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 25^th 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.