Presidency of William McKinley
served as the 25th president of the United States from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901. McKinley is best known for conducting the successful Spanish–American War ; taking ownership of the Republic of Hawaii; and purchasing the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. It includes the 1897 Dingley Tariff which raised rates to protect manufacturers and factory workers from foreign competition, and the Gold Standard Act of 1900 that rejected free silver inflationary proposals. Rapid economic growth and a decline in labor conflict marked the presidency and he was easily reelected. He was succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt.
A member of the Republican Party, McKinley took office following the 1896 presidential election, in which he defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. In the campaign, McKinley advocated "sound money", promised that high tariffs would restore prosperity, and denounced Bryan as a radical who promoted class warfare. He defeated Bryan again in the 1900 presidential election, in a campaign focused on imperialism in the Philippines, high tariffs, and free silver. McKinley's presidency marked the beginning of an era in American political history, called the "Fourth Party System" or "Progressive Era", which lasted to the early 1930s. On the national level, this period was generally dominated by the Republican Party.
In 1897–1898, the most pressing issue was an insurrection in Cuba against repressive Spanish colonial rule. Americans sympathized with the rebels and demanded action to resolve the crisis. The administration tried to persuade Spain to liberalize its rule but when negotiations failed, both sides wanted war. American victory in the Spanish–American War was quick and decisive. During the war the United States took temporary possession of Cuba; it was promised independence but it remained under the control of the U.S. Army throughout McKinley's presidency. The status of the Philippines was heavily debated, and became an issue in the 1900 election, with Democrats opposed to American ownership. McKinley decided it needed American protection and it remained under U.S. control until the 1940s. As a result of the war, the United States also took permanent possession of Guam and Puerto Rico. Under McKinley's leadership, the United States also annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898. Unlike the other new possessions, citizens of Hawaii became American citizens and Hawaii became a territory with an appointed governor. McKinley's foreign policy created an overseas empire and put the U.S. on the world's list of major powers.
In 1897 the economy rapidly recovered from the severe depression, called the Panic of 1893. McKinley's supporters in 1900 postulated that the new tariff and the commitment to the gold standard were responsible. McKinley is consistently ranked by political historians in the upper tier of United States presidents. On William McKinley, historian Lewis L. Gould stated:
Election of 1896
McKinley rose to prominence within the Republican Party as a congressman closely associated with protective tariffs. He earned national notoriety in the 1880s and 1890s for his nationwide campaigning, and in 1891 he won election as Governor of Ohio. In the lead-up to the 1896 election, McKinley and his manager, Cleveland businessman Mark Hanna, quietly built up support for a presidential bid. When rivals Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed and Senator William B. Allison sent agents outside their states to organize support for their candidacies, they found that McKinley agents had preceded them. By the time the 1896 Republican National Convention began in St. Louis in June, McKinley had an ample majority of delegates, and he won the nomination on the first ballot of the convention. Hanna selected Republican National Committee vice chairman Garret Hobart of New Jersey for vice president. Hobart, a wealthy lawyer, businessman, and former state legislator, was not widely known, but as Hanna biographer Herbert Croly pointed out, "if he did little to strengthen the ticket he did nothing to weaken it".File:McKinley straddle.jpg|thumb|left|June 1896 Harper's Weekly cartoon showing McKinley painfully riding the rail of the currency question.|alt=A political cartoon shows McKinley riding a plank of wood marked "Cross of Gold speech#Background".
In the final days before the convention, McKinley decided, after hearing from politicians and businessmen, that the platform should endorse the gold standard, though it should allow for bimetallism by international agreement. Adoption of the platform caused some western delegates, led by Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller, to walk out of the convention. However, Republicans were not nearly as divided on the issue as were Democrats, especially as McKinley promised future concessions to silver advocates. Democratic President Grover Cleveland firmly supported the gold standard, but an increasing number of rural Democrats, especially in corn belt and western states, called for a bimetallic "free silver" system. The silverites took control of the 1896 Democratic National Convention and chose William Jennings Bryan for president; he had electrified the delegates with his Cross of Gold speech which became famous for its closing phrase, "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." Bryan's financial radicalism shocked bankers, as many thought that his inflationary program would bankrupt the railroads and ruin the economy. Hanna cultivated the backing of these bankers, giving Republicans a massive financial advantage that allowed McKinley's campaign to invest $3.5 million for speakers and distribute over 200 million pamphlets advocating the Republican position on the money and tariff questions.
The Republican Party printed and distributed 200 million pamphlets and sent hundreds of speakers out across the nation to deliver stump speeches on McKinley's behalf. Bryan was portrayed as a radical, a demagogue, and a socialist, while McKinley was cast as the guarantor of full employment and industrial growth. By the end of September, the party had discontinued printing material on the silver issue, and were entirely concentrating on the tariff question. The battleground proved to be the Midwest—the South and most of the West were conceded to the Democrats—and Bryan spent much of his time in those crucial states.
On November 3, 1896, McKinley was victorious, winning the Electoral College vote 271 to 176, and receiving 7,102,246 popular votes to Bryan's 6,502,925. McKinley won the entire Northeast and Midwest. Bryan had concentrated entirely on the silver issue, and had not failed to broaden his appeal to include urban workers. McKinley's view of a stronger central government building American industry through protective tariffs and a dollar based on gold triumphed. McKinley's coalition included most Northern cities, well-to-do farmers, industrial laborers, and most ethnic voters aside from Irish Americans. The 1896 presidential election is often seen as a realigning election, as with it the nation's focus shifted from repairing the damage caused by the Civil War, to building for the future through social reform. It was also a realigning election in that it launched a long period of Republican control over Congress and the White House, the Fourth Party System, that would continue until 1932.
First inauguration
was held on March 4, 1897, in front of the Original Senate Wing, at the U.S. Capitol. Chief Justice Melville Fuller administered the oath of office. It was the first inaugural ceremony recorded by a motion picture camera. McKinley gave a lengthy inaugural address, in which he urged tariff reform, and stated that the currency issue would have to await tariff legislation. He also warned against U.S. foreign interventions, declaring,Nick Kapur says that McKinley's priorities were based on his values of arbitrationism, pacifism, humanitarianism, and manly self-restraint, and not on external pressures.
Administration
Maine Congressman Nelson Dingley Jr. was McKinley's first choice for secretary of the treasury, but Dingley preferred to remain as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Charles Dawes, who had been Hanna's lieutenant in Chicago during the campaign, was considered for the Treasury post but by some accounts, Dawes considered himself too young; he would instead become the comptroller of the currency in 1898. McKinley ultimately appointed Lyman J. Gage, president of the First National Bank of Chicago and a Gold Democrat, as secretary of the treasury. Leadership of the Navy Department went to former Massachusetts Congressman John Davis Long, an old colleague of McKinley's from his time serving in the House of the Representatives. Although McKinley was initially inclined to allow Long to choose his own assistant secretary of the navy, there was considerable pressure on the president-elect to appoint Theodore Roosevelt, the head of the New York City Police Commission. McKinley was reluctant to appoint Roosevelt, stating to one Roosevelt booster, "I want peace and I am told that your friend Theodore is always getting into rows with everybody." Nevertheless, he appointed Roosevelt.McKinley chose James Wilson, a former congressman with strong support in the state of Iowa, to be his secretary of agriculture. McKinley's first choice for Postmaster General was Mark Hanna, but he declined the position. McKinley also considered appointing Henry Clay Payne, but opposition from Robert M. La Follette's faction of the party convinced him to appoint another individual. McKinley settled on James Albert Gary, a Republican from Maryland. For the position of Attorney General, McKinley turned to another old friend from the House, Joseph McKenna of California. Cornelius Newton Bliss, who was acceptable to the divided New York Republican Party, was selected as the secretary of the interior. The position of secretary of war went to Russell A. Alger, a former general who had also served as the governor of Michigan. Competent enough in peacetime, Alger proved inadequate once the Spanish–American War began. With the War Department plagued by scandal, Alger resigned at McKinley's request in mid-1899 and was succeeded by Elihu Root. During the war, General Henry Clark Corbin gained McKinley's trust as the adjutant general of the army, and Corbin acted as the de facto commander of the army under McKinley administration's auspices.
File:McKinley cabinet.jpg|thumb|right|President McKinley and his Cabinet, 1898
At far left: William McKinley. Left to right in back of table: Lyman J. Gage, John W. Griggs, John D. Long, James Wilson standing, and Cornelius N. Bliss. Left to right in front of table: John Hay, Russell A. Alger, and Charles E. Smith
McKinley's most controversial Cabinet appointment was that of John Sherman as secretary of state. Sherman was not McKinley's first choice for the position; he initially offered it to Senator William Allison. One consideration in Senator Sherman's appointment was to provide a place in the Senate for Hanna, and, as Sherman had served as secretary of the treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes, only the State position was likely to entice him from the Senate. Sherman's mental faculties were decaying even in 1896; this was widely spoken of in political circles, but McKinley did not believe the rumors. Sherman's mental incapacity became increasingly apparent after he took office. He was often bypassed by his first assistant, McKinley's Canton crony William R. Day, and by the second secretary, Alvey A. Adee. Day, an Ohio lawyer unfamiliar with diplomacy, was often reticent in meetings; Adee was somewhat deaf. One diplomat characterized the arrangement, "the head of the department knew nothing, the first assistant said nothing, and the second assistant heard nothing". McKinley asked Sherman to resign in 1898, and Day became the new secretary of state. Later that year, Day was succeeded by John Hay, a veteran diplomat who had served as assistant secretary of state in the Hayes Administration. McKinley made two other changes to his Cabinet in 1898; Charles Emory Smith succeeded the ailing Gary as Postmaster General, while John W. Griggs replaced McKenna as Attorney General after McKenna joined the Supreme Court.
For most of McKinley's time in office, George B. Cortelyou served as the president's personal secretary. Cortelyou acted as the de facto White House press secretary and chief of staff. Vice President Garret Hobart, as was customary at the time, was not invited to Cabinet meetings, but he proved a valuable adviser to McKinley. Hobart leased a residence close to the White House, and the two families visited each other without formality. Hobart died of heart disease in November 1899. As no constitutional provision existed for filling an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency, the office was left vacant for the balance of his term. In March 1901, Theodore Roosevelt, who served as McKinley's running mate in the 1900 election, became vice president.