 | WILLIAM McKINLEY (1843-1901) | 
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The 25th President of the United States was born in Niles, Ohio in 1843 to working class parents. In 1861, he enlisted in the Union army during the War Between the States. He served in the 23rd Ohio Volunteers under Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes. He survived the war and went to Albany Law School. On the 1st of January, 1871, William McKinley married Ida Saxton and they soon moved to North Market Street in Canton, Ohio.
The happy couple had two children, Kate and Ida, but tragically neither lived over the age of two. The deaths of their only children devastated the McKinley's. Ida's health failed and she was depressed and often ill.. McKinley, a very dedicated husdand was constantly by his wife's side while still continuing to climb the political ladder. McKinley had a quick and steady rise to the Presidency. He served seven terms in Congress, two terms as Governor of Ohio, and finally in 1896 he defeated William Jennings Bryan for President of the United States.
A major player in the political career of McKinley was Republican party boss, Mark Hanna, a fellow Ohioan from Cleveland. Hanna always backed McKinley, giving him the power of president that he himself could never hold. McKinley was re-elected again in 1900. He was the most popular President since Lincoln, and many, including Hanna, wanted McKinley to go for a third term in 1904. McKinley showed no interest. The summer of 1901, the McKinley's were happy at their home in Canton, away from politics. After the Spanish-American War, McKinley was headed a new empire, and he had as his new Vice-President, Theodore Roosevelt. The dashing, forty-three year old war-hero was a favorite of the people but disliked by Hanna and other Republican. They saw him as an outsider and uncontrolable. At the nomination of Roosevelt, Hanna said to his dismay, "there's only one life between that madman and the Presidency."
In the spring of 1901, the Pan-American Exposition, opened and McKinley was to open the celebration, however, Ida was ill and the President sent Roosevelt in his place, promising to journey there in the fall. McKinley, at the height of his career, kept his promise and left for Buffalo at the beginning of September. It would be his last Presidential trip.