William McKinley

Birth-Death: (1843 - 1901 ) Term: (1897-1901 )

President McKinley established the gold standard once and for all. After the election of 1896, bimetallism was forever abolished and the US dollar was only backed by gold.

Domestic Events of Bill McKinley

    The Election of 1896 was one of the most controversial elections in the history of the United States. The most important issue was the coinage of silver. The farmers and miners in the west pushed for "free and unlimited coinage of silver" while the "gold bugs" in the east had refused any change from the monometallic standard because of fears of depression and financial instability.

    The Republicans quickly nominated McKinley and cheered for "Bill McKinley and the McKinley Bill." The Democratic Convention was split between the gold bugs and the silverites. At the end, the gold bugs walked out, while William Jennings Bryan enchanted everyone with his "cross of gold" speech and the Democrats declared free and unlimited coinage of silver as part of their platform.

    The election results were very decisive; McKinley won more than 50% of the popular and the electoral votes, and thus, the issue of silver coinage was finally killed.

    McKinley ran for the presidency again in 1900, and won easily. However, his second term was cut short by an assassin's bullet. Leon Czolgosz shot McKinley at the American Exhibition in Buffalo. The President died only eight days later, and a "wild man from Philadelphia," Theodore Roosevelt, took office.