On September 6, 1901, William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, was shot in the land of the Pan-American Exhibition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. He shook hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot him twice in the stomach. McKinley died eight days later on September 14th due to gangrene caused by gunshot wounds. He is the third American president to have been murdered, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881.
McKinley was elected for a second term in 1900. He was happy to meet the public, and was reluctant to accept the security available to his office. President George B. Cortelyou's secretary is afraid that an assassination attempt will happen during a visit to the Temple of Music and pick it up from the schedule twice. McKinley recovered it all the time.
Czolgosz had lost his job during the economic Panic of 1893 and turned to anarchism, the political philosophy embraced by the assassins of foreign leaders recently. Regarding McKinley as a symbol of oppression, Czolgosz believes that it is his duty as anarchist to kill him. Unable to approach the President during his previous presidential visit, Czolgosz shot McKinley twice as the President reached out to shake his hand at the receiver line at the temple. One bullet grazed McKinley; the other enters the stomach and is never found.
McKinley initially seemed to be recovering, but turned worse on September 13 when his wounds became gangrene, and died early the next day; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him. After the assassination of McKinley, to which Czolgosz was sentenced to death in an electric chair, Congress passed a law to formally charge the Secret Service with responsibility for protecting the President.
Video Assassination of William McKinley
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In September 1901, William McKinley was at the helm of his presidency. Elected in 1896, during a serious economic depression resulting from Panic of 1893, he has defeated his rival, William Jennings Bryan. McKinley led a good nation to return to prosperity and victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898, taking possession of Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Re-elected easily in a rematch against Bryan in 1900, according to chronicler Eric Rauchway, "it looks as if the McKinley Administration will continue unbroken peace for four more years, a government devoted to prosperity".
McKinley's original vice president, Garret Hobart, had died in 1899, and McKinley left the couple's choice to the 1900 Republican National Convention. Prior to the convention, New York Republican political boss Senator Thomas C. Platt saw an opportunity to politically set aside the governor of his country, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, by pushing the nomination as vice president. Roosevelt received a nomination and was selected on a McKinley ticket.
Leon Czolgosz was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1873, son of Polish immigrants. The Czolgosz family moved several times when Paul Czolgosz, Leon's father, sought jobs throughout the Midwest. As an adult, Leon Czolgosz worked at the Cleveland plant until he lost his job in a labor dispute in 1893. After that, he worked irregularly and attended political and religious meetings, trying to understand the reasons for Panic's economic turmoil of 1893. Thus, he became interested on anarchism. In 1901, this movement was feared in the United States - New York's supreme court had ruled that the act of identifying itself as anarchist in front of the audience was a violation of peace. Anarchists have taken a risk in Europe by killing or attempting the murder of half a dozen officials and members of the royal house, and have been blamed for the 1896 bombing of Haymarket in Chicago.
Two American presidents have been murdered in the 19th century - Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881. Even considering this history, McKinley disliked security personnel to come between him and the people. While in his hometown of Canton, Ohio, he often walked to churches or business districts without protection, and in Washington he drove with his wife unattended on the train.
Maps Assassination of William McKinley
President Visit
Packages and arrivals
McKinley gave a short speech at his second inauguration on March 4, 1901. After long been a supporter of protection tariffs, and believing Dingley's Tariff, ratified during his first year in office, has helped the country prosper, McKinley plans to negotiate reciprocity. trade agreements with other countries. This will open up overseas markets for US manufacturers who dominate the domestic market thanks to the tariffs, and which seek to expand. During the long journey planned for the months after his inauguration, he intends to make a keynote speech promoting this plan, culminating in a visit and address at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo on June 13.
McKinley, his wife Ida, and their official party left Washington on April 29 for a nationwide tour by train, which is scheduled to end in Buffalo for a speech on what has been designated a "President's Day". He met a rapturous reception at Far West, who had never seen a president. In California, the First Lady fell severely ill, and was temporarily dying. She recovered in San Francisco, but her husband canceled the rest of the tour and McKinley returned to Washington. The speech at the Exhibition was postponed until September 5, after McKinley spent several weeks in Washington and two months in Canton. He used his time at his Ohio home working on Buffalo's speech and overseeing repairs at his home. He intends to remain in Canton until October.
Czolgosz lived on his parents' farm near Cleveland in 1898, working a little - he may have a nervous breakdown. He was known to have attended a speech by anarchist Emma Goldman in May 1901 in Cleveland: he approached him before his speech and asked him to recommend books on anarchism; he is obliged. The conversation, in which Goldman does not advocate violence but expressed an understanding for those who were encouraged to it, was a major influence on Czolgosz; he then states that his words burn on his head. He came to meet him at his home in Chicago in July when he would leave for a trip with his daughter to Buffalo to see the fair, and two anarchists rode together to the train station. Goldman expressed his concern to another radical that Czolgosz (who used the alias Fred Nieman) followed him; Soon after, he seemed to leave Chicago. William Arntz, a worker at a park in Canton, stated that he had seen a man who resembled Czolgosz in mid-1901, when the President lived at home and occasionally visited the park. The man was wearing two guns, and when Arntz reminded him that firearms were not allowed beyond the reach of the firing of the park, replied nonchalantly. Arntz looks for the police, but the man is never found.
Later in the summer, Czolgosz moved to Buffalo, although the reason for doing so was unknown. Writer and journalist Scott Miller speculated that he might choose Buffalo because of its large Polish population. He climbed to the outskirts of West Seneca and spent much of his time reading. Czolgosz then went to Cleveland, though what he did there was uncertain; he may have taken the anarchist literature or earned more money. After Cleveland, Czolgosz went to Chicago, where he saw a newspaper mentioning President McKinley's coming visit to Buffalo. He returned to Buffalo, not quite sure what he was going to do; at first, he was just trying to be near the man who for him manifested injustice. On Tuesday, September 3, he decided. Czolgosz then declared to the police:
It's in my heart, no way out for me. I can not conquer that my life is at stake. There are thousands of people in town on Tuesday. I heard it was President's Day. All those people seem to be subordinate to the great ruler. I decided to kill the ruler.
On September 3, Czolgosz went to the Walbridge Hardware Store on Buffalo Main Street and purchased the.22 caliber Iver Johnson revolver. He has not had a clear plan for the assassination of the President. The next day, William and Ida McKinley arrived in Buffalo by train. The cannon that fired a salute to the President upon his arrival in the city was too close to the track, and the explosion blew up some windows on the train, leaving the First Lady upset. About a dozen people on the platform, believing that the damage was caused by a bomb, shouted "Anarchist!" When William McKinley retired from the train to official greeting, Czolgosz pushed his way forward amid the crowd, but found the President too well-guarded to make his efforts.
A day at the exhibition; an excursion to Niagara Falls
McKinley's trip to Buffalo was part of a planned ten-day absence from Canton, starting on September 4, 1901, which included a visit in Cleveland to the Army's Grand Army camp; he is a member as a veteran of the Union. The McKinley family lives in Buffalo at Milburn House, home of Exposition president John G. Milburn. On Saturday, September 7, they will travel to Cleveland and stay first in the home of Ohio businessman and candidate of Governor Myron Herrick, a friend of the President, and later with close friends and adviser McKinley, Ohio Senator Mark Hanna. Upon arrival at Buffalo, the presidential party was pushed through the arena on the way to Milburn House, pausing at the Triumphal Bridge at the Exhibition so visitors could see the exhibit attractions.
While in Buffalo, McKinley had a two-day event: On Thursday, September 5, he delivered his address and then toured the exhibit. The next day, he visited Niagara Falls, and, upon his return to Buffalo, met publicly at the Temple of Music on the Exposition. Part of the reason for bringing McKinley repeatedly to the fair is to enlarge the reception of the gates; the visit of the popular President is heavily advertised. Public acceptance at the Temple of Music was disliked by his personal secretary, George B. Cortelyou, who, concerned about the President's safety, twice tried to remove it from the program. McKinley recovered it all the time; he wants to support the fair (he agrees with the theme of half-earth cooperation), enjoys meeting people, and is not afraid of potential killers. When Cortelyou asked McKinley to end the event from the schedule, the President replied, "Why should I? Nobody wants to hurt me." Cortelyou warned McKinley that many would be disappointed because the President did not have time to shake hands with everyone marching to meet him. McKinley replied, "Well, they'll know I try, no matter what." Unable to persuade the President to change his schedule, Cortelyou sent a telegraph to the authorities in Buffalo, asking them to set up extra security.
On the morning of Thursday, September 5, a fair gate opened at 6:00 am to allow the crowd to go in early and find a good place to watch the President's speech. The Esplanade, a large room near the Triumphal Bridge where the President speaks, is filled with fair people; the crowd overflowed to the nearest Court of the Fountains. Of the 116,000 people present that day, some 50,000 people were believed to have attended the McKinley lecture. The route between Milburn House and the venue is filled with spectators; McKinley's progress with the train to the fair with his wife was accompanied by a loud cheer. He climbs to stand facing the Esplanade, and after a brief introduction by Milburn, starts talking.
In his final speech, McKinley urged an end to American isolationism. He proposed a trade arrangement that would allow new markets for US producers. "The period of exclusivity is over, our trade and trade expansion is an urgent matter, the commercial war is not profitable." The crowd welcomed his speech with a standing ovation; in conclusion, the President escorted Ida McKinley back to his car when he would return to Milburn House when he saw the scene at the fair.
McKinley visited the pavilions of other Western Hemisphere countries, drawing crowds and applause wherever he went. He led a luncheon at the New York State Building, and attended a reception with an invitation at Government House. He is heavily guarded by soldiers and police, but still tries to interact with the public, encouraging those who try to run to him by noticing them, and bending over to a group of tough young popcorn sellers. He made an unscheduled stop for coffee at the Porto Rican Building (spelling of a common Puerto Rican variant before 1932) before returning to Milburn House in the afternoon.
Despite Cortelyou's warning to organizers that he might not be present due to his fragile health, Ida McKinley was present at a luncheon in honor by the Board of Exhibition Manager Mrs, and after dinner, the President and First Lady returned to the fair, stopping at Triumphal Bridge to watch the electrically illuminated exhibition at sunset. They boarded the boat to Life Saving Station to see the fireworks from there before returning to Milburn House.
Czolgosz, the pistol in his pocket, arrives earlier at the exhibit, and is quite close to the podium before McKinley arrives. He was thought to have shot the President during his speech, but felt he could not be sure of his goal; he was also encouraged by the crowd. Czolgosz made no decision when McKinley ended his speech and disappeared behind a security guard. Nevertheless, he attempted to follow McKinley when the President started his tour of the exhibition, but was handed back by the officers. Czolgosz saw no further opportunity to approach the President on that day, and he returned to his rent room which was $ 2/week above a salon.
On Friday morning, September 6, 1901, McKinley dressed as usual, then went to Milburn House for a walk in the neighborhood. The President almost slipped unattended; when the police and soldiers saw him leave, they rushed after him. Czolgosz also rose early with the intention of queuing up for a public reception at the Temple of Music; he reached the Exposition gate at 8:30 am, in time to see the President pass by in his carriage on his way to the train station for a visit to Niagara Falls. The McKinleys traveled by train to Lewiston, where they switched to a trolley to see the Niagara Gorge. When the party reached the municipality of Niagara Falls, they were transferred to a car to see the sights. The party runs in the middle of the Honeymoon bridge overlooking the Falls, although McKinley is careful not to enter Canada for protocol reasons. It was a hot day, and Ida McKinley felt sick from the heat; he was driven to the International Hotel to wait for her husband, who toured Goat Island before joining his wife for lunch. After smoking a cigar on the porch, the President drove with his wife to the train that was now waiting for them nearby, and saw him settle there before touring the hydroelectric plant at Falls. The train then returns to Buffalo so that McKinley can attend a reception at the Temple of Music. Ida McKinley initially intends to accompany her husband to the auditorium, but since she has not fully recovered, she decides to return to Milburn House to rest. Since the time provided for the reception has been reduced to ten minutes, the President does not expect to part with his wife for a long time. Since it was only 3:30 AM, McKinley stopped for a drink in the Mission Building before proceeding to the Temple of Music.
Taking photos and deaths of McKinley
In the Temple of Music
When given the opportunity to hold a public reception for President McKinley, the fair organizers chose to place it in Temple of Music - Louis L. Babcock, the great marshal of Exposition, considers it ideal for that purpose. The large auditorium is located close to the Esplanade, at the exhibition center, and has doors on each of its four sides. In addition to a row of chairs on the floor of the hall, there are vast galleries. Babcock spent the morning of September 6 making some physical arrangements for the reception. The floor of the seats was moved to make a wide hallway, walking from the east entrance where the public would be accepted, to where McKinley would stand. As soon as the members of the community shake hands with McKinley, they will proceed to get out of the building. An American flag is draped behind the President, both to filter it from behind and for decoration - some potted plants are arranged around the place to create interesting sights. In addition to its use for other purposes, ornate buildings are one of the architectural features of the exhibition.
Many arrangements have been made for the President's security. Exposition police stationed at door; the Buffalo police detective guarded the alley. In addition to McKinley's usual Secret Service agent, George Foster, two other agents have been assigned to the Buffalo trip due to Cortelyou's security concerns. Babcock was made nervous by a joke at lunch at the Exhibition restaurant that the President might be shot during the reception. He had arranged a dozen artillery to attend a reception in full uniform, intending to use it as an ornament. Instead, he told them to stand in the hallway with instructions to close on suspicious-looking people who might approach the President. These people are not trained in police work, and are tasked with moving the area in front of the President and blocking the views of detectives and the Secret Service. At such an event, Foster usually stands right on the left and behind McKinley. Milburn wanted to stand to the left of McKinley to be able to introduce anyone he knew in line to the President, and Foster and another agent stood across the aisle from McKinley.
Throughout the afternoon, the crowd filled the floor outside blocked alleys, as well as galleries, wanted to meet the President, even if they could not welcome him. McKinley arrives on time, glances at the setting, and walks into place, where he stands with Milburn on his left and Cortelyou on his right. The pipe organ started playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" when McKinley ordered the door open to receive those who had waited to greet him. The police let them in, and McKinley prepared to do his "favorite part of the job". As an experienced politician, McKinley can shake hands with 50 people per minute, holding their hands first so they both guide them through it quickly and prevent their fingers from being squeezed. Cortelyou anxiously took time; about half of the ten minutes given, he sent word to Babcock to close the door when the president's secretary held up his hand. Seeing Cortelyou looking at his watch, Babcock moved toward the door. As the reception continues, organically played by Johann Sebastian Bach. The procession of citizens shaking hands with their President was interrupted when the 12-year-old Myrtle Ledger from Spring Brook, New York, who was accompanied by his mother, asked McKinley for the red carnations he always wore on his lapel. The President gave it to him, then continued the work without his trademark luck. Secret Service people looked suspicious of a tall, dark-skinned man who looked uneasy as he walked toward the President, but breathed a sigh of relief as he shook hands with McKinley without incident and started to move toward the exit. The general rule that those who approach the President should do so with open arms and empty ones is not enforced, perhaps because of the heat of the day, as some people use handkerchiefs to wipe their eyebrows; men who follow dark-skinned individuals have their right hands wrapped in one, as if injured. Seeing this, McKinley grabbed his left hand instead. When his two hands touched at 4:07, Czolgosz shot McKinley twice in the stomach with a 0.32 Iver Johnson gun hidden under a handkerchief.
As the audience stared in horror, and as McKinley slid forward one step, Czolgosz prepared to take a third shot. He was forbidden to do so when James Parker, a Georgian American descent from Georgia behind Czolgosz, hit the killer, grabbed the gun. A split second after Parker attacked Czolgosz, as did Buffalo John Geary's detective and one of artillery, Francis O'Brien. Czolgosz disappeared under a pile of men, some of whom punched or hit him with rifle butts. He sounded saying, "I have done my duty." McKinley staggered back and forth, but was prevented from falling by Cortelyou, Milburn, and Detective Geary; they guided her across some of the bunting that fell into a chair. The president tried to convince Cortelyou that he was not seriously injured, but blood was seen when he tried to expose his injury. Seeing the stroke taken by Czolgosz, McKinley ordered him to stop. Czolgosz was dragged, but not before sought by Agent Foster. When Czolgosz kept turning to watch over the President while being searched, Foster hit him to the ground with a single blow.
After stopping the Czolgosz beating, McKinley's next concern was for his wife, urging Cortelyou to be careful how he was told about the shootings. The reaction of the crowd initially panicked, and an attempt to escape from the hall, was frustrated by others who soared inward to see what had happened. When McKinley was carried on a stretcher to an electric-powered ambulance, there was a groan from the crowd at the sight of the pale President's face. Foster rides with him on his way to a fair hospital. On the way there, McKinley felt his clothes and came out with a metal object. "I believe it's a bullet." McKinley had been shot twice; one bullet has turned one button and just grazed it; the other has pierced his stomach.
Operation
Ambulances carrying McKinley reach the Exposition hospital at 4:25 pm. Although usually only deal with mild medical problems from fair people, the hospital does have an operating room. At the time of the shooting, there were no qualified doctors in the hospital, only nurses and internships. Best surgeon in town, and medical director Exposition, Dr. Roswell Park, located in Niagara Falls, performs an elaborate neck surgery. When disturbed during the procedure on September 6 to be told that he needed at Buffalo, he replied that he could not go, even to the President of the United States. He was then told who had been shot. Park, two weeks later, will save the life of an injured woman almost identical to McKinley. The first doctor who arrived at the hospital was Dr. Herman Mynter, whom the previous President had met the previous day; The injured McKinley (who has good memories for his face) jokes that when he meets up with Mynter, he does not expect to need his professional services. When McKinley lies on the operating table, he states Czolgosz, "He does not know, poor man, what he does. He can not possibly know." With Park unavailable and with a fading afternoon light the main source of illumination in the operating room, when another surgeon, Dr. Matthew D. Mann arrived, the decision was made to operate at once to try to remove the remaining bullets. Mynter gave McKinley a shot of morphine and strychnine to ease the pain; Mann (a notorious obstetrician with no experience in abdominal pain) provided ether to calm McKinley when the injured man mumbled Our Lord's Prayer.
For hundreds of years, a stomach injury means death by gangrene or other infections, with doctors able to do less than reduce pain. Only seventeen years ago, Dr. Emil Kocher, a Swiss surgeon, was the first to successfully perform surgery on a patient who had received such injuries. To improve illumination, sunlight is reflected to the wound by other doctors; towards the end of the operation, the better light is rigged. The hospital does not have basic surgical equipment such as retractors. With McKinley in a weak condition, Mann can do a little investigation on the wound to try to find a bullet; his work was complicated by the fact that the President was obese. The surgeon makes an incision on the President's skin, and finds and releases a small piece of cloth embedded in the flesh. He checks with his fingers and hands, finding damage to the digestive system - the stomach displays injuries in and out. Mann sews the two holes in the organ, but can not find the bullet itself; he concluded it was lodged in the back muscles of the President. He then wrote, "A bullet so stops moving does little harm." Primitive X-ray machines are on display at the exhibition but not used at McKinley; Mann later stated that its use may have disturbed the patient and did a little good. He used black silk threads to sew incisions and cuts, without drainage, and covered the area with a bandage. When the surgery ended, Dr. Park arrives from Niagara Falls; he did not want to interfere and at 5:20, McKinley was given another painkiller injection and allowed to wake up. He was taken to Milburn House by an electric ambulance. First Lady has not been informed of the shooting of the President; once the operation was over, the presidential doctor, Presley M. Rixey, gently told him what had happened. Ida McKinley took the news calmly; he wrote in his diary, "Going to Niagra [ sic. ] This morning's fall My dear I received in the public room when we returned, when he was shot by..." Leech, in his biography President McKinley, shows that the First Lady can not write the word, "anarchist".
Real recovery; ultimate death
Within minutes of shooting, the news was delivered worldwide via telegraph wire, in time for the final edition of the newspaper in the US. In an era before radio, thousands of people stood in cities all over the country outside the newspaper office, waiting for the latest bulletin from Buffalo. Fear that McKinley would not survive the day of his shooting, ended up by convincing bulletins issued by Cortelyou based on information from doctors. A large, threatening crowd gathered outside the Buffalo police headquarters where Czolgosz was taken. The word he claims to be an anarchist causes an attack on others of that belief: someone is almost hanged in Pittsburgh.
At Milburn House, McKinley seemed to be recovering. On Saturday, September 7, McKinley relaxed and talked. His wife was allowed to see him, like Cortelyou; The President asked his secretary, "How do they like my speech?" and love to hear positive reactions. Meanwhile, Vice President Roosevelt (who has been in Vermont), most of the Cabinet, and Senator Hanna rush to Buffalo. Cortelyou continued to issue exciting newsletters. The President allowed some visitors, and complained of loneliness. When the crisis seems to have passed, officials began to leave on September 9, confident of the president's recovery. Roosevelt went for a vacation in the Adirondack Mountains after expressing outrage that Czolgosz might only serve several years under New York State law for attempted murder, the maximum sentence for attempted murder in New York at that time was ten years. Attorney General Philander Knox went to Washington, looking for a way to bring Czolgosz under federal law. Foreign Minister John Hay has been closely linked with two presidents to be killed: he is Lincoln's secretary, and a close friend of James Garfield. He arrived on September 10; met at the station by Babcock with the President's recovery account, Hay replied that the President would die.
The biographer McKinley, H. Wayne Morgan wrote this week after filming:
His sincere constitution, everyone says, will get him off the hook. Doctors look hopeful, even confident... It's hard to understand the cheerfulness they see in their patients. He was nearly sixty, overweight, and his own wound had not been cleansed or traced. Prevention of infection, admittedly difficult in 1901, was handled carelessly.
According to McKinley's biographer Margaret Leech, the real recovery from McKinley "is merely the resistance of her powerful body to the gangrene that creeps along the bullet line through the stomach, pancreas, and one kidney." Another X-ray machine was sent from New Jersey by its inventor, Thomas Edison. It is not used by the President; sources vary about why this - Leeches state that the machine, which he said was bought by Cortelyou and accompanied by a trained operator, was not used on the orders of the doctors responsible for McKinley's case. Miller recounts that the doctors tried to test him on a man the size of McKinley, but proved to be no significant part, very embarrassing for Edison.
McKinley has been given a nutritional enema; on September 11, he took some broth. When it seems he's fine, the next morning they allow him toast, coffee, and chicken stock. Subsequent pain is diagnosed as indigestion; he was given laxatives and most of the doctors left after the afternoon consultation. On the morning of September 13, McKinley suffered destruction. The urgent word to return to Buffalo was sent to Vice President Roosevelt, 12 miles (19 km) from the nearest telegraph or telephone in the Adirondack wilderness; a park attendant was sent to find him. Specialist called; Although at first some doctors wished McKinley could survive with a weak heart, in the afternoon they knew that the case was hopeless. Not yet known to the doctors, gangrene grows on the wall of his stomach and the poison flows into his blood. McKinley went in and out of consciousness all day; when awake he is a model patient. Late in the night, McKinley also knew he was dying, "It's no good, gentlemen, I think we should have a prayer." Her friends and family were accepted, and the First Lady cried over her, "I want to go too, I also want to go." Her husband replied, "We all go away, we all go, God will do, not ours" and with the last strength embracing him. He may also sing some of his favorite hymns, "Nearer, My God, to Youre", although other stories make him sing gently to him. Ida McKinley was taken away, her place briefly taken by Senator Hanna. Morgan recounted their last encounter, "One terrible night, Mark Hanna had approached the bed, tears in his eyes, his hands and head quivering in disbelief that thirty years of friendship could end that way." When the tentative official remarks did not get a coherent answer, Hanna "exclaimed for years of friendship, 'William, William, do not you know me?'"
At 2:15 am on Saturday, September 14, 1901, President McKinley died. At the time of McKinley's death, Roosevelt was on his way back to Buffalo, racing on a mountain road by train to the nearest train station, where a special train was waiting. When he reached the station at dawn, he learned of McKinley's death.
Aftermath
An autopsy was done later on the morning of McKinley's death; Mann leads a team of 14 doctors. They found the bullet had passed through the stomach, then through the transversus colon, and disappeared through the peritoneum after penetrating the left kidney corner. There is also damage to the adrenal glands and pancreas. Mynter, who participated in the autopsy, later expressed his belief that bullets lodged somewhere in the back muscles, although this was uncertain because it was never found. After four hours, Ida McKinley demanded that the autopsy be over. The mask of death was taken, and personal service was done at Milburn House before the body was transferred to Buffalo City and County Hall to begin the five days of national mourning. McKinley's body was ceremonially taken from Buffalo to Washington, and then to Canton. On the day of the funeral, September 19, when McKinley was taken from his home on North Market Street for the last time, all activities stopped in the country for five minutes. Trains stopped, telephone and telegraph service stopped. Leech stated, "people are subject to honor to the President who is gone".
In addition to the damage done by bullets, the autopsy also found that the President suffered from cardiomyopathy (fatty degeneration of the heart muscle). This will weaken his heart and make it less recovering from such injuries, and is thought to be linked to his body being overweight and lacking in exercise. Modern scholars generally believe that McKinley died of pancreatic necrosis, a condition that is difficult to treat today and would be impossible for the doctors of his day.
Czolgosz was tried for McKinley's murder in the Buffalo state court on September 23, 1901, nine days after the president's death. Prosecution testimony took two days and mainly consisted of doctors treating McKinley and various eyewitnesses to the shootings. Defense counsel Loran L. Lewis and his advisors did not mention the witnesses, who in Lewis's closing argument were associated with Czolgosz's refusal to cooperate with them. In his 27-minute speech to the jury, Lewis took pains to praise President McKinley; Miller notes that closing arguments are more taken into account to defend "lawyer positions in the community, rather than attempts to save his clients the electric chair". After an hour and a half of consideration, the jury punished Czolgosz; he was then sentenced to death and executed by an electric chair on October 29, 1901. Acid was placed in a coffin to disperse his body, before being buried in a prison cemetery.
After McKinley's assassination, newspaper editorials across the country strongly condemned the lack of protection afforded to the president of America. Although it still lacked a legislative mandate, in 1902, the Secret Service (unit of the Ministry of Finance) protected President Theodore Roosevelt on a full-time basis. This does not solve the debate. Some in Congress recommend the US Army to be accused of protecting the President. In 1906 Congress passed a law that officially designated the Secret Service as the body responsible for the president's security.
The aftermath of the murder saw a reaction to anarchists; Buffalo Police announced shortly after the shooting that they believed Czolgosz did not act alone, and some anarchists were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the attack. Czolgosz mentioned his contact with Emma Goldman during the interrogation; the authorities arrested his family to give him an incentive to surrender, which he did on September 10. He spent nearly three weeks in jail; he, like all other prisoners suspected of conspiring with Czolgosz, was released without charge. Anarchist colonies and newspapers are attacked by citizens; although no one was killed, there was considerable property damage. Anarchist fears led to a monitoring program that was eventually consolidated in 1908 as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An anti-anarchist law passed after murder was abandoned for several years before its use during and after World War I, in addition to newly enacted laws, against non-citizens whose views were perceived as threats. Among those deported in December 1919 were Goldman, who did not have US citizenship.
Leeches believe that the country is experiencing a transition to McKinley's death:
The new president is in the office. Republic is alive. However, for space, Americans change from future challenges and oddities. Being touched and regretful, they recalled the unswerving and unquestioned confidence of McKinley, his stoned dignity; accessibility and dedication to the people: a federal simplicity that will not be seen again in Washington... [After McKinley's death, the elderly people come to [the White House] on state and political duty, but their virtue is disputed by men young people huddled forward. This nation feels another leadership, nervous, aggressive, and strong. Under the command of a brave young captain, America sailed on a twentieth-century storm journey.
See also
- Abraham Lincoln's murder
- James A. Garfield's murder
- The assassination of John F. Kennedy
- List of attempts and plots to murder the president of the United States
- Second term curse
References
Source
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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