley's assassination was only the third in the nation at the time and led to Theodore Roosevelt being sworn in as president. Roosevelt is widely considered a hard headed progressive that wrenched the United States into the twentieth century with sweeping policies and ambitious initiatives. Thus, Czolgosz's "frenzied" actions left not only a beloved and respected president dead, but a century in the past and paved the way for America in the twentieth century world.
That we, as a nation, have largely forgotten McKinley is a serious insult to his leadership and undeniable sexiness. The man accomplished things that presidents centuries later would strive for throughout entire terms in office. Think of how badly presidents Bush and Obama (and probably whoever comes after Obama, let's be realistic here) would have loved to be able to end the Iraq War in four months? Thirty some years later, FDR would take four terms as president to accomplish for the American economy what McKinley accomplished in one. McKinley was a powerhouse! And he died while serving his country in the highest capacity possible.
And he kept us from having to talk about President William Jennings Bryan.
Long live the memory of McKinley!
For some super intersting info on the McKinley assassination, including a shit ton of primary sources (like newspaper articles), check out buffalohistoryworks.com.
If murder and carnage are more your thing, murderpedia.org is a super cool website for all things bloody and gross.
For people in the Buffalo area, the Buffalo History Museum has really kick ass McKinley stuff, and also, a fantastic research library.
For those that are serious gluttons for punishment and want to dig deeper into the gold standard, here's a good place to start:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/markets/story/2012-04-23/return-to-the-gold-standard/54493710/1
The aftermath of McKinley's assassination and how it shaped America is explained in fantastic detail at http://www.edwindearborn.com/the-mckinley-assassination-the-death-of-americas-social-contract/
Oddly, there isn't a wealth of information regarding Leon Czolgosz's suspected time travel. But here's a few websites I found that made mention of it:
http://www.creepypasta.com/leon-czolgosz/
https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/time-travel-hoax-leon-czolgosz.536274/
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=22608202
http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/czolgosz-leon-frank.htm
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