McKinley served as a major in the Civil War and became a lawyer in Ohio where he practiced at Canton. He was elected to Congress in 1877 and served 14 years in the House before leaving in 1891 to serve two terms as the governor of Ohio. During his congressional days, he sponsored the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890. He was nominated by the Republican party for president in 1896 and defeated William Jennings Bryan to become the 25th President. During his administration, Congress increased the import tariffs and the US adopted the gold standard in 1900. With the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, the Spanish-American War ensued and was swiftly won by America which made territorial gains in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. McKinley supported the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 and initiated an open-door policy with China. He was easily re-elected in 1900, but was assassinated by an anarchist, Czolgosz, while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York on the 6th of September, 1901. |
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