Presidency of William McKinley

Historical Context Essay

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)
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On 14 September 1901, President William McKinley died from an assassin's bullet. The assassin was an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. Vice-president Roosevelt, at age 43, was the youngest person to assume the office of the presidency. Roosevelt called the presidency his bully pulpit. On the home-front, Roosevelt demonstrated a progressive streak. He established and pursued a policy aimed at breaking up ‘trusts' in American society (namely, large concentrations of economic power). In 1902, for example, the President used the Sherman Antitrust Act to file suit against the Northern Securities Company. Roosevelt also took pains to foster a greater dialogue between labour organizations and those who controlled the means of production. The best example of this was during the 1902 anthracite…

452 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of William McKinley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1188, accessed 29 March 2024.]

1188 Presidency of William McKinley 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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