White House Sketches
President William McKinley Died from Wounds After Being Shot in Buffalo, New York
September 14, 1901
President William McKinley's “Bodyguard,” 1896. Library of Congress.
When William McKinley’s name was put forth as a candidate in the mid-1890s, he ran a skillful “Front porch campaign” drawing three quarters of million people to Canton, Ohio. McKinley won the 1896 election in a landslide. The tariff and all other domestic issues in McKinley’s first term became engulfed by the Cuban revolt against Spain. In the 100-day war, the United States sided with the Cubans and defeated the Spanish later annexing the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. McKinley’s second term, flush with a victory and prosperity, came to a tragic end in September 1901. While standing in a receiving line at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition, Leon Czolgosz, a deranged anarchist, shot him twice. He died eight days later.