President’s Week: Student Highlight President McKinley

By Cam Rodgers, Bucyrus High School Freshman

FreeWire is committed to highlighting the stories and people who deserve a platform, which is why we’re so excited to bring you articles about different Ohio presidents this week, written by our very own Bucyrus High School freshman Cam Rodgers. Cam has always been interested in presidential history, so he was perfect for this project! His first article comes with a photo taken on a family vacation in Buffalo, NY and William McKinley’s final resting place in Canton, OH. Enjoy his writing as much as we have!

William McKinley Jr. was the 25th president of the United States and the third to come from Ohio. He was born in Niles, Ohio, on January 29, 1843, to William McKinley Sr. and Nancy McKinley. McKinley grew up in Poland, Ohio — both Niles and Poland are located just outside of Youngstown. He had seven siblings. In his youth, he enjoyed swimming, fishing, horseback riding, hunting, and ice skating.

McKinley graduated from the Poland Seminary in 1859 and briefly attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, but left after a year due to family issues. He married Ida Saxton on January 25, 1871. They had two daughters: Katherine, born in 1871, who died shortly before her fifth birthday, and Little Ida, born in 1873, who passed away at just four months old.

President McKinley was inaugurated on March 4, 1897. Some highlights of his presidency include signing the Dingley Tariff Law on July 24, 1897. A tariff is a tax on imported goods, similar to those imposed by President Donald J. Trump on Canada, Mexico, and China. McKinley was also responsible for several major territorial annexations, including Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines.

On September 6, 1901, while six months into his second term, President McKinley was shot twice in the stomach at the Pan-American Exposition in the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. He was shaking hands with the public when he was attacked by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. McKinley later died from gangrene on September 14, 1901, at the Millburn House. Theodore Roosevelt was then inaugurated as the 26th President of the United States at the Ansley Wilcox House in Buffalo, New York.

Leon Czolgosz was found guilty of President McKinley’s murder and sentenced to death by electric chair at Auburn State Prison on October 29, 1901. His last words were: “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people — the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.”

President McKinley’s final resting place is at The William McKinley Memorial in Canton, Ohio, where he lived most of his adult life. His wife and two daughters are also laid to rest there in a large, circular domed mausoleum, accessible by 108 steps. The memorial, along with its museum and library, serves as a tribute to McKinley’s legacy.

Cam in top photo at the location of McKinley’s Death in Buffalo, NY and in bottom photo front of McKinley’s tomb at the Memorial located in Canton, Ohio, both pictures taken in 2017.