William McKinley and Us

Abstract

In the presidential campaign of 2004, George W. Bush's advisor Karl Rove repeated to journalists his long-standing explanation of why he admires William McKinley and expects Bush to reproduce what Rove regards as McKinley's successes. In 2003, Kevin Phillips, a Bush critic, wrote a book explaining how much he also admires McKinley. Eric Schlosser, a muck-raking journalist, saw his play Americans debut in London in the fall of 2003 to a theater full of Britons drawn to a play about the assassination of McKinley. Schlosser explains his interest in McKinley by invoking William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It isn't even past.” By saying so he raises anew the old question of how much our interest in present events ought to inflect our study of the past, but he also raises a question of peculiar interest to historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The McKinley of Rove, Phillips, and Schlosser—the McKinley whom Rove wants the President to emulate—may sound dimly familiar to us. But does the work of professional historians sustain this gloss on current affairs?

Humor on Pause: How Political Cartoonists Satirize Tragedy

“…McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz was born in Michigan as a child of immigrants [4]. However, because he had an unusual name, he was lumped with them.…”

“…However, because he had an unusual name, he was lumped with them. Eric Rauchway, in his article "McKinley and Us" explains, he was "an American among Americans, not a foreigner (despite the rush of consonants in his name), and that it was Czolgosz's fanatic ideas about Americanness that made him into a murderer" [4]. He was an avowed anarchist who followed the teachings of, especially, Emma Goldman.…”

“…The Mannlicher-Carcano carbine with the four-power scope was sent to Oswald's post office box in Dallas onMarch 12, 1963. Both weapons were ordered by Oswald under the name "A. Hidell"[4]. According to the artist:…”

“…He unified the country for the Spanish-American War of 1898, in which Northerner and Southerner, white and black, fought together for the United States[4].…”

William Vander Weyde, Leon F. Czolgosz, McKinley Assassin

“…Protestant discourse of American progress, and inspired by the revolutionary tenor of anarchist dissent, Czolgosz noted that he shot the President "for the sake of the common people." 3 He was sentenced to death following a rapid pace trial; the jury took just twenty-five minutes to return their verdict.…”