William Mckinley

William McKinley Born on January 29, 1843, William McKinley would later in life grow up to be a very important factor and figure in America’s History. He was born in Niles, Ohio and grew up in Poland, Ohio where him and his family made their life. He was the seventh of eight kids living life like most young boys. He was raised by his father and mother, who instilled in him strong work ethics, respect, honesty, and courtesy and taught him to value prayer. One thing that McKinley valued highly was his education. He attended a school run by Methodist in Poland and upon graduating he went to Alleghany College in Meadville, PA. were he only attended for one term due to financial problems and illness. At the age of 18 when the Civil War started, William joined the Army and enlisted with the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. William was constantly proving himself in this battle. He began to quickly make his way up the ranks. He commissioned to Second Lieutenant and served under Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes and his staff. Throughout his military career, Hayes became William’s mentor. After serving four years William left the Army as a brevet major. After a career in the Army, McKinley went back to Ohio to start his future in politics and law. He finished law school at Albany Law and passed his bar in 1867. Soon after he started his own legal practice in Canton. In 1869, he met Ida Saxton and two years later they would be married and have two daughters. The same year he met his wife was the same year he ran in his first election. It was for county prosecutor and he won. As things started looking up for McKinley, he began to put more focus into his politics rather than his law career. Then in 1876 he ran for Congress and won that election as well. While in Congress he became chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, here he drafted and steered the passage of the McKinley Tariff of 1890.This increased consumer prices and angered the voters, causing