Born Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1843. School-teacher, Poland, Ohio, 1860. Enlisted Union Army June, 1861. Second Lieutenant September 24, 1862. First Lieutenant February 7, 1863. Captain July 25, 1864. Brevet Major for gallantry, 1865. Admitted to the Ohio bar 1867. Elected state’s attorney 1869. Elected first to Congress 1876. Re-elected 1878, 1880, 1882, 1884 to 1890. Elected Governor of Ohio 1891. Re-elected Governor of Ohio 1893. Elected President United States 1896. Re-elected President United States 1900. Shot by an assassin September 6, 1901. Died Buffalo, N. Y., September 14, 1901. [Illustration: CHARACTERISTIC POSE OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY.] [Illustration: PRESIDENT McKINLEY AND HIS WAR CABINET OF 1898.] [Illustration: PRESIDENT, WM. McKINLEY.] [Illustration: MRS. WILLIAM McKINLEY.] [Illustration: MR. AND MRS. McKINLEY AND THEIR HOME AT CANTON, OHIO.] [Illustration: MRS. McKINLEY, MOTHER OF THE PRESIDENT.] [Illustration: Copyright by Clinedinst, Washington, the President’s Photographer. PRESIDENT McKINLEY TAKING AN AFTERNOON DRIVE.] [Illustration: WILLIAM McKINLEY IN HIS CANTON HOME.] [Illustration: MISS HELEN McKINLEY.] [Illustration: Copyright, 1901, by Clinedinst, Washington, Photographer to the President. PRESIDENT McKINLEY IN HIS LIBRARY.] [Illustration: PRESIDENT McKINLEY AND MARSHALL EVERETT IN CONSULTATION DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.] [Illustration: HEARSE BEARING PRESIDENT McKINLEY’S REMAINS PASSING THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.] [Illustration: U. S. MARINES IN THE McKINLEY FUNERAL PROCESSION, WASHINGTON, D. C.] [Illustration: U. S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN THE McKINLEY FUNERAL PROCESSION, WASHINGTON, D. C.] [Illustration: PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT.] [Illustration: BUILDING IN WHICH PRESIDENT McKINLEY WAS SHOT, TEMPLE OF MUSIC, PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, BUFFALO, N. Y.] [Illustration: LEON CZOLGOSZ, THE ASSASSIN OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY.] [Illustration: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY.] ... _The Life_ ... OF _President William McKinley_ CHAPTER I. THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY. On Friday, September 6, 1901, the blackest Friday in American history, the American people were shocked and stunned by the news that their beloved President, William McKinley, had been shot down by a cowardly assassin, while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo.