President McKinley :: Biography

President McKinleyWilliam McKinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio. Nileswas a small town with no railroad and few wagon roads. He was the ordinalchild. When he was 9 years old they moved to Poland, Ohio. He went to theschoolhouse and then entered the local academy until he was 17.When he was 18, he taught school and pull in $25 a month. Whenvacation came he worked at the Poland post office. When the Civil Warcame, he enlisted. Shortly after he enlisted he was promoted to sergeant.When the war came to an end, he was a major at the age of 22.He attended the Albany Law School and he joined a law firm in 1867.He was elected county prosecuting attorney. On January 25,1871 he marriedIda Saxton. He campaigned for General Rutherford B. Hayes who was hiscommanding officer during the Civil War.In 1876 he was elected to congress and served 7 terms. He sponsoredthe tin industry and in 1896 he ran for president and won. He found that thegold in the Treasury was low and he worked on obtaining more gold for theTreasury.He passed the Tariff Bill and imports and exports increased. Hawaiiasked for annexation to the United States. He sent the Treaty of Annexationto the senate but they rejected it. insurance coverage the stalemate between Spanish forces and revolutionaries inCuba, newspapers screamed that a quarter of the population was dead and therest suffering acutely. Public indignation brought pressure upon the Presidentfor war. unavailing to restrain Congress or the American people, McKinleydelivered his message of neutral intervention in April 1898. Congressthereupon voted three resolutions tantamount to a declaration of war for the passing and independence of Cuba. When the Battleship Maine was sunk, the United States declared war.During the 100 days of this war, the United States destroyed the Spanish fleetoutside Santiago harbor in Cuba. Also, they seized manilla paper in the Philippinesand occupied Puerto Rico. After the victory in Manila Bay, Congres s began to see the projectedannexation of Hawaii differently. The Senate and the House ofRepresentatives took a vote on making Hawaii a grime of the UnitedStates. It was passed in June by the House of Representatives and then in Julyby the Senate. In 1898, Hawaii became a territory of the United States.They abandoned the Nicaragua project in 1898 and started work on the