The First 100 Days: William McKinley
William McKinley was elected President in 1896. He was the last president to have been a Civil War veteran, and the nation was now transitioning from repairing the damage caused by the Civil War, to building for the looking to the future. The Republicans had control of Congress and the White House. McKinley was inaugurated on March 4, 1897, in front of the Original Senate Wing, at the U.S. Capitol. Chief Justice Melville Fuller administered the oath of office. It was the first Inaugural ceremony recorded by a motion picture camera. In his inaugural address, he urged tariff reform. He had just won an election in which a major issue was what metal currency would be backed by. He said that this issue would be addressed by legislation. He also warned against U.S. intervention in the affairs of other nations, declaring, "We want no wars of conquest. We must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression."
McKinley's most controversial cabinet decision was the appointment of John Sherman as Secretary of State. Sherman was not McKinley's first choice. He initially offered the job to Senator William B. Allison. But one consideration in Senator Sherman's appointment was to provide a place in the Senate for Mark Hanna, McKinley's campaign manager. Hanna had turned down a Cabinet position as Postmaster General. Sherman had served as Secretary of the Treasury under Rutherford Hayes, but his mental faculties were decaying. McKinley had sent his cousin, William McKinley Osborne, to have dinner with the 73-year-old Sherman. Osborne reported back that Sherman seemed lucid. McKinley later wrote, "the stories regarding Senator Sherman's 'mental decay' are without foundation. When I saw him last I was convinced both of his perfect health, physically and mentally, and that the prospects of life were remarkably good." After Sherman was appointed, Ohio Governor Asa Bushnell appointed Hanna to the Senate. Unfortunately, once he assumed his new Cabinet post, Sherman's mental incapacity became increasingly apparent.
Two of the major issues that had arisen in the previous election campaign were tariff reform and silver-backed currency. It was clear where McKinley stood on the issue of tariffs. As a Congressman, he had sponsored legislation creating high tariffs to support high wages and profits. Ways and Means chairman Nelson Dingley introduced the Dingley Act to revise the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act of 1894. McKinley supported the bill, which increased the tariff on wool, sugar, and luxury goods. The proposed new rates were met with opposition from France, who exported significant luxury items to the United States. The Dingley Act passed the House easily, but it was delayed in the Senate, because of the French opposition. French representatives offered to cooperate with the United States in developing an international agreement on bimetallism if the new tariff rates were reduced. This earned support in the senate from silverite Republicans. Their votes were necessary for passage of the bill. The Senate amended the bill to give France some relief, but it did not reduce the rates on luxury goods. McKinley signed the bill into law and agreed to begin negotiations on an international bimetallism standard.
McKinley pursued a policy of bimetallism, using both gold and silver as monetary standards. The US and France both favored this approach. The sought British support for bimetallism. British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury was interested in the idea. But news of a possible departure from the gold standard did not have sufficient support and Britain rejected the proposal. With the failure to gain international support, McKinley turned away from silver coinage and embraced the gold standard.
In the Republic of Hawaii, the Queen had been overthrown in 1894 when she rejected constitutional limits. Democrats, led by Grover Cleveland, did not want a multiracial possession, but McKinley and the Republicans favored annexation. McKinley came to office as a supporter of annexation, and he lobbied Congress to adopt his position. He realized that there would be difficulty in getting two-thirds of the Senate to approve a treaty of annexation. Instead, McKinley supported the effort of Democratic Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada to accomplish the result by joint resolution of both houses of Congress. The resulting Newlands Resolution was later passed both houses and McKinley signed it into law two years later on July 8, 1898.
The issue that would come to define McKinley's term was the coming war in Cuba. Rebels there had waged an intermittent campaign for freedom from Spanish colonial rule. By 1895, the conflict had expanded to a war for Cuban independence. The United States and Cuba had enjoyed close trade relations, and the Cuban rebellion adversely affected the American economy. As rebellion overtook the island, Spanish reprisals grew harsher. It included the interment of Cuban families to guarded camps near Spanish military bases. The rebels appealed to the sympathy of ordinary Americans and public opinion favored the rebels. American populist sentiment called for war to liberate Cuba, but McKinley favored a peaceful approach. It was his hope that through negotiation, Spain would eventually grant Cuba independence, or at least to allow the Cubans some measure of autonomy. In McKinley's first year in office, the United States and Spain began negotiations regarding Cuba, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence.
McKinley had support for his cautious approach from Wall Street, big business, corporate American and a number of Main Street businesses. After years of severe depression, the economic outlook for the domestic economy was suddenly bright again in 1897. Many feared that the uncertainties of a long expensive war posed serious threat to full economic recovery. McKinley listened to the strong anti-war consensus of the business community. He was all the more resolved to use diplomacy and negotiation rather than force to improve matters in Cuba. But he also faced opposition from those concerned about the inhumane treatment of the Cuban people. Church leaders and activists wrote hundreds of thousands of letters calling for intervention in Cuba.
McKinley's desire to avoid war would eventually be overtaken by war fever in Congress and in the press, especially after an explosion aboard the ship the U.S.S. Maine the following year in February, 1897.
McKinley's most controversial cabinet decision was the appointment of John Sherman as Secretary of State. Sherman was not McKinley's first choice. He initially offered the job to Senator William B. Allison. But one consideration in Senator Sherman's appointment was to provide a place in the Senate for Mark Hanna, McKinley's campaign manager. Hanna had turned down a Cabinet position as Postmaster General. Sherman had served as Secretary of the Treasury under Rutherford Hayes, but his mental faculties were decaying. McKinley had sent his cousin, William McKinley Osborne, to have dinner with the 73-year-old Sherman. Osborne reported back that Sherman seemed lucid. McKinley later wrote, "the stories regarding Senator Sherman's 'mental decay' are without foundation. When I saw him last I was convinced both of his perfect health, physically and mentally, and that the prospects of life were remarkably good." After Sherman was appointed, Ohio Governor Asa Bushnell appointed Hanna to the Senate. Unfortunately, once he assumed his new Cabinet post, Sherman's mental incapacity became increasingly apparent.
Two of the major issues that had arisen in the previous election campaign were tariff reform and silver-backed currency. It was clear where McKinley stood on the issue of tariffs. As a Congressman, he had sponsored legislation creating high tariffs to support high wages and profits. Ways and Means chairman Nelson Dingley introduced the Dingley Act to revise the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act of 1894. McKinley supported the bill, which increased the tariff on wool, sugar, and luxury goods. The proposed new rates were met with opposition from France, who exported significant luxury items to the United States. The Dingley Act passed the House easily, but it was delayed in the Senate, because of the French opposition. French representatives offered to cooperate with the United States in developing an international agreement on bimetallism if the new tariff rates were reduced. This earned support in the senate from silverite Republicans. Their votes were necessary for passage of the bill. The Senate amended the bill to give France some relief, but it did not reduce the rates on luxury goods. McKinley signed the bill into law and agreed to begin negotiations on an international bimetallism standard.
McKinley pursued a policy of bimetallism, using both gold and silver as monetary standards. The US and France both favored this approach. The sought British support for bimetallism. British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury was interested in the idea. But news of a possible departure from the gold standard did not have sufficient support and Britain rejected the proposal. With the failure to gain international support, McKinley turned away from silver coinage and embraced the gold standard.
In the Republic of Hawaii, the Queen had been overthrown in 1894 when she rejected constitutional limits. Democrats, led by Grover Cleveland, did not want a multiracial possession, but McKinley and the Republicans favored annexation. McKinley came to office as a supporter of annexation, and he lobbied Congress to adopt his position. He realized that there would be difficulty in getting two-thirds of the Senate to approve a treaty of annexation. Instead, McKinley supported the effort of Democratic Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada to accomplish the result by joint resolution of both houses of Congress. The resulting Newlands Resolution was later passed both houses and McKinley signed it into law two years later on July 8, 1898.
The issue that would come to define McKinley's term was the coming war in Cuba. Rebels there had waged an intermittent campaign for freedom from Spanish colonial rule. By 1895, the conflict had expanded to a war for Cuban independence. The United States and Cuba had enjoyed close trade relations, and the Cuban rebellion adversely affected the American economy. As rebellion overtook the island, Spanish reprisals grew harsher. It included the interment of Cuban families to guarded camps near Spanish military bases. The rebels appealed to the sympathy of ordinary Americans and public opinion favored the rebels. American populist sentiment called for war to liberate Cuba, but McKinley favored a peaceful approach. It was his hope that through negotiation, Spain would eventually grant Cuba independence, or at least to allow the Cubans some measure of autonomy. In McKinley's first year in office, the United States and Spain began negotiations regarding Cuba, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence.
McKinley had support for his cautious approach from Wall Street, big business, corporate American and a number of Main Street businesses. After years of severe depression, the economic outlook for the domestic economy was suddenly bright again in 1897. Many feared that the uncertainties of a long expensive war posed serious threat to full economic recovery. McKinley listened to the strong anti-war consensus of the business community. He was all the more resolved to use diplomacy and negotiation rather than force to improve matters in Cuba. But he also faced opposition from those concerned about the inhumane treatment of the Cuban people. Church leaders and activists wrote hundreds of thousands of letters calling for intervention in Cuba.
McKinley's desire to avoid war would eventually be overtaken by war fever in Congress and in the press, especially after an explosion aboard the ship the U.S.S. Maine the following year in February, 1897.