Happy early birthday to William McKinley (1/29)

[Terabith]

It is really hard to write anything snarky about William McKinley, because he’s up there with Jimmy Carter as possibly the nicest president we’ve ever had. He was also smart, competent, and thoroughly decent.

 

As a teenager, he briefly attended Allegheny College, where he became famous for his ability to learn the names, faces, and life stories of people from even the briefest interaction, a talent which served him well in his later political life. He was a model student, a gifted debater who was passionate about abolition, always went to chapel, and played “town-ball,” a team sport at the time. There is a rumor that he was kicked out of the college for putting a cow in the belfry of Bentley Hall, but there is no evidence that this occurred, and there is no evidence that he was expelled. There is better evidence that he and his roommate placed a goat in the belfry, but again, this was not actually breaking any rules. He went home for the summer to improve his health and work for the post office, but then shortly thereafter the Civil War broke out, and he never returned to college. Years later he wrote to the college president that it was one of his greatest regrets that he did not complete his studies there. He received an honorary degree from Allegheny in 1895 when he returned as governor to speak at commencement.

 

When he was 18, McKinley volunteered to fight for the Union in the Civil War. He was weak and sickly and had absolutely no experience, so he was put to work in the kitchen. McKinley won distinction and respect because he constantly ran right up to the front lines, under enemy fire, to make sure everyone got fed. His commander, Rutherford Hayes, said McKinley showed “unusual and unsurpassed capacity,” and he was so brave and efficient at feeding people that he won promotion after promotion, eventually earning the rank and nickname “The Major.” He regularly wrote in his diary that he knew he would probably die soon, but he wasn’t afraid because he was literally serving his countrymen and would die doing what he believed in. By the time the war was over, he was strong, healthy, and confident.

 

He was completely devoted to his wife, Ida. When he was governor of Ohio, he made sure his office was directly across the street from his home, because after eating breakfast with her, he would walk across the street and wave to her before he entered his office. He also stopped working every day at three o’clock long enough to go to the window and wave to her, before returning to his work.

 

When McKinley was president, journalists like Hearst and Pulitzer worked really hard to get America involved in Cuba’s war for independence from Spain, but McKinley initially resisted. He had been in a war and seen bodies piled up, and he was thoughtful about approaching military aggression. He wanted to wait until he had exhausted every other avenue. But when he did decide to get involved, he got very involved. He was an incredibly competent and decisive wartime commander. He converted a room in the White House into a war room and was directly connected to every commander in the field, checking in with soldiers by phone several times a day. His mastery of detail and wartime experience made him an amazing commander, and the Spanish-American War ended after only four months, with more American casualties from disease than battle. It was an important war that established America as a global superpower and it let Americans see Northerners, Southerners, blacks, and whites all fighting together for a noble cause, which was crucial in the aftermath of the Civil War. America got control of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, and we didn’t even want it.

 

After the war, McKinley began negotiation for a canal through the isthmus of Panama.

 

So, umm, McKinley loved cigars. He never smoked in public, and he refused to allow himself to be photographed smoking them, but in private he was rarely without one. Honestly, that’s the worst thing anyone really says about the man.

 

McKinley wore a red carnation every day as a good luck charm, because it was his wife’s favorite flower. One day, minutes after he removed the carnation and gave it to a little girl as a present, he was shot by a deranged anarchist. McKinley’s first words after being shot were, “Don’t let them hurt him,”(upon seeing his assassin tackled to the ground) and “My wife, be careful how you tell her – oh, be careful.” His immediate concern was for his killer and for his wife and how she would take the news of his attack.

When McKinley got to the hospital, the only surgeon there was a gynecologist who couldn’t find the bullet, and McKinley died eight days later.

[Wishes]

That one was bittersweet Terabith. Poignant writing.

[Faith-manor]

Really neat story! It is nice to know because mostly I only know the worst or most infamous information about our presidents. Hr seems like a truly special person who really cared about the country.

[Beth S]

It's great to learn more about his beyond his assassination.  Thank you!