William Mckinley

Garfield had served in Congress for seventeen years, but had absolutely no interest in being president. When at the Republican National Convention, he was to give a speech to nominate a candidate for the Republican nominee in the presidential race. However, the people voted for him and to his dismay, Garfield became the nominee. As Garfield had no desire to be president, he did not campaign. He did give speeches to the people who showed up to his home, but that was it. Garfield won the election and was sworn in March 4, 1881.

During the Progressive Era, Americans faced the challenge of choosing between four strong candidates of the election of 1912. Each candidate held concrete platforms that would have different effects on progressivism. Americans could chose the conservative presidential incumbent William Howard Taft(R), the New Jersey governor Woodrow Wilson (D), the long-time fighter for social reform-Eugene V. Debs (S), or the former president Theodore Roosevelt of the newly formed Bull Moose Party (Progressive Party). Through this election many steps were taken to change the face of the election

William Howard Taft was Americas 27th president. William was born on September 15, 1857. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio into the Taft family. Taft’s dad, Alphonso Taft was a lawyer and public official; he was Presidents Grant’s secretary of war. Taft’s father was a lawyer. William’s mother Louise Maria Taft was Alphonso’s second wife. William had two half brothers, two brothers and one sister. His ancestry consists of English, Scotch-Irish. William attended a public school in Cincinnati. He went to Woodward High School and then Yale University in 1874. He was quite a smart boy; he graduated second in his whole class of Yale University. Williams’s father also attended Yale and graduated in 1833 to later become a tutor at Yale. Taft, after

Of course this would not have been at all possible if it were not for his campaign leader Mark Hanna. Through the leadership of Mark Hanna, McKinley was able to forge alliances with big businessmen, prosperous farmers and professions making his campaign budget out to be about 3.5 million dollars causing his campaign to be the most expensive of its time. With the discovery of the large amount of money spent on McKinley’s campaign several progressive politicians and muckraking journalists accused the wealthy donors of corrupting the electoral process and alleged that the donors were being fed special handouts and favors as a result of donating their money. However, these cries were ignored until the 1904 political elections that lead to the beginning of the organized progress for campaign finance reform. (Morgan, 2003)

William McKinley was born on January 29, 1843, his parents are William McKinley Sr. and Nancy Allison McKinley (“William” bio 1). He was born in Niles, Ohio and attended Allegheny College to be posted as a country school teacher. He then enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War in 1861 and earned the rank of Brevet Major of Volunteers (1). After the Civil War he returned home, started studying law, and eventually moved to Canton, Ohio to open his own law firm (1). Very soon after he moved to Canton, he married Ida Saxton, the daughter of a local banker (1). McKinley then entered Ohio politics in 1869 where he quickly rose through the ranks as a Republican ultimately becoming the twenty-fifth president of the United States (1).

He was rarely seen, while serving as congressman and governor, without his trademark carnation. McKinley served 7 terms in Congress from 1877-1891, except for a 9-months in 1884-1885. The House ruled that his opponent, lawyer Jonathan Wallace, had received the most votes in the 1882 election, so Wallace took McKinley’s seat for the rest of the term. McKinley easily got back to the office in the 1884 election. McKinley consistently won re-election even though the districts he represented were heavily Democratic. As a congressman, he focused his energies on the tariff problem and became known as a protectionist and as a persuasive speaker. He was usually associated with being on the side of big business, but he also worked hard for labor and later, as governor of Ohio, he encouraged employees to join labor unions and to criticize employers who refused workers the right to organized. Also as congressman he supported gold over silver as the backbone of America’s money system. In 1889, Thomas Reed of Maine defeated him in the position of Speaker of the House. McKinley lost his next bid for Congress and returned to Canton in 1891. As governor, a position he held for two terms from 1891-1895, he proposed laws to protect railroad workers and address the issue of child labor, and a state board of arbitration was established to deal with labor and business problems. During this time as governor he became friends with millionaire industrialist Mark Hanna

After this tragic loss, he decided to go to a ranch that he had purchased in 1883 and become a rancher. Unfortunately, Roosevelt was not taken seriously by the locals as a real rancher, because they thought of him as a city New Yorker, who was not tough enough for the Dakota Badlands. He had to initially put up with their ridicule. But in the end, he proved them all wrong. On one occasion, he apprehended two criminals and watched them for hours before the authorities came. A newspaper wrote “Theodore is a Dakota Cowboy. When he first went on the range, the cowboys took him for a dude, but there is no man who inspires such enthusiastic regard among them as he.”

When Roosevelt returned he gave speeches that undermined the work Taft had done. Roosevelt once again became involved in politics but continued to attack his successors administration. He received many letters from people wanting him to run for president. Roosevelt had decided to run for president once again. William Taft made his nomination acceptance speech on August 1, but had a hard time financing the campaign and most people knew he couldn't win. Governor Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic nominee. Woodrow Wilson was to become the next President of the United

Rutherford B Hayes resigned to campaign all across Ohio to run for governor. The biggest topic of the election was whether African-Americans would get voting rights. The election was won by Hayes in 1867, but he had some struggles. He was a Republican under a Democratic legislator and had no veto power. However, he helped create a deaf-mute school and a school for girls. In his second term, he won voting rights for black males, and helped what would become Ohio State University be founded. He also brought the idea of lower taxes and a better life for prisoners. He left office in 1872 and came back in 1876 and served a year long term.

III. McKinley had a relatively easy and normal childhood. He was the seventh child of eight. His parents were loving people who instilled in McKinley the importance of hard-work, religion, and education. McKinley worked very hard in school as a youth and then attended Alleghany College in Pennsylvania for one term, until he had to leave for financial reasons. During the Civil War, he proved to be an excellent soldier and quickly moved up the ranks to the position of Brevet Major. Like many presidents

Martin Van Buren had an interesting life before he became president. He was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York. Until he was 14, he went to school at a local schoolhouse and briefly at Kinderhook Academy. After that, he worked as an apprentice for Francis Silvester, a lawyer. Later, his political jobs made him qualified to become president. Those jobs were a very well-respected lawyer, the attorney general of New York, a member of the U. S. Senate, governor of New York, the

Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Corsica (now Bloomington Grove), Ohio. He was eldest of eight children. His father, George Tryon Harding, was a farmer and a doctor. His mother, Phoebe Dickerson Harding, was a "gentle, pious" woman who devoted herself to her children.

Theodore Roosevelt, Junior was born on October 27, 1858. His father was Theodore, Roosevelt, Senior and his mother was Martha Stewart Bulloch. He lived in New York City in a section that is called today, Gramercy. Theodore had an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister. When young Roosevelt was often sick, he had to sleep propped up in a or slouching in a chair. Theodore boxed and exercised to fight his

In the month of June the Republicans got together at the Republican National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri where former Ohio congressman and governor William Mckinley was granted the Republican nomination. McKinley choose Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey to be his Vice President after Thomas Reed rejected his nomination. The following month the Democrats met at their convention in Chicago. Former Nebraska congressman William Jennings Bryan was chosen to represent the Democratic party. Bryan was only 36 at the time but his famous “Cross of Gold”

Theodore Roosevelt born on October 27, 1858 at was is now Brownstone in New York . Theodores birth parents were his mother Martha Bulloch Roosevelt and his father Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. An event that happened in his life in order for it to be part of the cause he was the way he was , it was the lost of his mother and his wife both dying on the same day. On February 14th, 1884 . He then spent his time in Dakota and began to learn and concur loneliness. Then becoming a Spanish leader and later on ran for Governor and won he became Governor in 1898. Besides his mothers and