Mr. M’Kinley Disliked Presence of a Guard
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7.—President
McKinley was averse to a body guard [sic] or to restrictions on
his movements and was exceedingly informal and democratic while
in this city. On many pleasant mornings he indulged in a half hour’s
stroll, entirely alone through the southern portion of the grounds
surrounding the white house.
Very often he left the gate at the
western side of the grounds and was joined by Comtroller [sic] of
the Currency Charles Dawes, also an early riser, and together these
two men would make the circle of the eclipse south of the white
house grounds. Upon these occasions he was never accompanied by
a body guard [sic] or a secret service man. It is said Mr. McKinley
was often warned that the strolls alone were dangerous, the idea
of which he ridiculed.
Frequently Mr. McKinley drove alone
about the city and its suburbs. Often the President himself handled
the reins, but at no time was there ever a secret service man in
attendance, either near or at a distance.
The closest attendant in the secret
service force that the president had was Mr. George Foster who constituted
his personal body guard [sic].
A few days ago a reporter at Buffalo
talked with Capt. Valleley of the exposition force on the precautions
he would take to insure the president’s safety. Capt. Valleley said
he had the picked men of the country under him, and that all the
time the president was in the exposition grounds he would be surrounded
by alert detectives who would form a constant body guard [sic] and
ridiculed the possibility of danger.
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