His name was Leon Czolgosz.
His justification for the murder was that the government was corrupt. And he wasn't wrong (in saying that the government was a little bit corrupt). The government under McKinley's watch had aligned itself with big business. Before the Pendleton act, which had civil service members take exams based on merit, the government was less sound. The Act was introduced mainly because former-President Grover Cleveland had a corrupt cabinet and was responsible for the Credit Mobiliér scandal and the whiskey ring. After the Pendleton Act, politicians sought money from the corporations and were susceptible to cases of bribery. The impoverished's chances of survival fell dramatically in the event of a panic. The American dream, for many americans, was never really a possibility.
Although McKinley was popular, he represented corporate america, which was enough to get him assassinated. The republicans had underestimated the tension among the laboring classes, and gotten in serious trouble for it (though it wasn't directly their fault).
Today, McKinley is remembered for having helped America reach its industrial height.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/william-mckinley
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879648_1879646_1879695,00.html
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=william_mckinley_1
I think this post is very good. I like how you explored the topic of Leon and explained where he came from, as well as his motives for the assassination. It is a bit depressing that this man isn't very well known as The Assassin because there have been many other assassinations of President. Nevertheless, this is an interesting post that looks into the views of a common person who felt injustices were done and decided to act on them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post and it was totally helped understand the tension and issues during the late 19th century. It really helps understand how the laboring classes were feeling at this time. Interesting how he could of avoided his assassination by handling the distribution of money to everyone better instead of just high class people and big corporations.
ReplyDeleteI really like your post. I feel like it explored much of the impact that a president's cabinet has on the country. With one set of corrupt leaders, the whole laboring class is devastated. Which causes their dreams of reaching the American Dream to be destroyed. Through your post I now understand the anger of Leon Czolgosz and why he would commit such crime.
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