Learn about the forgotten President Mckinley assassination
On September 6, 1901 President William McKinley was shot dead in Buffalo, New York while attending the Pan American Exposition. McKinley had just reached out to shake hands with a well wisher in the Exposition's Temple of Music at a few minutes past four p.m. when two shots rang throughout the auditorium. The first bullet struck the President in the chest while the second slammed into his abdomen. The assassin, a Polish anarchist by the name of Leon Czolgosz, was taken into custody immediately.
The President was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. For just over a week he clung to life, as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Lying in a bed in the home of Pan American Exposition President Milburn, McKinley came out of a coma after oxygen was administered on Monday, September 13th. He whispered for his wife but when she arrived he had again fallen into unconsciousness. At about 8 o'clock the President became conscious once more. As his wife grabbed his hand, he said "Nearer my God to thee," after which his eyes again closed. Minutes passed in silence as the President's life ebbed away. Then he opened his eyes for a final time. He took in the scene around him - a room filled with nurses and doctors with bowed heads. Then he focused again on his wife, Ida, and spoke his final words, "Goodbye all;goodbye. It is God's way. His will be done." And then he died.
Meanwhile Leon Czolgosz had been talking. The 28 year old blacksmith had come to Buffalo from his home in Cleveland three days before the shooting with just one purpose in mind: to murder the President of the United States. Over those three days he carefully rehearsed his plan. It is believed that Czolgosz was a student of noted Anarchist Emma Goldman. He stated that he opposed the form of Government practiced in the United States and gave the impression that he had done the country a favor. He claimed that he had no accomplices and that he acted completely alone.
Czolgosz had actually attempted to get close enough to shoot McKinley on the 5th of September. His approach to his target, however, had been blocked by a security guard. The following day he returned to the Expo and waited for the President to arrive. Knowing of McKinley's planned route, Czolgosz was one of the first to enter the Temple of Music. When the crowd formed a line to shake hands with the President, the future assassin took his place in the line. As he waited his turn to greet McKinley he kept his left hand wrapped in a handkerchief and close to his body. As his turn came to stand before the President, Czolgosz levelled his handkerchief covered hand toward McKinley's midsection, ignoring the President's extended hand. He fired twice before being tackled to the ground by Presidential aids.
On October 29, 1901, Leon Czolgosz was put to death for his crime. Seconds before he was electrocuted by 1,700 volts of electricity, he cried out, "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people. I did it for the help of the good people, the working men of all countries."
