Death of William McKinley, President of the United States

     WILLIAM MCKINLEY, President of the United States of America, died at 2.15 a. m., September 14, 1901, at Buffalo, New York, from the effects of bullet wounds received at the hands of an anarchist assassin on September 6. On the date named the President was visiting the Pan-American Exposition, and, while holding a public reception in the Temple of Music, was shot twice by a young man, a confessed anarchist, who is supposed to have been selected for that purpose by an anarchistic society. After rallying from the first effects of the wounds and the surgical operation which followed, it was believed for a few days that the President would recover. These hopes, however, were shattered on September 12 and 13, when the distinguished patient suffered several relapses, and gradually grew weaker until death relieved him of his sufferings.
     The feelings of horror, indignation, and sorrow which overspread the entire country at the time of the commission of the crime was followed by a few days of buoyancy and hope, as the symptoms indicated that the President might recover, only to be followed by despair and death, and a wave of intense grief which has enveloped the whole Republic. These feelings were not confined to the United States, however, but to a great extent embraced the sentiments of the whole civilized world. Nowhere, perhaps, outside of his native country, was there more sincere manifestations of grief at Mr. MCKINLEY’S untimely death than in the Latin American countries with whom he desired to have the closest fraternal and commercial relations, as his address delivered at Buffalo, part of which is published in the present issue of the MONTHLY BULLETIN, indicates. [445][446]
     At the opening of the Pan-American Exposition, President MCKINLEY sent from San Francisco, Cal., which city he was then visiting, the following message to his “fellow-citizens of the United States and fellow-Americans from all of our neighboring nations,” which clearly shows his interest in the welfare of them all:
     “I send you greetings from the shores of the Pacific, with the fervent prayers for the benediction of Heaven upon this beneficent enterprise, with sincere congratulations to all those whose energy and devotion have brought it to pass, and with heartfelt welcome to our guests from our sister Republics, to whom we wish continued and abundant prosperity. May there be no cloud upon this grand festival of peace and commerce, no thought of rivalry except that generous competition in useful arts and industries which benefits all! I earnestly hope that this great exhibition may prove a blessing to every country of this hemisphere, and even that the world at large may profit by the progress of which we give proof by the lesson of our efforts and their results. I trust that it may become evident, before this exhibition closes, that our vast and increasing prosperity is fruitful of nothing but good to our elders in the brotherhood of nations, and that our onward march may forever exemplify the divine sentiment of ‘peace on earth and good will to men.’”
     WILLIAM MCKINLEY was born at Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1843, and was the son of WILLIAM and NANCY (ALLISON) MCKINLEY. He was educated in the public schools, and for a short period was a teacher. On June 11, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company E, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and participated in a number of battles in the civil war. He was successively promoted for gallantry in action to second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, and major, and was honorably discharged from the military service (at the close of the war) on July 26, 1865. He studied law at the Albany (New York) Law School, and was admitted to the practice of law in March, 1867, and was elected prosecuting attorney of Stark County, Ohio, in 1869.
     In November, 1876, he was elected to the National Congress from the Canton (Ohio) district, and on April 15, 1878, delivered his first notable speech on the tariff question in the House of Representatives. He was reelected to Congress in the following years: 1878, 1880, 1882, 1884, 1886, and 1888, each year becoming more and more prominent in national affairs. It was during his last term of service, while serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House, that he reported the bill which was afterwards known as the “McKinley tariff law,” and which was enacted on October 6, 1890, forming the practical basis of the present tariff system of the country.
     In November, 1891, he was elected Governor of the State of Ohio for the term of two years, being afterwards reelected to the same office in 1893. At the close of his second term he returned from Columbus, [446][447] the capital of the State, to his old home in Canton, to resume the practice of law. In June, 1896, he was nominated as the Republican candidate for President of the United States, and was elected the following November by a plurality of 600,000 votes. He was inaugurated on March 4, 1897, and proved to be one of the most popular Presidents ever chosen. In 1900 he was again nominated by his party as its candidate and was reelected by a popular plurality of 825,000. He was inaugurated for the second time as Chief Magistrate of the Nation on March 4, 1901. The momentous events occurring during his first Administration, and the few months of the second in which he was permitted to live, are matters of recent history and will not be dwelt upon in this connection. Suffice it to say that President MCKINLEY won the respect and admiration of all his countrymen irrespective of party affiliation, and all mourn for him as for a beloved friend. He was a devoted Christian, his last conscious remarks being the repetition of the words “Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.” He died in the assurance of a blessed immortality, leaving the record of his earthly career to be treasured as a rich legacy by his fellow countrymen.