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President Mckinley Biography

President McKinley



William McKinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio. Niles

was a small town with no railroad and few wagon roads. He was the seventh

child. When he was 9 years old they moved to Poland, Ohio. He went to the

schoolhouse and then entered the local academy until he was 17.

When he was 18, he taught school and earned $25 a month. When

vacation came he worked at the Poland post office. When the Civil War

came, he enlisted. Shortly after he enlisted he was promoted to sergeant.

When the war came to an end, he was a major at the age of 22.

He attended the Albany Law School and he joined a law firm in 1867.

He was elected county prosecuting attorney. On January 25,1871 he married

Ida Saxton. He campaigned for General Rutherford B. Hayes who was his

commanding officer during the Civil War.

In 1876 he was elected to Congress and served 7 terms. He sponsored

the tin industry and in 1896 he ran for president and won. He found that the

gold in the Treasury was low and he worked on obtaining more gold for the

Treasury.

He passed the Tariff Bill and imports and exports increased. Hawaii

asked for annexation to the United States. He sent the Treaty of Annexation

to the senate but they rejected it.

"Reporting the stalemate between Spanish forces and revolutionaries in

Cuba, newspapers screamed that a quarter of the population was dead and the

rest suffering acutely. Public indignation brought pressure upon the President

for war. Unable to restrain Congress or the American people, McKinley

delivered his message of neutral intervention in April 1898. Congress

thereupon voted three resolutions tantamount to a declaration of war for the

liberation and independence of Cuba."

When the Battleship Maine was sunk, the United States declared war.

During the 100 days of this war, the United States destroyed the Spanish fleet

outside Santiago harbor in Cuba. Also, they seized Manila in the Philippines

and occupied Puerto...