By TRA’VON JOHNS
Student Reporter
A surprising fact about President William McKinley, the 25th president, is that after he was mortally shot, he worried about other people, before he worried about himself.
Students learned this and other interesting information at the Presidential Lecture Series Monday, sponsored by Northwestern Department of Social Sciences and Endowed Institute for Citizenship Studies. The guest speaker was associate professor of history at the University of Akron in Ohio, Dr. Kevin Kern.
The informal format of the lecture included NWOSU political science professor Dr. Aaron Mason asking Kern questions about McKinley and his impact as president 1897-1901.
Kern said the president, after being shot twice in the abdomen by Leon Czolgosz, urged his aides to keep the mob from hurting Czolgosz. He also asked that they break the news of the event gently to his wife, Ida. McKinley was treated for the wounds but developed gangrene and died about a week later.
Kern shared other surprising facts. McKinley once refused to stay in a hotel that would not allow Blacks to stay there as well. McKinley also served in the Civil War, and a monument at Antietam honors his being in charge of the Commissary Department at that battle.
One of McKinley’s key platforms involved tariffs. Kern said McKinley was particularly interested in helping U.S. industry and American labor because his family was working middle class.
Kerns said Ohio, where McKinley was from, is a state that reflects the population of the United States more than any other state.
The northern part of Ohio was partly settled by northeasterners, the middle settled by mid-Atlantic people and the southern part by Southerners. It was the first state carved out of the public land system.
This mix of settlement helped McKinley learn to connect with all kinds of people from all walks of life, which Kern said helped him be really good at talking with anyone.
Kerns said McKinley was a genuinely nice guy who was not easily offended and liked working behind the scenes while letting others take the credit.