William McKinley Facts & Worksheets

William McKinley facts and information plus worksheet packs and fact file. Includes 5 activities aimed at students 11-14 years old (KS3) & 5 activities aimed at students 14-16 years old (GCSE). Great for home study or to use within the classroom environment.

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Table of Contents
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    Summary

    • Early Life
    • Life During the Civil War
    • Early Political Career
    • Campaign and Presidency
    • Assassination

    Key Facts And Information

    Let’s know more about William McKinley!

    William McKinley was elected President of the United States in 1896. McKinley, a Republican and former Governor of Ohio, triumphed over the combined Democratic and Populist contender, William Jennings Bryan, along with minor-party candidates. McKinley's significant triumph in what is often regarded as a realigning election concluded a phase of closely contested presidential races and initiated a period of Republican Party supremacy. McKinley was a prominent protectionist and felt assured of securing victory in an election centred on that issue. McKinley's methodical strategy for attaining the presidency established the foundation for contemporary campaigns, and he constructed an electoral alliance that sustained Republican dominance until 1932.

    Portrait of William McKinley
    Portrait of William McKinley

    EARLY LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY

    • William McKinley Jr. was the seventh of William McKinley Sr. and Nancy Allison McKinley’s nine children. He was born in Niles, Ohio, in 1843. His family, which came from English and Scots-Irish settlers, could trace their roots back to David McKinley, an immigrant from Dervock, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. McKinley grew up in a Methodist home that was influenced by Whiggish and abolitionist ideas. At age 16, he got involved in his local church and stayed a devoted Methodist for the rest of his life.
    • The family moved to Poland, Ohio, in 1852 so their kids could get a better education. In 1860, McKinley graduated from Poland Seminary and started classes at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
    • But after a year, he had to go back home because he was sick and depressed. He later went to Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, where he would later be on the board of trustees. Even though he got better, his family's money problems kept him from going back to Allegheny. Because of this, McKinley got a job as a postal clerk and later became a schoolteacher near Poland, Ohio.

    LIFE DURING THE CIVIL WAR

    • When the Confederate states left the Union and war broke out in 1861, thousands of men from Ohio signed up to fight. McKinley and his cousin William McKinley Osbourne were two of them. They joined the Poland Guards as privates in June 1861. The unit went to Columbus, Ohio, where it joined forces with other small groups to become the 23rd Ohio Infantry. The men were upset at first because they could not choose their own officers like they could in other Ohio regiments. Instead, Governor William Dennison chose them. 
    • Colonel William Rosecrans was put in charge of the regiment by Dennison, and the troops started training on the outskirts of Columbus. McKinley quickly got used to life in the military and wrote letters to his hometown newspaper praising the army and the Union cause. Major Rutherford B. Hayes convinced the men to accept the supplies that had been given to them when there were delays in getting uniforms and weapons. This earned McKinley's respect and led to a close mentorship.
    • The 23rd Ohio, led by Colonel Eliakim P. Scammon and part of the Kanawha Division, moved to western Virginia in July 1861. At first, McKinley thought Scammon was too strict, but he saw how useful the regiment's tough training was during battle. The first battle took place in September at Carnifex Ferry, where Union troops pushed back Confederate troops. Soon after that, McKinley was put in charge of supplies and paperwork in the brigade quartermaster's office.
    • By April 1862, he had been promoted to commissary sergeant. During that spring, the regiment fought small battles under Hayes and Scammon while moving forward in western Virginia.
    • McKinley's regiment was sent east in September 1862 to help General John Pope's Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. They could not get to the battle in time because of delays, but they joined the Army of the Potomac to stop Robert E. Lee from moving into Maryland.
    • The 23rd Ohio first fought the enemy at South Mountain on 14 September 1862. They then fought in the Battle of Antietam, which was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, near Sharpsburg. McKinley was shot at a lot while bringing food to soldiers on the front lines. 
    • The Union army won, even though it lost a lot of soldiers. The Confederate forces then retreated to Virginia. Later, McKinley's regiment was sent back to western Virginia. While McKinley was stationed near Charleston, Virginia, he was sent back to Ohio to recruit soldiers.
    • Governor David Tod unexpectedly made him a second lieutenant for his performance at Antietam. The regiment did not do much until July 1863, when it fought John Hunt Morgan's cavalry at Buffington Island. In early 1864, after being reorganised into George Crook's Army of West Virginia, McKinley's regiment went on the attack in southwestern Virginia, going after salt and lead mines. On 9 May 1863, they fought hard at Cloyd's Mountain, forcing Confederate troops out of their trenches.
    • Major General David Hunter then led the regiment to the Shenandoah Valley. They took Lexington, Virginia, on 11 June and moved toward Lynchburg, destroying railway tracks along the way. However, they retreated after seeing how strong the Confederates were. The raid by Confederate General Jubal Early into Maryland forced a return to the north. McKinley fought hard at Kernstown on 24 July, where the Union army lost.
    • He was then promoted to captain. He worked for several generals and fought in important battles at Berryville, Opequon Creek, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. He helped rally troops and change the course of the battle at Cedar Creek. During this time, McKinley voted for Abraham Lincoln for president for the first time.
    • When General George Crook was caught in early 1865, more staff changes were made, and McKinley eventually became General Samuel S. Carroll's assistant.
    • After Lee gave up to Grant, which ended the war, McKinley was given a brevet promotion to major and joined a Freemason lodge in Winchester, Virginia. He was mustered out with Hancock's First Veterans Corps in July 1865. He turned down an offer to join the peacetime army and went back to Ohio. McKinley co-wrote the twelve-volume Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1866 in 1886. This book is a record of Ohio's involvement in the war.
    Rutherford Hayes
    Rutherford Hayes

    EARLY POLITICAL CAREER

    • In October 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes called a special session of Congress, and McKinley took his seat. Because he was a member of the Republican minority, he was put on committees that were not very important, but he worked hard on them. Even though he was friends with Hayes, McKinley didn't have much of an advantage because the president did not have much power on Capitol Hill. McKinley and Hayes disagreed about money early in McKinley's time in Congress. 
    • After the Coinage Act of 1873, the US had basically adopted the gold standard. As silver prices fell, supporters tried to bring silver back as legal tender to boost the money supply. McKinley backed the Bland–Allison Act of 1878, which required the government to buy a lot of silver. McKinley voted against House Republican leader James Garfield and overrode Hayes's veto.
    • From the beginning, McKinley was a strong supporter of protective tariffs, which were meant to boost domestic manufacturing instead of just bringing in more money. His views were shaped by the fact that Canton was a successful place to make farm equipment. He pushed for and supported bills that raised tariffs, but he was against bills that lowered them or imposed taxes only on income. After Garfield won the presidency in 1880, McKinley was put on the important House Ways and Means Committee.
    • By the middle of the 1880s, he had become one of the most important leaders of the Ohio Republican Party, along with Senator John Sherman and Governor Joseph B. Foraker. McKinley also got to know Mark Hanna, a political manager and fundraiser, very well. Hanna would later become one of McKinley's most important advisers.
    • In 1889, when Republicans were in charge, McKinley wanted to be the Speaker of the House, but Thomas B. Reed got the job instead. Reed made him head of the Ways and Means Committee, which let McKinley guide the McKinley Tariff of 1890 through the House. This tariff put protective tariffs on goods from other countries.
    • During this time, Democrats often tried to gerrymander McKinley out of office. Even though his district changed many times, he won re-election until 1890, when the McKinley Tariff became a big issue in the campaign and he lost by a small amount to Democrat John G. Warwick.
    • Before his last term in Congress ended, McKinley arranged for his nomination as governor of Ohio at the 1891 state Republican convention. Foraker backed him even though the party was divided. He beat the Democratic incumbent, James E. Campbell, by about 20,000 votes. As governor, McKinley pushed for both business growth and fair treatment of workers. He passed laws that protected union membership and set up a way to settle work disputes through arbitration.
    • He also had to deal with his own money problems during the Panic of 1893, when debts from a friend's failed business put him in danger. Wealthy friends, including Hanna, set up a fund to pay off his debts, which helped keep McKinley's personal and political reputation intact. McKinley's popularity grew quickly, and he easily won re-election as governor in November 1893. In the 1894 midterm elections, he worked hard to get Republicans elected, and he helped the party win in Ohio.
    • Asa Bushnell, a Republican, was elected governor, and Foraker was elected to the Senate in 1895. This helped McKinley keep the party together in Ohio. Because of this political stability and his rising national profile, he was a top candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1896.

    CAMPAIGN AND PRESIDENCY OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY

    • Mark Hanna, McKinley's close friend and political adviser, helped him get to the presidency in a planned way. It is not clear when McKinley started getting ready to run for president, but by 1888 he had a good working relationship with Hanna, who used his organisational and financial skills to help McKinley build his base. Hanna had put McKinley ahead of possible opponents by 1895–1896, getting support from delegates in key states. They mostly focused on the South and border states.
    • McKinley went to Georgia to meet with Republican leaders in person, and Hanna met with powerful political bosses in New York and Pennsylvania. Even though people offered to make deals with him, McKinley refused to give in and win the nomination. Illinois became a key battleground, and McKinley's supporters, including Charles G. Dawes, won almost all of the delegates there.
    • When former President William Henry Harrison decided not to run, McKinley quickly gained support in Indiana, which all but guaranteed him a majority of delegates before the national convention in St. Louis. McKinley won the nomination on 16 June 1896, and thousands of people celebrated on his Canton front porch. Hanna picked Garret Hobart from New Jersey to be vice president. This was a safe and uncontroversial choice.
    • In the 1896 campaign, McKinley took a pro-gold stance by supporting the gold standard and allowing for international bimetallism. This made some delegates from the West leave, but it kept the party together. William Jennings Bryan, his Democratic opponent, supported free silver and got rural and Western voters excited with his famous Cross of Gold speech. Hanna spent a lot of money to support McKinley's views on tariffs and the gold standard. This was a lot more than Bryan's campaign spent.
    • Instead of going around the country, McKinley ran a 'Front Porch Campaign' in Canton, where he met with delegations every day. This let him talk about issues in a controlled way while getting a lot of media attention. On 3 November 1896, McKinley won by a wide margin, winning the Northeast and Midwest and appealing to industrial and urban voters. Bryan’s appeal stayed mostly in rural areas.
    • This election changed things around, making the Republicans the clear leaders in the Fourth Party System and making McKinley a president who was pro-business, focused on tariffs, and a gold standard.
    • On 4 March 1897, McKinley was sworn in as president. He promised to reform tariffs, be careful with foreign affairs, and keep the peace. John Sherman was named Secretary of State, Lyman J. Gage was named Treasury Secretary, and Theodore Roosevelt was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The Spanish-American War started when the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbour in February 1898.
    • This happened while McKinley was president. Even though the public wanted war, McKinley first tried to negotiate, but in the end he gave the issue to Congress, which declared war on 20 April. The US won big battles in the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Treaty of Paris gave the US the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam and recognised Cuba's independence. In 1898, McKinley also oversaw the annexation of Hawaii, which protected American business and military interests in the Pacific.
    • McKinley pushed for an Open Door Policy in China and worked with Britain to get canal rights in Central America, which led to the Panama Canal. He backed protective tariffs at home with the Dingley Act and made the gold standard official with the Gold Standard Act of 1900.
    • McKinley's administration brought about economic stability, but he did not do much to stop racial violence in the South. This made black Americans feel like they were not being heard, even though they had supported him before. 
    • In 1900, McKinley was chosen again to be president, this time with Theodore Roosevelt as his vice president. The campaign focused on national unity and prosperity. McKinley won a clear victory over Bryan, getting the most votes for a Republican candidate since 1872. Plans for a national tour in 1901 were put on hold because First Lady Ida McKinley was sick. The tour ended with a trip to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.

    ASSASSINATION

    • George B. Cortelyou, President McKinley's secretary, raised concerns about his safety, but McKinley still wanted to meet with the public as he started his second term. Recent anarchist killings in Europe, like the murder of King Umberto I of Italy, had made people more worried about McKinley's safety. Cortelyou tried to cancel public events twice while McKinley was in Buffalo, New York, for the Pan-American Exposition, but the president insisted on meeting with the public.
    • On 5 September 1901, he spoke to a crowd of 50,000 people about reciprocity treaties that would open up new markets for American manufacturers. He also talked about his plans for a successful second term.
    • Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist who was inspired by Emma Goldman, was in the crowd. He had tried to get close enough to the president on 5 September but had failed.
    • The next day, at the Temple of Music on the exposition grounds, Czolgosz hid a gun in a handkerchief. When he got to the front of the queue, he shot McKinley twice in the stomach from close range. 
    • Even though the attack was very bad, McKinley stayed very calm. He told his aides to gently tell First Lady Ida McKinley the news and to keep the mob that had surrounded Czolgosz from getting too close.
    • This decision probably saved the assassin's life. At first, McKinley was treated at an exposition aid station, but he was quickly moved to the home of John G. Milburn, president of the Pan-American Exposition Company, for more care. 
    • In the days right after, McKinley's health seemed to get better, and doctors gave good news. Cabinet members and political allies who had rushed to Buffalo slowly left, including Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, who went back to a camping trip he had planned. But by 13 September, McKinley's health had got a lot worse.
    • The doctors who were there did not know that gangrene had formed around the bullet wounds in his stomach, slowly poisoning his body. McKinley went in and out of consciousness all day, but he stayed calm, dignified and helpful with his medical care. By nightfall, he knew he probably would not make it.  
    • President William McKinley died at 2.15 am on 14 September 1901. The 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, rushed to Buffalo right away and took the oath of office. Nine days after McKinley's death, Czolgosz was arrested, tried, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to death. On 29 October 1901, he was put to death by electric chair.

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    Frequently Asked Questions About William McKinley

    • Who was William McKinley?
      William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
    • What were his main economic policies?
      He supported protective tariffs and the gold standard to strengthen American industry and stabilise the economy.
    • Was William McKinley assassinated?
      Yes. He was shot in September 1901 and died shortly after, making him the third U.S. president to be assassinated.