McKinley William - President McKinley: architect of the American century

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ALSO BY ROBERT W. MERRY

Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians

A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent

Sands of Empire: Missionary Zeal, American Foreign Policy, and the Hazards of Global Ambition

Taking on the World: Joseph and Stewart AlsopGuardians of the American Century

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Copyright 2017 by Robert W. Merry

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Interior design by Joy OMeara

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Merry, Robert W., 1946 author.

Title: President McKinley / Robert W. Merry.

Description: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016050943 (print) | LCCN 2016053191 (ebook) | ISBN 9781451625448 (hardback) | ISBN 9781451625455 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781451625462 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: McKinley, William, 1843-1901. | PresidentsUnited StatesBiography. | BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Presidents & Heads of State. | HISTORY / United States / 19th Century. | HISTORY / United States / General.

Classification: LCC E711.6 .M54 2017 (print) | LCC E711.6 (ebook) | DDC 973.8/8092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050943

ISBN 978-1-4516-2544-8

ISBN 978-1-4516-2546-2 (ebook)

To Maisie, Elliott, Genevieve, and Colton, keeping the flame alive

P resident William McKinley arrived in Buffalo, New York, on the evening of September 4, 1901, intent on deflecting history with a speech. The Ohio politicians shiny and luxurious presidential train crawled into the citys Terrace Station at six-thirty that evening, and the presidential party moved quickly toward waiting carriages near the north gate of the Pan-American Exposition, an attention-grabbing extravaganza that opened its doors on May 20. It featured exhibits, spectacles, musical performances, athletic events, and moremost notably, displays of the latest technological wonders, including an X-ray machine and the startling advent of alternating current, allowing the efficient transmission of electricity through long-distance power lines. This promising advance brought enough power to Buffalo from Niagara Falls turbines, twenty-five miles away, to illuminate the entire exposition grounds in a nighttime display of electrical wizardry.

This was just the kind of marvel to capture the imagination of a nation on the move, pushing into the twentieth century as it had pushed westward across North America during the previous hundred yearswith resolve, confidence, and disregard for accompanying hazards. Now, under McKinley, America was developing and harnessing technology like no other nation, generating unparalleled industrial expansion and wealth, moving beyond its continental confines and into the world. It wasnt surprising that Americans would flock to the Buffalo expositionan estimated eight million or more over six monthsto bask in their countrys promise, or that Exposition leaders would designate a special day to honor the president. Neither was it surprising that McKinley would choose that day to summon support for a major policy departure for Americaand for himself. The Pan-American Exposition represented a fitting convergence of the man, the event, and the era.

No development defined the era more clearly than the rise of America as a global power. This came about mostly through the brief, momentous war with imperial Spain two years earliera splendid little war, as historian and diplomat John Hay called it. When it was over, Spain no longer possessed a colonial empire of any consequence, and America had planted its flag upon the soil of Cuba (as a temporary protectorate) and upon Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (as permanent possessions). For good measure, the country acquired Hawaii, one of the most strategic points on the globe, a kind of Gibraltar of the Pacific. In addition, the country was building a navy to rival the great navies of the world and demonstrating a capacity to deploy troops quickly and effectively to far-flung lands.

American economic and diplomatic power also surged. U.S. goods, both manufacturing and agricultural, were being gobbled up in overseas markets, and this burgeoning export trade promised ongoing U.S. prosperity. President McKinley was discovering, moreover, that this new military and economic might had rendered America a nation to be reckoned with. Just the year before the country had nudged the major European powers and Japan toward a collective policy in Chinafavorable to U.S. interests and conducive to regional stabilitythat most of those countries didnt particularly like.

As for the event, the Pan-American Exposition sought ostensibly to foster and celebrate a kind of diplomatic and economic brotherhood among the nations of the Americas. Indeed, when John Hay, as secretary of state, visited the Exposition the previous June, he titled his remarks Brotherhood of the Nations of the Western World. But, as the New York Times noted, Americas relations with its Western Hemisphere neighbors often reflected unconcealed haughtiness mingled with something not unlike greed. And Hays remarks, notwithstanding his title, seemed less a celebration of any kind of brotherhood than of American grandeur, reflected in his paean to this grand and beautiful spectacle, never to be forgotten, a delight to the eyes, a comfort to every patriotic heart that during the coming Summer shall make the joyous pilgrimage to this enchanted scene.

Then there was the man, fifty-eight years old at the time of the Buffalo Exposition, now five months into his second presidential term. To his detractors, William McKinley seemed an unlikely figure to be presiding over the transformation of America. In this view, the affable, stolid, seemingly plodding McKinley hadnt really led America through the momentous developments of his presidency but rather had himself been manipulated by events beyond his control. And yet nobody could dispute his political popularity. His 1900 reelection margin exceeded the margin of all recent presidential victories. And even getting reelected at all marked a notable political achievement in an era with few two-term presidencies. Many in McKinleys day argued that his commanding position atop the countrys political firmament testified indisputably to his political effectiveness and brilliance. But others dismissed that view as fanciful. They insisted on judging him as unequal to his deeds.