President William
McKinley
Benjamin Culbreth
‘A more serious turn of
mind’
 William McKinley learned hard work
early, at 17 while attending Allegheny
College in Meadville, Pennsylvania
McKinley became sick and had to return
home to Poland, Ohio.
 Once he had recovered and was able to
return to school his parents could not
afford to pay for his education.
Early Work and Educaton


McKinley starting working at Poland’s post
office as a clerk to earn money to return to
college.
A teaching position soon opened in the Kerr
school district, just three miles from his
parents home, and McKinley was hired as a
teacher.
War


William McKinley’s
teaching career was cut
short by the American
Civil War.
Feeling strongly about
the preservation of the
Union and the abolition
of slavery, he joined the
Union army with his
cousin Will Osburne.
‘Sense of Duty’
In a letter to his sister Anna, William said,
“I volunteered to serve my country in this
her perilous hour from a sense of duty.”
 After training at Camp Jackson as a
private in the 23rd regiment of the Ohio
Volunteer Army McKinley saw his first
action on September 10, 1861.

Baptism by Fire


At the Battle of Antietam McKinley, who at
the time was a supply sergeant, delivered
food “at breakneck speed, through a terrific
fire of musketry and artillery.”
“A thing that never occurred under similar
circumstances in any other army in the world”
said Rutherford B. Hayes, of McKinley’s
actions.
‘A Good Lawyer’



Upon returning from the war McKinley wanted to
do something with his life.
He earned a law degree at Albany Law School in
New York and later became a lawyer in Canton,
Ohio.
“Major Wm. McKinley is a good lawyer, a fine
orator, and both in respect to ability and
character, commands the respect and esteem of
his fellow citizens” stated the Canton Repository
and Republican.
The Political Realm


McKinley entered politics in 1867
campaigning for his old friend, Rutherford
Hayes, who was running for governor of
Ohio.
The next year he was chairman of the
Republican Central Committee of Stark
County Ohio.
First Time For Everything
• In 1869 McKinley ran for and won his first
elected office, prosecutor of Stark County
Ohio.
• McKinley pulled off an upset, a Republican
winning in a Democratic county. He ran for
the office again in 1871 but lost.
Big Time
 By 1876 McKinley
had decided to run
for Ohio’s 18th District
in Congress.
 William gave
powerful speeches
and people came to
trust him and he won
the election.
‘In violation..of fairness’
In 1878 the Democratic Party in Ohio
realigned the districts to make it more
difficult for McKinley to get reelected.
 Despite the adversity he won the election.
 In 1880, on his third term in the House,
McKinley was appointed to the House
Ways and Means Committee.

Setback


In 1882 after initially believing he had once
again won his seat in Congress, the votes
were recounted and John Wallace won
McKinley’s seat.
He rebounded and won back his spot in the
House in 1884.
No Enemies



William McKinley was
known as the only man in
Congress who had no
enemies.
“Come now, let us put the
personal element aside and
consider the principle
involved,” he was famed for
saying.
“He had a rare tact as a
manager of men,”
Congressman Robert La
Follette said of him.
Popular Man


At the 1888 Republican National
Convention several in attendance tried
to nominate McKinley for president.
In 1890 once again facing a a large
Democratic district McKinley lost his
seat in Congress after thirteen years.
Hello Governor
“I accept the nomination you have
tendered me, sensible both of the honor
and responsibility it implies,” McKinley said
as he accepted the Republican nomination
for the governorship of Ohio.
He won the election over Democrat James
Campbell.
The Time Was Right
• By 1896 McKinley decided he had a good
chance to win the presidency.
• He was nominated and ran against Democrat
William Jennings Bryan.
• Northern political bosses offered their support in
exchange for power.
• McKinley refused saying, “If I were to accept the
nomination on those terms, the place would be
worth nothing to me and less to the people.”
The Campaign Trail


While Bryan ran around
the country making
speeches McKinley let the
people come to him.
“I might just as well put
up a trapeze on my front
lawn and compete with
some professional athlete
as go out speaking
against Bryan,” he said.
‘McKinley and the Full Dinner Pail’
By the day of the election McKinley had
spoken to 750,000 people from his front
porch.
 The central issue of the 96’ election was
the currency standard.
 McKinley backed the gold standard but did
not press the issue; while Bryan had his
whole campaign revolve around the
support of silver coinage.

‘President of the whole people’
• In 1900 McKinley once again defeated
William Jennings Bryan, even more so
than the first time.
• On September 5, 1901 while at the PanAmerican Exposition President William
McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgoz.
• He died eight days later surrounded by
family and friends.
Works Cited
•
•
•
•
•
Edge, Laura B. William McKinley. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century
Books,
2007. Print.
"William McKinley: Campaign Button." Heritage Auction Galleries. Heritage
Auctions Inc., 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://historical.ha.com/common/
view_item.php?Sale_No=6032&Lot_No=47610>. (Picture slide 17)
Wisconsin Electronic Reader. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/WIReader/Images/WER0002.html>.
(Picture slide 13)
Estabrook, Dan, et al. A Failed Compromise: The Spanish-American War
and
America's Diplomatic Progression. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.n
(Picture slide 4)
"Campaign Poster." McKinley Birthplace Home & Research Center.
McKinley Memorial
Library, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://www.mckinley.lib.oh.us/
viewspage.cfm?pg=3&id=239>. (Picture slide 10)