The Presidency of William McKinley

William McKinley was the last Civil War veteran to be named President of the United States. As such, he truly did seem to mark the end of an era in American Politics - an era that is now most commonly referred to as "The Gilded Age," a phrase coined by Mark Twain which referred to the growth in wealth and industrialization that marked the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

With McKinley's election to the Presidency in 1896, taking office in 1897, the era known as "The Progressive Era" had unofficially begun. The new President found himself facing a number of important issue both at home and abroad.

Bringing Prosperity Back

The two issues which dominated the American economy throughout the last thirty years of the nineteenth century were "bimetalism" (that is, the decision of whether to rely on hard money or soft money - gold or silver standards), and the tariff (which McKinley had been responsible for raising considerably while in Congress in 1890).

McKinley favored the gold standard as a means of halting inflation and supported the Dingley Tariff Act which raised the tariff rate upward still. By 1900, just before reelection, he also voted to formalize the gold standard to back up all American money. Under McKinley, the depression which had begun under Grover Cleveland began to wane and prosperity came back to the United States.

How much of this success was due directly to McKinley's actions, and how much was a result of natural economic fluctuation is difficult to say.

Also on the domestic front, McKinley's first term saw the final annexation of Hawaii by way of a joint congressional resolution, and legislation to further reform (though only moderately) civil service.

The Spanish-American War

Even more pressing than the economic concerns of America, however, was foreign policy. Dealings with foreign nations had truly played a secondary role in every President since the inception of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which had effectively separated America from overseas powers.

With the news of Spanish atrocities in Cuba (which were terrible, yes, but greatly exagerated by the "Yellow Journalism" of men like Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst who desired only to sell more newspapers than the other), followed by the mysterious sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in February of 1898, America could no longer remain neutral.

The Maine had been sent to Cuba due to the riots which had broken out there to oppose the Spanish oppression, which McKinley saw as a threat to American national interests. When it mysteriously exploded, however, many Americans blamed the Spanish, and war became inevitable.

Though McKinley opposed the call for war among the American people (for he had been attempting to negotiate with Spain since 1897), he could not stop Congress from declaring support for the Cuban revolution in April of 1898.

Over the following 109 days, America dominated the war on all fronts on which it was fought - which consisted of all Spanish territories overseas - Cuba, the Phillipines, Guam and Puerto Rico. The treaty of Paris was signed, supported strongly by McKinley, effectively ending the war, on August 12, 1898, giving control of the territories in question to the United States.

Assassination

Running for reelection in 1900, the popularity McKinley had gained due to his victory of Spain and the prosperity at home helped him once again defeat William Jennings Bryan in the Presidential election by an almost 2 to 1 margin in the electoral vote.

Only half a year later, however, McKinley was shot and killed while attending the Pan-American exhibition in Buffalo New York (as was predicted by the "Curse of Tecumseh"), on September 5, 1901 by a professed anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. After less than five years in office, McKinley, still popular, had died, leaving the Presidency to the youngest man to ever hold the position - Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

William McKinley is remembered today in a mostly positive light, having helped to usher in a new age in American politics, both in terms of domestic agenda and in foreign policy. With the ascent of Theodore Roosevelt, both political parties would undergo considerable change in order to fit the changes brought by a new century.

For more information:

The Rise of William McKinley

References:

"William McKinley." American Presidents: An Online Reference Resource.

"Biography of William McKinley."

President William McKinley

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