As Grover Cleveland completed his unprecedented second nonconsecutive term as president, the election of 1896 was in full swing. The Democrats had nominated William Jennings Bryan. The Republicans hedged their bets with William McKinley. While Cleveland, a democrat, had been able to conduct himself with subdued partisanship, which appealed to both parties, Bryan and McKinley proved polar opposites.
A McKinley Victory
On Nov. 3, 1896, voters chose McKinley and his running mate, Garret Hobart of New Jersey, in a landslide. The Republican ticket won 61 percent of the Electoral College. Under McKinley’s leadership, the country was guided toward prosperity after enduring a recession from the Panic of 1893. He presided as commander-in-chief during a successful war against Spain in 1898, which ended with the U.S. Navy destroying the Spanish fleet near Cuba, the American occupation of Puerto Rico, and the cession of the Philippines to America.
Despite Hobart’s untimely death on Nov. 21, 1899, McKinley’s first term in office proved successful and elevated his stature enough for him to win the 1900 election by an even greater margin than 1896. After Hobart’s death, the office of the vice president remained vacant. During the reelection campaign, the spot was filled by Theodore Roosevelt, who was reticent over whether to take the position or not. Roosevelt had become one of the most famous Americans, predominantly for his decision to resign as assistant secretary of the Navy and enlist in the Army to join the Spanish-American War. His exploits with the Rough Riders became legendary. Roosevelt’s celebrity may have had more to do with the improved election numbers than McKinley’s first term governance.
The Pan-American Exposition
As McKinley’s fifth year in office began, so began the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The exposition was likened to the World’s Fair, except that it was dedicated solely to the cultures of North and South America with the theme “To Unite the Americas in Bonds of Prosperity.” Nineteen nations and colonies participated. The exposition with its numerous exhibits covered nearly 350 acres. The Expo had a 375-foot high Electric Tower with 44,000 electric lights, a ride called “A Trip to the Moon” (which later transitioned to Coney Island), the Court of Fountains, a 12,000-seat stadium, and several buildings exhibiting horticulture, music, machinery, transportation, the liberal arts, electricity, mines, and ethnology. Coursing through the Expo was a mile-long canal where visitors could ride gondolas and take in the sights.An Assassin Arrives
The interests of conflict and war, however, would present themselves violently the following day. McKinley decided on an unscheduled return appearance to the Expo. He loved to travel and meet people. In fact, he had traveled more than any of the previous 24 presidents. As he stood in a receiving line, shaking hands, Leon Czolgosz approached him, his right hand bound with a white cloth. Inside the cloth was a .32 Iver Johnson revolver.
Czolgosz was a socialist anarchist of Polish descent who resented both religion and capitalism. He had participated in a failed strike at the Newburgh Wire Mill and later quit the mill in 1898. He refused to work thereafter. He attempted to join the ranks of anarchist groups, but even those groups found him untrustworthy. Oddly, the very month the Pan-American Exposition opened, Czolgosz listened to a speech by anarchist Emma Goldman. It was her speech that Czolgosz said inspired him to go to the Exposition where he knew the president would be.
Roosevelt and the 13 Hours
At the time of the assassination, Roosevelt had been in Vermont preparing to give a speech to the Vermont Fish and Game League. When he was told of the shooting, he immediately left the island by rowboat, then boarded a yacht, followed by a train. As the days progressed, there was optimism that McKinley would recover. Roosevelt believed the reports, and on Sept. 10, he left to hike the Adirondack Mountains as part of a family vacation.Unfortunately, the doctors who worked on the president did not abide by the dictates of germ theory and allowed for contamination. The wounds became gangrenous. A few days after Roosevelt arrived in the mountains of New York, he was informed of the inevitable. He immediately left to join McKinley.
As Roosevelt traveled to Buffalo, McKinley released his last gasp. During this week in history, between the evening of Sept. 14 and the morning of Sept. 15, 1901, there was a 13-hour gap where the United States did not have a president. Slightly more than half a day passed between McKinley’s passing and Roosevelt taking the oath of office.
