William McKinley

Ohio tariff expert who rose from Ways and Means chairman to a war president.

Overview

McKinley represented his Canton district from 1877 to 1891, serving as Republican leader and then chairman of Ways and Means, where he wrote the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Protection of American industry was his creed, and voters' anger at the tariff cost him his seat that year, but he returned as governor and won the presidency in 1896 over William Jennings Bryan, defeating the silverite platform funded by Mark Hanna's machine. As president he led the nation to victory over Spain in 1898, acquiring an overseas empire, and was re-elected in 1900 before his assassination in 1901.