Fun Fact 3: He was one of nine children born to William and Nancy Allison McKinley and the family were of Scots-Irish and English descent
Fun Fact 4: William McKinley Junior had a good school education and went on to study the Albany Law School in New York
Fun Fact 5: William McKinley married Ida Saxton in 1871, together they had two girls. Ida was not a well woman and both daughters died at a young age, which added to her frail state of health
Fun Fact 6: William McKinley became the 25th president of America in 1897 when he was 54 years of age, he served his country until his assassination in 1901. His inauguration was the first ever to be filmed
Fun Fact 7: William McKinley loved red carnations, and often wore one in his buttonhole to bring him good luck
Fun Fact 8: Whilst holding office as president, America became a world power for the very first time and William McKinley conducted the US during the Spanish-American War of 1898
Fun Fact 9: William McKinley was instrumental in the Annexation of Hawaii this heralded the end of long discussions about control between the Hawaiian and American government
Fun Fact 10: William McKinley played a key role in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion of 1898, a revolution which began in China and set an uprising against all foreigners, he also called for an expanded 'Open Door policy' which would enable trading with the whole of China
Fun Fact 11: William McKinley had a pet parrot which he named Washington Post, the parrot had a special talent in that he could whistle the tune 'Yankee Doodle'!
Fun Fact 12: On 6 September 1901 William McKinley was assassinated. He was at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York and had just handed a young girl his lucky red carnation from his jacket lapel. Leon Frank Czolgosz, the son of Polish-Russian immigrants shot him twice in the stomach at close range
Fun Fact 13: Anger raged through the crowd after William McKinley was shot, and some began to strike out at Leon Frank Czolgosz, however William McKinley showed compassion for his attacker and said “Boys! Don’t let them hurt him!”
Fun Fact 14: William McKinley died 8 days after his assassination on September 14, 1901 in Buffalo, New York. He might have been saved but doctors could not locate the bullet and infection set in
Fun Fact 15: Six years later in 1907 a monument was dedicated to William McKinley. The 96-foot tall obelisk made of Vermont marble was constructed in Niagara Square, Buffalo as a tribute to the 25th president of America |
