Appendix A:
McKinley in Memoriam

The visitor to Ohio in search of William McKinley’s legacy will be surprised by the size of the several memorials to him. Seven men born in the Buckeye State became president of the United States between 1868 and 1920, and the homes of the five living in Ohio when they were elected—Hayes, Garfield, McKinley, Taft, and Harding—have all become historic sites. McKinley, however, is the one who has two major memorials, one in Niles and an especially large and impressive one in Canton. Clearly, McKinley was the Ohio president whom Ohioans expected to be remembered as one of the nation’s most important chief executives.

Revealingly, McKinley’s major biographers have also described the mourning after his assassination and death in similar terms—the sort of recognition-cum-outpouring given only to important presidents who have made a particular mark. The following draws from the final paragraphs in the biography by Margaret Leech and several appropriate paragraphs—which seem slightly overdrawn—from the final volume of Charles S. Olcott’s biography.

MARGARET LEECH, IN THE DAYS OF MCKINLEY (1959)

Before the black-column newspapers thudded against the doorways, the people had heard the bells tolling heavily in the night.… There were five more days of mourning, of crepe-shrouded buildings and tolling bells and newspapers barred in black, while McKinley’s bier traveled from the services to the rites at Washington and then to the resting place at Canton.… Never in history had the union of the States been joined in such universal sorrow. North and South, East and West, the people mourned a father and friend, and the fervent strains of “Nearer, My God to Thee” floated like a prayer and a leave taking above the half-masted flags in every city and town. When at last McKinley’s casket was carried from the white frame house in Canton, five minutes of silence ruled the land, all traffic and business suspended, while the people bowed in homage to the President who was gone.

CHARLES S. OLCOTT, THE LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY, Vol. 2 (1916)

Both national and international sympathy found wide expression. Messages of condolence came from every quarter of the globe. Every foreign newspaper of importance printed sympathetic and in most instances appreciative editorials. Memorial sermons were preached in churches of all denominations in every section of the country. Throughout the British Empire there were demonstrations of sincere respect for the memory of the American President. King Edward ordered his court into mourning and commanded that a memorial service be held in Westminster Abbey, where he was personally represented by the highest dignitary of his court. In St. Paul’s Cathedral, the service was almost the same as that for Queen Victoria. In the City Temple an immense throng sang the President’s favorite hymns.… The stock exchanges were closed, flags were displayed at half mast on the public buildings, and people in all walks of life went about the street in the garb of mourning. Even the drivers of cabs and omnibuses tied little bunches of crepe to their whips. The guns of Gibraltar fired a salute, the British Embassy at Constantinople held a memorial service, the banks and exchanges of Bombay closed their doors, and the Dominion of Canada suspended their welcome to the heir apparent, the Duke of Cornwall and York, who with his Duchess had just arrived on a visit, in order that all might join with the Republic in her day of mourning. Never before had the British Government paid such marked homage to any foreigner.