William McKinley (January 29, 1843 - September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States. He was elected twice, in 1896 and 1900, but was assassinated in 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He fought the Spanish-American War to liberate Cuba, and afterwards annexed the Philippines and Puerto Rico, as well as Hawaii. He promoted high tariffs as a formula for prosperity, helped rebuild the Republican party in 1896 by introducing new campaign techniques, and presided over a return to prosperity after the Panic of 1893. He was succeeded by his Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt.
Born in Niles, Ohio on Sunday January 29, 1843, William McKinley was the seventh of nine children. His parents, William and Nancy (Allison) McKinley were of Scots-Irish ancestry. He graduated from Poland Academy and briefly attended Allegheny College.
In June 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army, as a private in the Twenty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was sent to western Virginia where it spent a year fighting small Confederate units. His superior officer, another future U.S. President, Rutherford B. Hayes, promoted McKinley to commissary sergeant for his bravery in battle. For driving a mule team delivering rations under enemy fire at Antietam he was promoted to second lieutenant by Hayes. This pattern repeated several times during the war, and McKinley eventually mustered out as Captain and brevet Major of the same regiment in September 1865.
On the third of June 1891, William McKinley was initiated to Sigma Alpha Epsilon by the Ohio Theta chapter. Ohio Theta was also establisheed at the Chittenden Hotel on this date. The brothers of the Ohio State Association of Sigma Alpha Epsilon threw an impromptu banquet for Mr. McKinley for he had to preside over the Republican National Convention.
The Wind and the Lion (1975)
