McKinley, William (1843–1901), twenty‐fifth president of the United States. Born in Niles, Ohio, William McKinley attended Allegheny College briefly before volunteering for the
Civil War. He rose to the rank of major in the Union Army, a title that he carried into national politics. Practicing as an attorney in Canton, Ohio, he married Ida Sexton in 1871 and became an active Republican. Elected to Congress in 1876, he served until defeated in 1890. He chaired the House Ways and Means Committee, hence the McKinley Tariff of 1890 bears his name. He was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and reelected in 1893. The frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 1896, he won on the first ballot, went on to defeat his Democratic opponent, William Jennings
Bryan, the candidate of western agrarians and the
free silver movement.
Although his close friendship with Cleveland industrialist Mark
Hanna aided McKinley's political rise as governor and president, he was the dominant figure in their relationship. In the White House from 1897 to 1901, McKinley is sometimes considered the first modern president: He cultivated the press, traveled frequently to push his programs, and exercised significant influence on Congress.
McKinley's reputation rests on his handling of the crisis in Cuba that led to the
Spanish‐American War. Unlike his predecessor Grover
Cleveland, McKinley insisted that the Cuban rebels have a role in any negotiated settlement. He also specified that Spain must end the rebellion quickly. This policy intensified the pressure on Madrid, which refused to relinquish Cuba peacefully. Popular sentiment for war increased sharply in February 1898 after an explosion of unknown origin destroyed the USS
Maine in Havana harbor, killing many sailors. By late March it was clear that Spain would not concede, and McKinley asked Congress for authority to intervene in Cuba. Within weeks, the two nations were at war.
A strong and effective war president, McKinley also dominated the negotiations that produced an armistice in August 1898. He made the decision that the United States should acquire the
Philippines in the Treaty of Paris. McKinley's leadership assured Senate approval of the pact in February 1899. For the two years that followed, McKinley used his war powers to subdue an insurrection in the Philippines and establish a civilian government. His forceful approach to foreign affairs, reinforced by Secretary of State John
Hay, also produced the
“Open Door” policy in China (1899), the dispatching of American troops to China to help subdue the Boxer Rebellion (1900), and the talks with Great Britain that facilitated construction of the
Panama Canal. In domestic affairs, McKinley championed the
gold standard and the protective tariff, but also advocated reciprocal trade treaties to open up markets overseas to American exporters.
McKinley won reelection in 1900, again defeating Bryan, but he was assassinated in September 1901 in Buffalo, New York, by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley was an important architect of the twentieth‐century presidency and a decisive force in the nation's rise to world power.
See also
Democratic Party;
Expansionism;
Federal Government, Executive Branch: The Presidency;
Foreign Relations: U.S. Relations with Asia;
Foreign Relations: U.S. Relations with Latin America;
Foreign Trade, U.S.;
Populist Era;
Populist Party;
Republican Party;
Tariffs.
Bibliography
Lewis L. Gould , The Presidency of William McKinley, 1980.
Lewis L. Gould and and Craig H. Roell , William McKinley: A Bibliography, 1988.
Lewis L. Gould