There was an umpire in major league baseball from the forties to the sixties called Bill McKinley. He was regularly treated to jeers of "My God, they shot the wrong McKinley" by discontented fans. That being said, he was probably a better umpire than his namesake was a president. President McKinley's main accomplishment was dying and getting the hell out of the way so Teddy Roosevelt could get in the White House.

A lot of people don't know about the real Bill McKinley. The man who faked his own death to play professional hockey in Canada and went on to lose the 1902 Stanley Cup as a member of the lowly Toronto Wellingtons.

One of the most underrated U.S. Presidents. McKinley (Spanish-American War) along with Teddy Roosevelt (Panama Canal) were both responsible for making America a World Power.

Imperialist who favored the wealthy

We got entangled in all our imperial problems under this guy. We acquired Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and Philippine Islands. What have these possessions done for the common good?

They have cost us billions and tens of thousands of lives defending them. It is even questionable that we should have stolen Hawaii although the Missionary descendants had already stolen it from the native Hawaiians.

Responsible for the torture, mutulation and death of tens of thousands oof innocents, all in the name of U.S. Imperialism, presided over a trumped-up phony war against Spain, and was the puppet of big monied interests and political boss Mark Hanna; a vastly overrated president by historians. We were in need of T.R. when an assassin put an end to his miserable life.

I cant find anything about him.

William McKinley was a fairly capable Chief Executive- guided the nation in the victorious Spanish American War- and as someone else said here was fairly progressive on social issues. Too bad he was shot at the start of his second term- for a complete objective critique of his Presidency will never be known.

A republican progressive-one of the last, of decent compentency. Was somewhat innovative for his times. Conducted the Spanish American War- with success.

The last Civil War veteran to be President.. His assassination was the third in thirty-six years.. Calm and efficient.. Puritanical and very religious.. Pioneered the modern management of the press.. Author Frank L. Baum fashioned the title character of his landmark novel, The Wizard of Oz, after McKinley.

Karl Rove, George W. Bush's close friend and advisor, said this of McKinley, He modernized the presidency, he modernized the Treasury to deal with the modern economy, he changed dramatically the policies of his party by creating a durable governing coalition for 40 years, he took a special interest in finding the rising generation of young leaders and putting them into the government, he attempted deliberately to break with the Gilded Age politics, he was inclusive and he was the first Republican candidate for president to be endorsed by a leader in the Catholic hierarchy. My thought precisely. McKinley is one of the three or four most underrated presidents in U.S. history. If I were to rank all forty-two presidents from best to worst, McKinley would likely come down somewhere around eight or nine.

Did you know that the wizard of Oz was written to make fun of him, he desserved that as well as his own assasination.

A relative of mine! Through he definitely wasn't among our greater presidents.

McKinley was a good President. Traditionally second term presidents don't meet expectations. They call them lame duck, or was that dead-duck?

Destroyed the Democratic Party for a generation! The model for how GW Bush is currently killing the Democrats. Only knock is he should have made Cuba a state instead making it independent.

great prez

William McKinley--the guy who all but invented a reason to go to war with Spain.

Ushered America into the Industrial Revolution age, spurred the development of big business, and the US became recognized as a true world power during his presidency.

Galvanized the American public behind his leadership which was equal doses of toughness and compassion. His speech at the Pan American Exposition, where he was assassinated, was 100 years before his time. It could have been delivered with no changes early in this country's NAFTA debate. A great man made a great president.

William McKinley took office at a time when the United States was on the road to becoming a world empire. His Presidency marked the true transition into the twentieth century and set the political stage for the next couple of decades. [1. Leadership: **** out of ***** Stars] William McKinley was a great wartime President whose vigorous foreign agenda set the nation on the road to empire. However, in other areas he failed to exhibit certain amounts of leadership. He did little to address the growing disfranchisement and exclusion of black Americans fromm political power. He also issued no formal protests to the lynchings that were occuring in the South. McKinley also failed to propose laws to fight monopolies, which was the major issue of the day. During the preceding months leading up to the Spanish-American War, McKinley proved to be decisive and willing to negotiate. The Cubans had rebelled from Spain in 1895, and Americans began to fight on the side of the rebels. McKinley proposed a peaceful resolution to Spain, but to no avail- Spain declared that it would not give up Cuba without a fight. When the Battleship Maine exploded in 1898, McKinley was quick to respond to the rumors that Spain was behind the explosion, getting Congress to declare war on April 25, 1898. After 3 months of warfare, which was mainly fought at sea, Spain began to talk peace and a cease-fire was declared on August 12. In the subsequent treaty, the U.S. gained several territories. In short, McKinley proved to be an efficient wartime leader, but failed to deal with the disfranchisement of black Americans in the South. [2. Foreign Affairs: **** out of ***** Stars] As I stated before, McKinley definately proved to be an effective wartime leader. It is unquestionable that McKinley's heart lied in foreign affairs and setting the nation on the path to empire. As a result of McKinley's bold leadership, the Spansh American War was won in a little less than 4 months and the United States did gain several territories as a result. After the Spanish American War, the U.S. gained, among other territories, the Phillipines. A rebellion broke out in 1899 which forced McKinley to send in thousands of troops to the islands, and a small war lasted until 1902. This arguably justified the future interventions in Korea and Vietnam. Whether this was a necessary intervention is to be debated. His Open Door policy with China recognized china as an independent nation and called for free trade in China. This Open Door Policy laid the groundwork for American trade in the 20th Century. He put down a rebellion which sought to install a dictator in China with military force. [3. Economic Management: *** out of ***** Stars] William McKinley was not expected to be a strong economic leader given his McKinley Tariff which was passed when he was in the Congress in 1890 and contributed to the worst economic depression in 1893 up until that time. However, he did finally establish the balance between gold and silver in American currency. In 1900 he signed the Gold Standard Act which formally placed U.S. money on the Gold Standard. All currency from that point on was fully backed by gold. However, the Dingley Tariff which passed with McKinley's signature again rasied rates nearly 50%. McKinley's extreme economic tariff policies had a terrible effect on American merchants. [4. Vision For The Country/Accomplishments: *** out of ***** Stars] McKinley in foreign affairs came into office with a clear agenda for the United States, and he did achieve his empire goals somewhat with the acquisition of several territories in the Pacific and Carribean after the Spanish-American War. However, in domestic affairs, he did not exhibit much leadership, proposing no new laws to battle big business monopolies or Civil Service reforms. [Final Score: 3.5- **** out of ***** Stars]. In the final analysis, McKinley definately proved to be an important transitional figure and set the scene for the 20th century. He was definately a true imperialist. Whether the foreign agenda that he pursued was postive or negative is for you to decide. His bold establishment of free China and the Open Door Policy established the United States as a true world superpower.

After the (arguably justified) war with Spain, McKinley presided over the occupation of the Phillipines in which between 200,000 and 250,000 Phillipine civilians were killed by US troops, and countless others raped and tortured. Respected patriotic Americans like Mark Twain were appalled by this senseless slaughter of decent people who just wanted to govern their own country rather than be occupied by a foreign power that they had never lifted a finger against. America only defeated Spain so easily in the Phillipines in the first place because native nationalists bravely fought alongside them to drive out the colonialist European power. They were then betrayed by the US president who had promised them independence in return for their loyal support. Thus McKinley was the first American to have committed genocide and occupied a foreign country, instead of allowing them self-determination according to classical American ideals and principles. Sorry but you can't give an oath-breaking genocidal imperialist who betrays brave people who fight alongside his countrymen anything other than 1 star. The 2nd worse president after Nixon.

Not much of a leader

People remember the mountian before the man.

He did very little while in office. I guess that is how you get in the top twenty.

Terrific 1896 campaign pins. It ain't TV but it's still sexy.

While he was not a flawless man, didn't win any major war, never provided the nation with a large tax cut, and was not our most charismatic leader, he did support the fundamental values of liberty and patriotism. He helped prevent tax increases, stood against his own party on the tarriff issue, and defended the Constitution of the United States. One of our finer leaders.