Appendix B:
The Eminent McKinleyites

Most of the presidents who have captained America’s major political realignments have also been recognized for identifying and promoting a fair part of their party’s talent pool over the next generation. Thus, there are the labels of Jeffersonians, Jacksonians, Lincoln men, and Rooseveltian New Dealers. McKinley did as much but has not gotten appropriate credit. Here are short profiles of twelve men he picked for top jobs, men whose subsequent laurels support the praise of McKinley quoted in these pages.

George B. Cortelyou (1862–1940): chief secretary to President McKinley (1900–1); secretary of commerce and labor (1903–4); postmaster general (1905–7); secretary of the Treasury (1907–9).

Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951): comptroller of the currency (1897–1901); director of the Bureau of the Budget (1921–22); author of post-World War I Dawes Plan; cowinner of Nobel Peace Prize, 1925; vice president of the United States (1925–29).

William R. Day (1849–1923): assistant secretary of state (1897–98); secretary of state (1898); U.S. Appeals Court (1899–1903); associate justice of U.S. Supreme Court (1903–22).

Charles W. Fairbanks (1852–1918): chairman of 1896 Republican Convention; U.S. senator from Indiana (1897–1905); vice president of the United States (1905–9); Republican nominee for vice president again in 1916.

Marcus A. Hanna (1837–1904): Businessman and political fundraiser; Republican national chairman (1896–97); U.S. senator from Ohio (1897–1904); possible 1904 presidential contender until his death.

John M. Hay (1838–1905): assistant private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, 1861–65; author and historian; assistant secretary of state (1878); U.S. ambassador to Britain (1897–98); secretary of state (1898–1905).

Philander C. Knox (1853–1921): lawyer; attorney general (1901–4); U.S. senator from Pennsylvania (1904–9); secretary of state (1909–13); U.S. senator from Pennsylvania (1917–21).

Robert M. La Follette (1855–1925): U.S. representative (1885–91); key McKinley ally in Wisconsin; governor of Wisconsin (1901–6); U.S. senator (1906–25); third-party Progressive nominee for president, 1924.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919): assistant secretary of the navy (1897–98); colonel, Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders, 1898); governor of New York (1899–1900); vice president of the United States (1901); president of the United States (1901–9); winner of Nobel Peace Prize, 1906; third-party Progressive nominee for president, 1912.

Elihu Root (1845–1937): U.S. attorney for Southern District of New York (1883–84); secretary of war (1899–1909); U.S. senator from New York (1909–15); member of The Hague Tribunal (Permanent Court of Arbitration); winner of Nobel Peace Prize, 1912.

William Howard Taft (1857–1930): U.S. solicitor general (1890–91); governor-general of the Philippines (1901–4); secretary of war (1904–8); president of the United States (1909–13); chief justice of the United States (1921–30).

Leonard Wood (1860–1927): army doctor; commander of Rough Riders (1898); military governor of Cuba (1899–1902); U.S. army chief of staff (1910–14); leader of movement for prewar preparedness (1914–17); unsuccessful candidate for GOP presidential nomination, 1920.