William
McKinley
25th President
from 1897-1901
Background
He was the 7th child born to William and Nancy
of Scott and Irish decent.
When in school McKinley enjoyed reading, debating,
and public speaking.
At the age of 18, he and a cousin enlisted as
privates in the 23rd regiment when the Civil War broke out.
By the time the war was over he had attained the rank of
brevet major.
Political rise
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During the Battle of Antietam, McKinley was very brave and he was
promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. By the time the war was
over he had attained the rank of brevet major
In 1866 he entered law school in Albany, New York, but he did not graduate. Belden
was so over-burdened with cases that he offered one to McKinley. McKinley won the
case and so impressed the judge that he was paid $25.00 for the case and was given a
job. Later, McKinley opened his own law office and became active in the politics of the
Republican Party. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Stark County in 1869.
McKinley won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1876
McKinley served 7 terms in Congress from 1877-1891, except for a 9month period in 1884-1885. Popular opinion has it that Hanna led
McKinley to political power and success. In 1896, the Republicans again
supported McKinley and he was nominated as the Republican
presidential contender with Garret Hobart, a New Jersey senator, as
his running mate. . McKinley won the election with more than 7 million of
the nearly 14 million votes.
PIRATES…
Politcal:
-McKinley opened his own law office and became active in
the politics of the Republican Party. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of
Stark County in 1869.
-William returned to Poland, Ohio where he studied law with
Judge Charles Glidden. In 1866 he entered law school in Albany, New York, but
he did not graduate.
INTELLECTUAL: N/A
RELIGIOUS:
-Early in life, he planned to become a Methodist minister.
-McKinley is the only president to include exclusively Christian
language in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation.
ARTS/CULTURAL: N/A
TECHNOLOGY: N/A
ECONOMICS: -McKinley had reservations, but he nevertheless signed
the bill into law on July 24, 1897. One reason he did is that the provision for
reciprocity trade agreements, though inadequate, he had a promised
opportunity to bring the United States into an international economic
system from which the world might secure extraordinary rewards.
-A second measure for economic recovery involved carrying out the
Republican party pledge to secure an international agreement on
bimetallism.
Social: Encouraged people to join unions and to work together and to
protest against unjustice treatment.
Key Domestic
Policy Issues
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In the 1896 election it formed a major
turning point in American politics.
McKinley advocated the tariff as a way of
protecting business and labor from foreign
imports and defended the gold standard
against his Democratic opponent
William Jennings Bryan, who opposed the free coinage of
silver, which would have inflated currency and aided debtors.
The Republicans ran an efficient, lavishly financed campaign,
and McKinley won the election by the largest popular amount
since the Civil War. His administration enacted a higher tariff
in 1897, committed the country to the gold standard in 1900,
and generally promoted business confidence. Probably in
part because of these policies, the economy recovered from
a severe depression, and the Republicans became identified
with economic prosperity, which made them the dominant
party until the 1930s. McKinley received public vindication
when he defeated Bryan again and was reelected by a still
larger vote in 1900.
Key Foreign Policy Issues
McKinley led the U.S. into its first international war with a
European power since the War of 1812. The decision to come to
the aid of the Cubans struggling to throw off Spanish rule was
hastened by reports that Spain was responsible for the
explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine. . To secure America's
position in the Pacific, McKinley immediately pushed a joint
resolution through Congress to annex the Hawaiian Islands.
After three short months of fighting, the U.S. was victorious.
The peace treaty between the United States and Spain granted
Cuba its independence -- although the island became a U.S.
protectorate -- and gave the U.S. control of former Spanish
colonies, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Further
asserting American power on the global scene, McKinley
sent2,000 troops to China to help the Europeans put down the
Boxer Rebellion.
McKinley said:
“Expositions are the timekeepers of
progress.”
“In the time of darkest defeat,
victory may be nearest.
That's all a man can hope for
during his lifetime - to set an
example - and when he is dead,
to be an inspiration for history.”
Successes / Failures
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He declared war on Spain. in less than three months, USA won!
his signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for
prosperity, as typified by his McKinley Tariff of 1890. As the
Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election, he
upheld the gold standard, promoted pluralism among ethnic
groups, reshaped the issues of the day and inaugurated the
Fourth Party System
The depression brought business failures, industrial
unemployment, and low farm prices. As economic conditions
worsened, social tensions increased.
. He had unwisely endorsed the notes of a friend whose tinplate business failed and left him liable for debts amounting to
more than $100,000.
, McKinley weathered the financial crisis. He made no secret of
his difficulties, and sympathetic Democrats as well as
Republicans contributed to a fund for his relief.
HEADSTRONG
Because he never questioned what he believed
and was committed to restoring the US from
the depression.
YES!
Although McKinley had many
financial problems we feel as if
he would be able to run
successfully today because he
always stuck to his first thought
of things and wouldn’t stop until it
was completed.
Cabinet members
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Vice President: Garret A. Hobart (1897-99);
Roosevelt (1901)
Theodore
Cabinet:
-Secretary of State John Sherman (1897-98)William R.
Day (1898)John M. Hay (1898-1901)
-Secretary of the TreasuryLyman J. Gage (1897-1901)
-Secretary of WarRussel A. Alger (1897-99)Elihu
Root (1899-1901)
-Attorney GeneralJoseph McKenna (1897-98)John W. Griggs
(1898-1901)Philander C. Knox (1901)
-Postmaster GeneralJames A. Gary (1897-98)Charles
Emory Smith (1898-1901)
-Secretary of the NavyJohn D. Long (1897-1901)
-Secretary of the InteriorCornelius N. Bliss (1897-99)Ethan
A. Hitchcock (1899-1901)
-Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson(1897-1901)
Bibliography.
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www.yahoo.com
Whitehouse.gov
www.mckinley.lib.oh.us/mckinley
www.wikipedia.com/mckinley
The American Pageant (13th edition)
Worked by
Yvonne Aguirre,
Kristina Rivas-Acosta,
Maricarmen Betancourt.