McKINLEY 



3570 



McKINLEY 



listed in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers, of 

 which William S. Rosecrans was first colonel. 

 The regiment served under McClellan in West 

 Virginia in 1861 and in the next year took part 

 in 'the battles of South Mountain and Antie- 

 tam. At Antietam McKinley distinguished 

 himself by great gallantry under fire; for this 

 he was recommended for promotion by Colonel 

 Rutherford B. Hayes, who had succeeded Rose- 

 crans as commander of the regiment. On Sep- 

 tember 23, 1862, McKinley was commissioned 

 second lieutenant, and by the end of the war 

 had risen to the brevet rank of major, the title 

 by which he was commonly known until his 

 election to the governorship of Ohio. He 

 served at various times as aide to General Han- 

 cock and General Crook, and was particularly 

 prominent in the battles of Fisher's Hill and 

 Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek was the battle 

 which General Sheridan turned from defeat 

 into victory after his stirring ride from Win- 

 chester. 



Law and Politics. Major McKinley was 

 mustered out on July 25, 1865, and immedi- 

 ately began the study of law. He was admit- 

 ted to the Ohio bar in 1867, and established 

 himself in practice at Canton, the county seat 

 of Stark County. This was normally a Demo- 

 cratic district, and McKinley was a Republican, 

 but the voters elected him prosecuting attorney 

 in 1869. In 1872 he made frequent speeches in 

 support of Grant for President, and in 1875 in 

 support of Hayes, who was candidate for gov- 

 ernor of Ohio. His vigorous speeches, espe- 

 cially his demand for the resumption of specie 

 payments, made him more than a local figure, 

 and in 1876 he was elected to the House of 

 Representatives. Of this bocjy he was a mem- 

 ber until 1891, with the exception of an inter- 

 val of five months in 1884. In his first term 

 he spoke in behalf of a protective tariff bill, 

 and later voted for the Bland-Allison Act, thus 

 allying himself with the Silver Republicans 

 from the Western states. Steadily reelected to 

 Congress in spite of every effort to defeat him, 

 McKinley rose in influence, succeeded Garfield 

 in 1880 as a member of the Committee on 

 Ways and Means, and in 1888 became chair- 

 man of that committee, a position second only 

 to the Speakership in importance. 



During these years Representative McKinley 

 became one of the leaders of the Republican 

 party. He was a regular delegate to its national 

 conventions, twice drafted the tariff plank in 

 the party platform, and in 1888 was one of John 

 Sherman's campaign managers. Reelected to 



the House of Representatives for the seventh 

 time in 1888, he framed and carried through 

 Congress the high tariff bill which bears his 

 name (see TARIFF). The McKinley Act be- 

 came a law on October 6, 1890. One other im- 

 portant measure with which McKinley was 

 connected was the "Sherman Law." In June, 

 1890, he introduced a bill providing that certifi- 

 cates issued for silver bullion purchased by 

 government should be legal tender for privat 

 debts and also establishing the free coinage 

 silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 when silver had 



WILLIAM McKINLEY 

 He defeated William J. Bryan for the Pr 

 dency of the United States in 1896, after the me 

 bitterly fought campaign since the War of Sece 

 sion. 



risen that 371.25 grains were worth 23.22 gr 

 of gold. The bill passed the House, but 

 entirely recast in the Senate, and eventi 

 emerged from Congress in the form 

 Sherman Law. 



Governor of Ohio and Presidential Candida! 

 Ohio went Democratic in 1890, and McKinl* 

 was defeated for reelection. In 1891, howevc 

 after the close of his service in Congress, 

 was elected governor of Ohio in an excitii 

 campaign, and in 1893 was reelected by a 

 rality of 81,000, one of the largest plurality 

 ever recorded in the state. During his fc 

 years as governor, McKinley worked sue 

 fully to improve Ohio's canals, roads, and 

 lie institutions. Perhaps his greatest achie^ 

 ment was the establishment of a state board 



