William McKinley assassination
Encyclopedia
The assassination
of William McKinley occurred on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music
located on the grounds of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition
in Buffalo
, New York
. United States
President
William McKinley
was visiting the Exposition and was standing in a receiving line shaking hands with ordinary citizens when he was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz
, an anarchist
.
McKinley initially appeared to be recovering from his wounds, but took a turn for the worse on September 12, six days after the shooting. Over the course of the next two days his health quickly deteriorated and he died on September 14, 1901. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt
succeeded McKinley as President. McKinley was the third out of four U.S. presidents who have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln
in 1865
and James A. Garfield in 1881
, and preceding John F. Kennedy
in 1963
. It was after McKinley's murder that the U.S. Congress
passed legislation to officially charge the Secret Service
with the responsibility for providing the physical protection of all U.S. presidents.
McKinley and his wife, Ida
, arrived at the Exposition the previous day on September 5, which had been designated as "President's Day" in his honor. Events scheduled for that day included private receptions and a military review as well as a speech to be given by McKinley.
On the morning of September 6, 1901, McKinley visited Niagara Falls
and returned to the Exposition for a scheduled public reception that afternoon. His secretary, George B. Cortelyou
, disliked such public receptions, believing them to be security risks. Cortelyou suggested that McKinley should skip the reception, but McKinley replied, "Why should I? No one would wish to hurt me." McKinley, accompanied by Cortelyou and Exposition president John Milburn, arrived at the Exposition at 3:30 p.m. and proceeded to the Temple of Music building where the reception was to take place.
Even after the assassination of President Garfield
in 1881, no organization was given any official mandate to provide Presidential security. However, the U.S. Secret Service
, founded in 1865 to combat counterfeit
ing, had already provided informal, occasional security since 1894, starting with McKinley's predecessor Grover Cleveland
. The Secret Service was there that day to protect the President, along with Buffalo detectives and a squad of eleven Army
servicemen that had been instructed to keep an eye on the crowd. McKinley, flanked by Cortelyou and Milburn, stood and shook hands with the people filing by in a long line. Waiting in that line was Leon Czolgosz
.
Czolgosz was born in Detroit
, Michigan
, in 1873, the son of Polish
immigrants. He was an unemployed factory worker and was living with his family in 1901. Czolgosz became interested in anarchism
in the years preceding the McKinley murder. In May 1901 he attended a speech given by renowned anarchist Emma Goldman
, in Cleveland
, Ohio
. Czolgosz traveled to Goldman's home in Chicago
on July 12 and spoke briefly to Goldman before she left to catch a train. Goldman was later arrested and briefly detained on suspicion of involvement in McKinley's murder.
In his September 7 statement, Czolgosz said that he had read eight days prior, in Chicago, that McKinley would be attending the Exposition. He immediately took a train to Buffalo and found lodgings in a boarding house. Czolgosz attended the fair on September 5 for President's Day and heard McKinley's speech. He was tempted to shoot the President then but he could not get close enough. Instead, he returned to the Exposition the next day. Goldman's speech from May was still "burning [him] up". He joined the line of people waiting to shake the president's hand. Czolgosz wrapped his hand in a white handkerchief to hide the gun he was carrying. Secret Serviceman George Foster later explained his failure to observe Czolgosz's wrapped-up hand by saying that Czolgosz was too closely bunched up to the man in front of him. However, at the trial, Foster also admitted to not noticing Czolgosz because he was paying close attention to James Parker, a six-foot six inch black waiter from Atlanta laid-off by the exposition's Plaza Restaurant, who was standing immediately behind Czolgosz.
McKinley had been shaking hands for approximately ten minutes when Cortelyou left his side to shut the doors. William J. Gomph, the exposition's official organist
, was softly playing Schumann's
Träumerei on the massive organ that was a special attraction at the Temple of Music. At this moment, 4:07 p.m. Czolgosz advanced to face the President. McKinley reached out to take Czolgosz's "bandaged" hand, but before he could shake it Czolgosz pulled the trigger twice. James Parker punched Czolgosz in the face and tackled him, knocking the gun from Czolgosz's hand. Agent George Foster jumped onto Czolgosz and shouted to fellow agent Albert Gallagher "Al, get the gun! Get the gun! Al, get the gun!" Gallagher instead got Czolgosz's handkerchief, which was on fire. Private Francis O'Brien, of McKinley's Army detail, picked up the gun.
McKinley remained standing while security dragged Czolgosz away. After someone hit Czolgosz again, McKinley spoke softly "Go easy on him boys." Eleven minutes after the shooting an ambulance arrived and McKinley was taken to the hospital on the Exposition grounds. He had been shot twice. One bullet deflected off his ribs, making only a superficial wound. However, the second bullet hit McKinley in the abdomen
, passed completely through his stomach
, hit his kidney
, damaged his pancreas
, and lodged somewhere in the muscles of his back.
The doctors, unable to find the bullet, left it in his body and closed up the wound. An experimental X-ray
machine, which might have helped to find the bullet, was on hand at the exhibition, but for unknown reasons, it was not used. (In the following days Thomas Edison
arranged for an X-ray machine to be delivered all the way from his shop in New Jersey, but it was never used either). McKinley, still unconscious from the ether
used to sedate him, was taken to John Milburn's home to recover.
Czolgosz confessed everything that night stating, "I killed President McKinley because I done my duty. I didn't believe one man should have so much service and another man should have none." He provided more detail the next day, insisting that he acted alone, although his statement did not prevent Goldman's arrest a few days later.
Contrary to Czolgosz's assertion that he had killed the President, McKinley not only was still alive, but seemed to be recovering. On Saturday, September 7, McKinley was in good condition, relaxed and conversational. His wife was allowed to see him, and he asked Cortelyou, "How did they like my speech?" A bulletin sent from his sickbed on September 8 said, "The President passed a good night and his condition this morning is quite encouraging. His mind is clear and he is resting well. Wound dressed at 8:30 and found in a very satisfactory condition."
Most of McKinley's cabinet came to Buffalo, as well as his old friend and former campaign manager, Senator Mark Hanna
. Vice President
Theodore Roosevelt
was attending a luncheon event in Vermont
on September 6 when word came that the President had been shot. Roosevelt and his party left immediately for Buffalo, arriving the next day. However, by September 10, McKinley had improved to the point that Roosevelt's presence no longer seemed necessary, and, for the sake of publicity, the Vice President left Buffalo that day. He went to take a hiking vacation in the Adirondack Mountains
, where his wife and family were already waiting. Similarly, Mark Hanna and the cabinet members left Buffalo when the crisis seemed to have passed.
The President continued to improve. A bulletin on September 9 stated, "The President's condition is becoming more and more satisfactory. Untoward incidents are less likely to occur." On September 10 a bulletin stated, "The President's condition this morning is eminently satisfactory to his physicians. If no complications arise a rapid convalescence may be expected." McKinley continued to take water orally and nutritive enema
s. On September 11, the President took beef juice orally, the first food he'd taken in the stomach since the shooting. Bulletins said "continues to gain" and "condition continues favorably." On September 12, McKinley had his first solid food, some toast and egg with coffee, but he "did not relish it and ate very little."
Later that day, the President's condition began to worsen. He reported headache and nausea and his pulse rate increased, rapid but weak. McKinley became sweaty and restless, although he remained conscious and alert. A bulletin on the morning of September 13 said, "The President's condition is very serious, and gives rise to the gravest apprehension." That day, Friday, September 13, McKinley began rapidly deteriorating. Hanna and the cabinet returned to the Milburn house. McKinley was given adrenaline and oxygen in attempts to improve his weak pulse. His condition worsening, McKinley told his doctors, “It is useless, gentlemen, I think we ought to have prayer.” Later, as he faded, McKinley whispered the words to the hymn that in 11 years would be played on the sinking ship RMS Titanic, "Nearer, My God, to Thee
." A bulletin at 6:15 p.m. said, "The President's physicians report that his condition is most serious in spite of vigorous stimulation... unless it can be relieved the end is only a question of time."
Senator Hanna, grief stricken, said "Mr. President, can't you hear me? William! Don't you know me?" President McKinley, brought down by infection and gangrene, died at 2:15 a.m. on September 14, 1901.
On September 12, Theodore Roosevelt
met his family at their cabin near Mount Marcy
, located in the high-peaks region of the Adirondacks, approximately 375 miles from Buffalo. The next morning, a cold, foggy day, Roosevelt left for a climb to the top of the mountain, accompanied by friends and a park ranger. By noon on September 13, the Vice President and his party stopped to rest at the 5344 feet (1,628.9 m)-high summit on a large flat rock that offered a panoramic view of the mountains. They climbed back down five hundred feet to have lunch by a lake. At about 1:30, a park ranger arrived bearing a telegram. Roosevelt understood as soon as he saw the messenger what had happened, saying later: "I instinctively knew he had bad news... I wanted to become President, but I did not want to become President that way."
The telegram confirmed his fears, reporting that McKinley's condition had turned very much for the worse. After returning to his cabin, Roosevelt received a dire telegram from Secretary of War
Elihu Root
:
Just before midnight, Roosevelt left his family for a carriage ride down the mountain, a trip that even in daylight usually took seven hours. At 3:30 a.m. Roosevelt boarded another wagon and continued the long, twisting ride at high speed in the dark. Two hours later, Roosevelt finally arrived at the train station
in North Creek, New York
, where, at 5:22 a.m. on September 14, he received a telegram from Secretary of State
John Hay
:
Roosevelt then boarded the train. The train stopped briefly in Albany
before pulling into Buffalo at 1:30 p.m. There he met his friend Ansley Wilcox and went to Wilcox's house, one mile (1.6 km) from Milburn's house where McKinley's body lay. After cleaning up, Roosevelt went to the Milburn house to pay his respects. He met with Mrs. McKinley, Root, Cortelyou, and most of the rest of the cabinet
there, but could not see McKinley's body as the autopsy was underway. Root recommended holding the ceremony there, but Roosevelt thought that "inappropriate" and decided to return to the Wilcox house for the swearing-in ceremony. Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 26th President of the United States at 3:30 p.m. Six weeks away from his 43rd birthday, he remains the youngest man ever to hold the office of President.
One of Roosevelt
's first acts as President
was to issue a pronouncement declaring: "When compared with the suppression of anarchy
, every other question sinks into insignificance.”
Czolgosz went on trial on September 23, 1901, only nine days after the President died. Prosecution testimony took two days and consisted of the doctors who treated McKinley and various eyewitnesses to the shooting. Defense counsel Loran Lewis did not call any witnesses. In his statement to the jury, Lewis noted Czolgosz's refusal to talk to his lawyers or cooperate with them, admitted his client's act, and said that "the only question that can be discussed or considered in this case is... whether that act was that of a sane person. If it was, then the defendant is guilty of the murder... If it was the act of an insane man, then he is not guilty of murder but should be acquitted of that charge and would then be confined in a lunatic asylum."
The jury took only half an hour to convict Czolgosz. On September 26, Czolgosz was sentenced to death. He was immediately taken to Auburn State Prison to await execution. According to one account, Czolgosz expressed remorse on his way to Auburn, saying, "I wish the people to know I am sorry for what I did. It was a mistake and it was wrong. If I had it to do over again I never would do it. But it is too late now to talk of that. I am sorry I killed the President." Czolgosz was executed by means of electrocution
on October 29, 1901. His last words are variously reported as, "I killed the President for the good of the laboring people, the good people. I am not sorry for my crime but I am sorry I can't see my father"; or, "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people—the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime."
Emma Goldman
incurred a great deal of negative publicity when she published an article in which she compared Czolgosz to Marcus Junius Brutus
, the killer of Julius Caesar
, and called McKinley the "president of the money kings and trust magnates." Some other anarchist
s and radicals were unwilling to help Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement. Goldman subsequently withdrew from public life for a time.
After McKinley's murder, newspaper editorials across the country heavily criticized the lack of protection afforded to United States Presidents. Congress quickly took up the question of Presidential security. In the fall of 1901 they informally asked the Secret Service to control presidential security, and the Service was protecting President Theodore Roosevelt full-time by 1902. However, this was not yet official. Some in Congress recommended the United States Army
be charged with protecting the President. Not until 1906 did the Congress pass legislation officially designating the Secret Service as the agency in charge of presidential security. As an added security measure, Roosevelt considered it prudent to carry a concealed revolver.
The Temple of Music
was demolished in late 1901 and the grounds of the Pan American Exposition were cleared for residential development. A boulder with a metal plaque near 30 Fordham Drive marks the location where McKinley was shot. The Milburn house at 1168 Delaware Avenue, where McKinley died, was turned into an apartment building in 1919 and later demolished in 1956 in order to create an additional parking lot for Canisius High School
. Students of the school watched the demolition from their classroom windows. The Ansley Wilcox Mansion
in Buffalo, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office, is now a National Historic Site. In 1907, Buffalo dedicated a 96 feet (29.3 m)-tall marble obelisk in Niagara Square
to McKinley's memory.
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of William McKinley occurred on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music
Temple of Music
The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium built for the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated inside the building on September 6, 1901...
located on the grounds of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition
Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is present day Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Ave. to Elmwood Ave and northward to Great Arrow...
in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
was visiting the Exposition and was standing in a receiving line shaking hands with ordinary citizens when he was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :...
, an anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
.
McKinley initially appeared to be recovering from his wounds, but took a turn for the worse on September 12, six days after the shooting. Over the course of the next two days his health quickly deteriorated and he died on September 14, 1901. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
succeeded McKinley as President. McKinley was the third out of four U.S. presidents who have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in 1865
Abraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
and James A. Garfield in 1881
James A. Garfield assassination
James A. Garfield was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau at 9:30 a.m., less than four months after taking office as the twentieth President of the United States. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881, the second of four Presidents to be assassinated,...
, and preceding John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1963
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. It was after McKinley's murder that the U.S. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
passed legislation to officially charge the Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
with the responsibility for providing the physical protection of all U.S. presidents.
McKinley at the Exposition
Ida Saxton McKinley
Ida Saxton McKinley , wife of William McKinley, was First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901.-Early life and marriage:...
, arrived at the Exposition the previous day on September 5, which had been designated as "President's Day" in his honor. Events scheduled for that day included private receptions and a military review as well as a speech to be given by McKinley.
On the morning of September 6, 1901, McKinley visited Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
and returned to the Exposition for a scheduled public reception that afternoon. His secretary, George B. Cortelyou
George B. Cortelyou
George Bruce Cortelyou was an American Presidential Cabinet secretary of the early 20th century.-Early life:...
, disliked such public receptions, believing them to be security risks. Cortelyou suggested that McKinley should skip the reception, but McKinley replied, "Why should I? No one would wish to hurt me." McKinley, accompanied by Cortelyou and Exposition president John Milburn, arrived at the Exposition at 3:30 p.m. and proceeded to the Temple of Music building where the reception was to take place.
Even after the assassination of President Garfield
James A. Garfield assassination
James A. Garfield was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau at 9:30 a.m., less than four months after taking office as the twentieth President of the United States. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881, the second of four Presidents to be assassinated,...
in 1881, no organization was given any official mandate to provide Presidential security. However, the U.S. Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
, founded in 1865 to combat counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
ing, had already provided informal, occasional security since 1894, starting with McKinley's predecessor Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
. The Secret Service was there that day to protect the President, along with Buffalo detectives and a squad of eleven Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
servicemen that had been instructed to keep an eye on the crowd. McKinley, flanked by Cortelyou and Milburn, stood and shook hands with the people filing by in a long line. Waiting in that line was Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :...
.
The assassin
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, in 1873, the son of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
immigrants. He was an unemployed factory worker and was living with his family in 1901. Czolgosz became interested in anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
in the years preceding the McKinley murder. In May 1901 he attended a speech given by renowned anarchist Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
, in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Czolgosz traveled to Goldman's home in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on July 12 and spoke briefly to Goldman before she left to catch a train. Goldman was later arrested and briefly detained on suspicion of involvement in McKinley's murder.
In his September 7 statement, Czolgosz said that he had read eight days prior, in Chicago, that McKinley would be attending the Exposition. He immediately took a train to Buffalo and found lodgings in a boarding house. Czolgosz attended the fair on September 5 for President's Day and heard McKinley's speech. He was tempted to shoot the President then but he could not get close enough. Instead, he returned to the Exposition the next day. Goldman's speech from May was still "burning [him] up". He joined the line of people waiting to shake the president's hand. Czolgosz wrapped his hand in a white handkerchief to hide the gun he was carrying. Secret Serviceman George Foster later explained his failure to observe Czolgosz's wrapped-up hand by saying that Czolgosz was too closely bunched up to the man in front of him. However, at the trial, Foster also admitted to not noticing Czolgosz because he was paying close attention to James Parker, a six-foot six inch black waiter from Atlanta laid-off by the exposition's Plaza Restaurant, who was standing immediately behind Czolgosz.
The shooting
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, was softly playing Schumann's
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
Träumerei on the massive organ that was a special attraction at the Temple of Music. At this moment, 4:07 p.m. Czolgosz advanced to face the President. McKinley reached out to take Czolgosz's "bandaged" hand, but before he could shake it Czolgosz pulled the trigger twice. James Parker punched Czolgosz in the face and tackled him, knocking the gun from Czolgosz's hand. Agent George Foster jumped onto Czolgosz and shouted to fellow agent Albert Gallagher "Al, get the gun! Get the gun! Al, get the gun!" Gallagher instead got Czolgosz's handkerchief, which was on fire. Private Francis O'Brien, of McKinley's Army detail, picked up the gun.
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
, passed completely through his stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
, hit his kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
, damaged his pancreas
Pancreas
The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...
, and lodged somewhere in the muscles of his back.
The doctors, unable to find the bullet, left it in his body and closed up the wound. An experimental X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
machine, which might have helped to find the bullet, was on hand at the exhibition, but for unknown reasons, it was not used. (In the following days Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
arranged for an X-ray machine to be delivered all the way from his shop in New Jersey, but it was never used either). McKinley, still unconscious from the ether
Ether
Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R–O–R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether"...
used to sedate him, was taken to John Milburn's home to recover.
Death of the President
Contrary to Czolgosz's assertion that he had killed the President, McKinley not only was still alive, but seemed to be recovering. On Saturday, September 7, McKinley was in good condition, relaxed and conversational. His wife was allowed to see him, and he asked Cortelyou, "How did they like my speech?" A bulletin sent from his sickbed on September 8 said, "The President passed a good night and his condition this morning is quite encouraging. His mind is clear and he is resting well. Wound dressed at 8:30 and found in a very satisfactory condition."
Mark Hanna
Marcus Alonzo "Mark" Hanna was a United States Senator from Ohio and the friend and political manager of President William McKinley...
. Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
was attending a luncheon event in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
on September 6 when word came that the President had been shot. Roosevelt and his party left immediately for Buffalo, arriving the next day. However, by September 10, McKinley had improved to the point that Roosevelt's presence no longer seemed necessary, and, for the sake of publicity, the Vice President left Buffalo that day. He went to take a hiking vacation in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
, where his wife and family were already waiting. Similarly, Mark Hanna and the cabinet members left Buffalo when the crisis seemed to have passed.
The President continued to improve. A bulletin on September 9 stated, "The President's condition is becoming more and more satisfactory. Untoward incidents are less likely to occur." On September 10 a bulletin stated, "The President's condition this morning is eminently satisfactory to his physicians. If no complications arise a rapid convalescence may be expected." McKinley continued to take water orally and nutritive enema
Enema
An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...
s. On September 11, the President took beef juice orally, the first food he'd taken in the stomach since the shooting. Bulletins said "continues to gain" and "condition continues favorably." On September 12, McKinley had his first solid food, some toast and egg with coffee, but he "did not relish it and ate very little."
Later that day, the President's condition began to worsen. He reported headache and nausea and his pulse rate increased, rapid but weak. McKinley became sweaty and restless, although he remained conscious and alert. A bulletin on the morning of September 13 said, "The President's condition is very serious, and gives rise to the gravest apprehension." That day, Friday, September 13, McKinley began rapidly deteriorating. Hanna and the cabinet returned to the Milburn house. McKinley was given adrenaline and oxygen in attempts to improve his weak pulse. His condition worsening, McKinley told his doctors, “It is useless, gentlemen, I think we ought to have prayer.” Later, as he faded, McKinley whispered the words to the hymn that in 11 years would be played on the sinking ship RMS Titanic, "Nearer, My God, to Thee
Nearer, My God, to Thee
"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, based loosely on Genesis 28:11–19, the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the...
." A bulletin at 6:15 p.m. said, "The President's physicians report that his condition is most serious in spite of vigorous stimulation... unless it can be relieved the end is only a question of time."
Senator Hanna, grief stricken, said "Mr. President, can't you hear me? William! Don't you know me?" President McKinley, brought down by infection and gangrene, died at 2:15 a.m. on September 14, 1901.
Roosevelt succeeds to the Presidency
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
met his family at their cabin near Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy is the highest point in New York State, with an elevation of . It is a popular destination for hikers due to its stature and great views, and the peak can get very crowded in the summer months...
, located in the high-peaks region of the Adirondacks, approximately 375 miles from Buffalo. The next morning, a cold, foggy day, Roosevelt left for a climb to the top of the mountain, accompanied by friends and a park ranger. By noon on September 13, the Vice President and his party stopped to rest at the 5344 feet (1,628.9 m)-high summit on a large flat rock that offered a panoramic view of the mountains. They climbed back down five hundred feet to have lunch by a lake. At about 1:30, a park ranger arrived bearing a telegram. Roosevelt understood as soon as he saw the messenger what had happened, saying later: "I instinctively knew he had bad news... I wanted to become President, but I did not want to become President that way."
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
:
THE PRESIDENT APPEARS TO BE DYING AND MEMBERS OF THE CABINET IN BUFFALO THINK YOU SHOULD LOSE NO TIME COMING
Just before midnight, Roosevelt left his family for a carriage ride down the mountain, a trip that even in daylight usually took seven hours. At 3:30 a.m. Roosevelt boarded another wagon and continued the long, twisting ride at high speed in the dark. Two hours later, Roosevelt finally arrived at the train station
North Creek Railroad Station Complex
North Creek Railroad Station Complex is a historic railroad station complex located at North Creek, Warren County, New York. The complex consists of the railroad station, the freight house, round house, turntable, old station,and horse barn...
in North Creek, New York
North Creek, New York
North Creek is a hamlet in the Adirondack Park, in the town of Johnsburg, in Warren County, New York, United States. It is an area known for skiing , hiking and other outdoor recreational activities. It is located at ....
, where, at 5:22 a.m. on September 14, he received a telegram from Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
John Hay
John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
:
THE PRESIDENT DIED AT TWO-FIFTEEN THIS MORNING
Roosevelt then boarded the train. The train stopped briefly in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
before pulling into Buffalo at 1:30 p.m. There he met his friend Ansley Wilcox and went to Wilcox's house, one mile (1.6 km) from Milburn's house where McKinley's body lay. After cleaning up, Roosevelt went to the Milburn house to pay his respects. He met with Mrs. McKinley, Root, Cortelyou, and most of the rest of the cabinet
United States Cabinet
The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
there, but could not see McKinley's body as the autopsy was underway. Root recommended holding the ceremony there, but Roosevelt thought that "inappropriate" and decided to return to the Wilcox house for the swearing-in ceremony. Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 26th President of the United States at 3:30 p.m. Six weeks away from his 43rd birthday, he remains the youngest man ever to hold the office of President.
One of Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's first acts as President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
was to issue a pronouncement declaring: "When compared with the suppression of anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
, every other question sinks into insignificance.”
Aftermath
The jury took only half an hour to convict Czolgosz. On September 26, Czolgosz was sentenced to death. He was immediately taken to Auburn State Prison to await execution. According to one account, Czolgosz expressed remorse on his way to Auburn, saying, "I wish the people to know I am sorry for what I did. It was a mistake and it was wrong. If I had it to do over again I never would do it. But it is too late now to talk of that. I am sorry I killed the President." Czolgosz was executed by means of electrocution
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
on October 29, 1901. His last words are variously reported as, "I killed the President for the good of the laboring people, the good people. I am not sorry for my crime but I am sorry I can't see my father"; or, "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people—the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime."
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
incurred a great deal of negative publicity when she published an article in which she compared Czolgosz to Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
, the killer of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, and called McKinley the "president of the money kings and trust magnates." Some other anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
s and radicals were unwilling to help Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement. Goldman subsequently withdrew from public life for a time.
After McKinley's murder, newspaper editorials across the country heavily criticized the lack of protection afforded to United States Presidents. Congress quickly took up the question of Presidential security. In the fall of 1901 they informally asked the Secret Service to control presidential security, and the Service was protecting President Theodore Roosevelt full-time by 1902. However, this was not yet official. Some in Congress recommended the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
be charged with protecting the President. Not until 1906 did the Congress pass legislation officially designating the Secret Service as the agency in charge of presidential security. As an added security measure, Roosevelt considered it prudent to carry a concealed revolver.
The Temple of Music
Temple of Music
The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium built for the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated inside the building on September 6, 1901...
was demolished in late 1901 and the grounds of the Pan American Exposition were cleared for residential development. A boulder with a metal plaque near 30 Fordham Drive marks the location where McKinley was shot. The Milburn house at 1168 Delaware Avenue, where McKinley died, was turned into an apartment building in 1919 and later demolished in 1956 in order to create an additional parking lot for Canisius High School
Canisius High School
Canisius High School is a Roman Catholic Jesuit private high school for young men. Canisius located at 1180 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1870, the school has historical ties to Canisius College...
. Students of the school watched the demolition from their classroom windows. The Ansley Wilcox Mansion
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site preserves the Ansley Wilcox House, at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Here, after the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as President of the United States on September 14, 1901...
in Buffalo, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office, is now a National Historic Site. In 1907, Buffalo dedicated a 96 feet (29.3 m)-tall marble obelisk in Niagara Square
Niagara Square
Niagara Square is a public square located at the intersections of Delaware Avenue, Court Street, Genesee Street, and Niagara Street in Buffalo, New York. It is the central hub of Joseph Ellicott's original radial street pattern that he designed in 1804 for the then village of New Amsterdam...
to McKinley's memory.
Further reading
- Fisher, Jack C. Stolen glory : the McKinley assassination. La Jolla, CA : Alamar Books, ©2001
- Johns, A. Wesley. The man who shot McKinley. South Brunswick [N.J.]: A.S. Barnes [1970]
- Lowy, Jonathan. The Temple of Music: A Novel. Three Rivers Press, 2005. ISBN 0307209849. A novel of the assassination.
- Rauchway, Eric. Murdering Mckinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America. Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2004. ISBN 0809016389, 9780809016389
External links
- Assassination of President McKinley: A Bibliography showing books and manuscripts owned by the library at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.
- McKinley Assassination Ink. Comprehensive collection of primary source materials on the McKinley assassination
- "Lights out in the City of Light"; Anarchy and Assassination at the Pan-American Exposition
- McKinley assassination at the Crime Library
- Film archive of the Pan American Exposition, at the Library of Congress. Include clips of McKinley's funeral train, McKinley at the Exposition reviewing the troops on Sept. 5, and the crowd outside the Temple of Music after the shooting.
- Q&A interview with Scott Miller on The President and the Assassin, June 22, 2011