Milestones

1843 Born in Niles, Ohio, the son of William and Nancy Allison McKinley.

1859 Graduated from Poland Academy, Poland, Ohio.

1859–60 Attended Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania.

1861 Enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

1862 Promoted to commissary sergeant in April, commissioned second lieutenant in September after the battle of Antietam.

1863–65 Promoted to first lieutenant in 1863, captain in 1864, and brevet major in 1865.

1865–67 Studied law and admitted to the Ohio Bar.

1869–71 Prosecuting attorney, Stark County, Ohio.

1871 Married to Ida Saxton in Canton, Ohio, two children—Katherine (1872–1875), Ida (died in 1873 aged three months).

1877–91 U.S. representative from Ohio, except for several months in 1884 and 1885 as a result of a contested election.

1889–91 Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee.

1892–96 Governor of Ohio (two terms).

1896 Elected to first term as president of the United States.

1898 United States declares war on Spain (April 25), peace treaty signed (December 10).

1899 Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam formally acquired by the United States.

1900 Elected to second term as president of the United States.

1901 Shot by anarchist while attending Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York (September 6), died from wound (September 14).