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William Mckinley And The Civil War

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Born in 1843, William McKinley was raised in Ohio under a family that had strong ties to the Whig Party. The first notable events that occurred during his life were during the Civil War. During the Civil War, McKinley began writing papers. He was able to have one of his papers published that stressed how important the Union’s cause was. This letter was published. Later he met his lifelong friend, Major Rutherford Hayes, who would motivate and influence him throughout his life. After the war McKinley served in an attorney’s office in Ohio. The year after this, he applied to and was accepted to Albany Law School. After a year of studies he moved to Canton where established a small office and met his new partner, George W. Belden, a prominent lawyer and former judge. It was here that William McKinley began giving political speeches. He spoke on the behalf of Hayes, thus showing his first true step in the world of politics. Soon after, he became a prosecuting attorney in Stark County, Ohio. This was an outstanding accomplishment because the prosecuting attorney was almost always a Democrat. Finally, McKinley decided to campaign for his spot in Congress. All of the previously stated events were used to prepare McKinley for his tenure into the House of Representatives in 1877. In October of 1877 William McKinley took his spot in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately for him, the Democrats were in power of the House of Representatives when he entered the House. This

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