William McKinley

William McKinley
25th President of the United States
Term of office March 4, 1897 - September 14, 1901
Political party	Republican
Vice Presidents	Garret Hobart (1897-1899) None (1899-1901) Theodore Roosevelt (1901)
Preceded by	Grover Cleveland
Succeeded by	Theodore Roosevelt
Born	January 29, 1843 Niles, Ohio
Died	September 14, 1901 Buffalo, New York
Spouse	Ida Saxton McKinley
Religion	Methodist

William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from 1897 until 1901 as a Republican. He was born in Niles, Ohio. Before the Civil War, he briefly was a teacher in a country school. He ended up enlisting in the Union Army as a private. His political career did not start until age 34, when he won a seat in the House of Representatives. His power increased quickly, as he was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee. [1]

He was referred to as the "advance agent of prosperity" due to the fact that he did not advocate the silver standard, as did William Jennings Bryan, against whom he ran in both the 1896 Presidential Election and 1900 Presidential Election. [2] His administration was notable for the Spanish-American War of 1898, which McKinley reluctantly entered after a large amount of public and media pressure. He was shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901. He died eight days later, and his Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, became President.

McKinley appeared on the now-withdrawn $500 bill.