McKinley, Roosevelt, and the Half-Day Without a President

Despite President William McKinley’s successes, a deranged anarchist would alter the course of American history.
McKinley, Roosevelt, and the Half-Day Without a President
A horrified crowd looks on as Leon Czolgosz shoots President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. MPI/Getty Images
Dustin Bass
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As Grover Cleveland completed his unprecedented second nonconsecutive term as president, the election of 1896 was in full swing. The Democrats had nominated William Jennings Bryan. The Republicans hedged their bets with William McKinley. While Cleveland, a democrat, had been able to conduct himself with subdued partisanship, which appealed to both parties, Bryan and McKinley proved polar opposites.

McKinley was a proponent of the gold standard, while Bryan promoted bimetallism and free silver. McKinley supported global expansion, such as annexing Hawaii and building building a canal through South America, while Bryan condemned it. The Democrat Party accused McKinley of being controlled by big business, while the Republican Party accused Bryan of being a radical socialist.

A McKinley Victory

On Nov. 3, 1896, voters chose McKinley and his running mate, Garret Hobart of New Jersey, in a landslide. The Republican ticket won 61 percent of the Electoral College. Under McKinley’s leadership, the country was guided toward prosperity after enduring a recession from the Panic of 1893. He presided as commander-in-chief during a successful war against Spain in 1898, which ended with the U.S. Navy destroying the Spanish fleet near Cuba, the American occupation of Puerto Rico, and the cession of the Philippines to America.
William McKinley, 1896. Courtney Art Studio. (Public Domain)
William McKinley, 1896. Courtney Art Studio. Public Domain

Despite Hobart’s untimely death on Nov. 21, 1899, McKinley’s first term in office proved successful and elevated his stature enough for him to win the 1900 election by an even greater margin than 1896. After Hobart’s death, the office of the vice president remained vacant. During the reelection campaign, the spot was filled by Theodore Roosevelt, who was reticent over whether to take the position or not. Roosevelt had become one of the most famous Americans, predominantly for his decision to resign as assistant secretary of the Navy and enlist in the Army to join the Spanish-American War. His exploits with the Rough Riders became legendary. Roosevelt’s celebrity may have had more to do with the improved election numbers than McKinley’s first term governance.

McKinley ran on his record of prosperity and victory in 1900, winning an easy reelection over William Jennings Bryan. (Public Domain)
McKinley ran on his record of prosperity and victory in 1900, winning an easy reelection over William Jennings Bryan. Public Domain

The Pan-American Exposition

As McKinley’s fifth year in office began, so began the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The exposition was likened to the World’s Fair, except that it was dedicated solely to the cultures of North and South America with the theme “To Unite the Americas in Bonds of Prosperity.” Nineteen nations and colonies participated. The exposition with its numerous exhibits covered nearly 350 acres. The Expo had a 375-foot high Electric Tower with 44,000 electric lights, a ride called “A Trip to the Moon” (which later transitioned to Coney Island), the Court of Fountains, a 12,000-seat stadium, and several buildings exhibiting horticulture, music, machinery, transportation, the liberal arts, electricity, mines, and ethnology. Coursing through the Expo was a mile-long canal where visitors could ride gondolas and take in the sights.
The Pan-American Exposition began May 1 and was scheduled through Nov. 1. Less than two months before its conclusion, McKinley arrived to celebrate the Expo’s President’s Day. On Sept. 5, he spoke for several minutes before a welcoming crowd. As he neared completion of his speech that extolled America’s economic progress, he concluded, “Gentleman, let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not conflict. And that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.”

An Assassin Arrives

The interests of conflict and war, however, would present themselves violently the following day. McKinley decided on an unscheduled return appearance to the Expo. He loved to travel and meet people. In fact, he had traveled more than any of the previous 24 presidents. As he stood in a receiving line, shaking hands, Leon Czolgosz approached him, his right hand bound with a white cloth. Inside the cloth was a .32 Iver Johnson revolver.
Artist's conception of the shooting of McKinley, by T. Dart Walker. (Public Domain)
Artist's conception of the shooting of McKinley, by T. Dart Walker. Public Domain

Czolgosz was a socialist anarchist of Polish descent who resented both religion and capitalism. He had participated in a failed strike at the Newburgh Wire Mill and later quit the mill in 1898. He refused to work thereafter. He attempted to join the ranks of anarchist groups, but even those groups found him untrustworthy. Oddly, the very month the Pan-American Exposition opened, Czolgosz listened to a speech by anarchist Emma Goldman. It was her speech that Czolgosz said inspired him to go to the Exposition where he knew the president would be.

As two gunshots rang out in the receiving line, Czolgosz was tackled and McKinley fell backwards. There could not have been a better moment to exemplify McKinley’s genteel spirit when he immediately made two requests: the first was not to hurt his assassin, and the second was how to break the news of his assassination to his wife. “My wife, be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her—oh, be careful,” he told his assistant private secretary George Cortelyou.

Roosevelt and the 13 Hours

At the time of the assassination, Roosevelt had been in Vermont preparing to give a speech to the Vermont Fish and Game League. When he was told of the shooting, he immediately left the island by rowboat, then boarded a yacht, followed by a train. As the days progressed, there was optimism that McKinley would recover. Roosevelt believed the reports, and on Sept. 10, he left to hike the Adirondack Mountains as part of a family vacation.

Unfortunately, the doctors who worked on the president did not abide by the dictates of germ theory and allowed for contamination. The wounds became gangrenous. A few days after Roosevelt arrived in the mountains of New York, he was informed of the inevitable. He immediately left to join McKinley.

As Roosevelt traveled to Buffalo, McKinley released his last gasp. During this week in history, between the evening of Sept. 14 and the morning of Sept. 15, 1901, there was a 13-hour gap where the United States did not have a president. Slightly more than half a day passed between McKinley’s passing and Roosevelt taking the oath of office.

CORRECTION: Previously, the article named an incorrect location for McKinley’s support of a South American canal. McKinley had actually appointed a commission that recommended building a canal through Nicaragua.
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Dustin Bass
Dustin Bass
Author
Dustin Bass is the creator and host of the American Tales podcast, and co-founder of The Sons of History. He writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History. He is also an author.
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