McKinley, William

McKinley, William (1843–1901)25th president of the United States (1897–1901), born in Niles, Ohio. During the Civil War McKinley fought with an Ohio infantry unit and displayed bravery in combat at Antietam (1862). As a U.S. representative (1877–91), he was identified with the protective tariff and economic nationalism. He became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in 1889. The McKinley Tariff of 1890, which raised customs duties but authorized trade reciprocity, cost him his seat in the next election. After two terms as governor of Ohio (elected 1891, 1893), McKinley obtained the Republican nomination for president in 1896 and conducted his famous “front-porch” campaign against William Jennings Bryan on a platform endorsing the gold standard as well as the protective tariff. Remaining at his Ohio home while the oratorically flamboyant Bryan toured the country, McKinley, aided by an intense and expensive promotional print campaign, won both the popular and electoral vote. McKinley proved a forceful executive who traveled widely and cultivated the press, setting aside space in the White House for daily news briefings from the administration. Domestically his tenure was marked by increased tariffs and consolidation of the gold standard. In foreign policy, the key event of his tenure was the Spanish-American War (1898), brought about by the rebellion against Spanish rule in Cuba and precipitated by the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor (February 1898). Throughout the short conflict and later protracted Philippine insurrection, McKinley played a key role as commander in chief, giving the attack order that sent George Dewey to Manila Bay and then governing the islands through the war powers. McKinley shaped the strategy of the peace talks that resulted in U.S. acquisition of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. His administration also initiated the open door policy with China and oversaw the treaty that cleared the way for the building of the Panama Canal. His foreign policy record coupled with prosperity and complemented by Theodore Roosevelt as a running mate led to a decisive victory in the 1900 presidential election, in which his opponent was again Bryan. A few months after his inauguration, McKinley was shot by an anarchist while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died eight days later.

Throughout his political career McKinley was known as “Major” McKinley—a holdover from the brevet rank of major he had attained in the Civil War.