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William McKinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio.
His father was William McKinley and his mother was Nancy
Campbell Allison McKinley. He attended Allegheny College and
became a schoolteacher. He served as our nation’s 25th
President from March 4, 1897 to September 14, 1901.
Mr. McKinley was also a lawyer. At the outbreak of the Civil
War, he enlisted as a Private in the Union Army but, by
war’s end, had advanced to the rank of Brevet Major. He
served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and as
Governor of Ohio. In 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, a battleship, was
blown up at Havana, Cuba; then a colony of Spain. The U.S.
Congress declared war. The Spanish-American War lasted about
100 days. It was a total victory for America. One of its
heroes was Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, who led his “Rough
Riders” in a charge up San Juan Hill. Mr. McKinley chose Mr.
Roosevelt as his Vice-Presidential running mate in 1900. About
six months into his second term, a deranged anarchist, Leon
Czolgosz, shot Mr. McKinley at The Pan-American Exhibition in
Buffalo, New York.
Mr. McKinley married Ida Saxton in 1871. They had two
children: Katherine and Ida. Unfortunately, neither McKinley
daughter survived her childhood.
President William McKinley died on September 14, 1901, in
Buffalo – eight days after having been shot. He was 58. |
