Talk:William McKinley

Semi-protected edit request on 6 June 2021 by “Vick Robertlol”.

Vick Robertlol (talk) 22:04, 6 June 2021 (UTC)My request is to link the second vice-president “Theodore Roosevelt” it should had been linked because there is a wikipedia page about him.Vick Robertlol (talk) 22:04, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

 Not done there are already five links to Theodore Roosevelt in this article. ◎ | melecie | t 23:16, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

Pious vs Devout

The section "Early life and Family" includes the line "He was a lifelong pious Methodist." I think this should say "He was a lifelong devout Methodist." The term "pious" holds a moral/ethical implication, while "devout" is more neutral; devout would more accurately reflect that McKinley was a practicing and dedicated Methodist without introducing a potential value judgement. The source cited (Morgan, pp9-10) argues that McKinley had a "sincere lifelong adherence to Methodism," which is probably more appropriate.

References

Occupation

McKinley was a lawyer and politician. He should be listed in the lead as this. Thomascampbell123 (talk) 22:05, 23 December 2021 (UTC)

The lead mentions his legal career and details his political one.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:17, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

Okay, but I think they should both be included in the first sentence as well because many other articles have that. Thomascampbell123 (talk) 03:21, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

Legal career receives due mention in the lead, as McKinley is not noted for being a lawyer, but as a politician who became president and was assassinated. Drdpw (talk) 04:41, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

How did he have a 14-year presidency?

The Constitution, AFAIK, limits the president to two consecutive terms. That's eight years folks. Is my high school history down the tubes? 23.24.254.114 (talk) 06:46, 21 January 2022 (UTC)

1901 minus 1897 = 4 years, not 14 years. Your history is probably OK. Your math, not so much. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 07:10, 21 January 2022 (UTC)

The Constitution did NOT limit presidential terms until 22nd amendment passed in 1951. So TRoosevelt tried again in 1912 after serving 7 years, and FDRoosevelt did get elected to 3rd and 4th terms in 1940 and 1944. The 22nd amdt did not apply to the incumbent (Truman) and he planned to run again in 1952 until he did poorly in primaries. Rjensen (talk) 07:16, 21 January 2022 (UTC)

Childhood

As a boy, President McKinley was an office and errand boy for Charles Valentine Williams (1820-1904) who was then superintendent of the Old Stone Furnace in New Wilmington PA. I do not have any exact dates. 2601:546:8000:500:75EB:7A06:2DB7:E81A (talk) 12:24, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

We'd need a reliable source, such as a book, on that. It may be too much of a small detail tot include..--Wehwalt (talk) 13:14, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

A biased opinion

While some sections are more clearly nuanced or referencing opinions from the time, it is inappropriate that under legacy and death is the first time we see any hint of criticism towards what is thought of as the start of American empire building. There is also very little focus on why he was assassinated, seemingly writing his assassin off as an 'anarchist.' 69.120.118.5 (talk) 14:07, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

The articles on his life are intended to be about his life, and do not stand in judgment about what he did. The legacy section fulfills that role. As for the assassination, there is a specialized article, Assassination of William McKinley, about that which contains considerably more detail.--Wehwalt (talk) 14:56, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

I think the bulk of the article is acceptable, but the introductory section seems overly flowery, using understated language like "gained control of" to describe blatantly imperialist actions and uncritically accepting framing like "raised protective tariffs to boost American industry and keep wages high". The introduction all-but waxes poetic about his achievements and takes a full 22 sentences to mention any criticism of him. I'm not suggesting that the article be edited to savage him unrelentingly but it seems pretty clearly tilted too far in one direction right now and that should be fixed. I've added the NPOV dispute marker for now. Stuart98 (talk) 07:11, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

I think the lead reflects the current scholarly consensus (which indeed has been generally favorable for decades). "Gained control of" is not "flowery" and summarizes the different ways in which the areas were acquired (which is given in more detail later in the lead). Raised tariffs to help industry and keep wages high is precise. The "Imperialism" theme is not suppressed --it is included in the lead. Stuart98 does not tell us which recent historians he is relying upon--they echo rhetoric of a half-century ago. Rjensen (talk) 10:53, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

I think the lead is fine as it stands. It is difficult to say why Czolgosz did as he did as he was not allowed to say much but the assassination article goes into that. What specifically is being looked for in the lead? Wehwalt (talk) 13:55, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 November 2023

there is a mistake in the biography. Goofball1134 (talk) 19:16, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Cannolis (talk) 19:33, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Last photo source is incorrect

Back in 2012, the last photo was updated with "better scan" (and then in 2016 updated again with some contrast changes). But this is a different photo than the original, in that it crops detail on the right and has new detail on the left, and it does not match the photo that is listed in the source (Andrews, E. Benjamin. History of the United States, volume V. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1912, p. 363). Where is this new photo from? 73.239.241.245 (talk) 06:14, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

grammar/ incomplete sentence?

( 2nd paragraph after infobox: )

"He hoped to persuade Spain to grant independence to rebellious Cuba without conflict, but when negotiation failed, requested and signed Congress's declaration of war to begin the Spanish-American War of 1898, which the United States saw a quick and decisive victory."

in this part: "requested (...) Congress's declaration of war to begin the Spanish-American War of 1898, which the United States saw a quick and decisive victory."

I think either between "1898," and "which (...) saw (...)" or at the end, behind "victory." something is missing, a word like "in" or "at" or the like most probably.

Hopefully a wikipedian who has a user account and can write in this locked article and is sure of the English language will fix it :-)

 Done --R. S. Shaw (talk) 05:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 February 2024

Add “Jr.” to the end of his name at the beginning of the article (Not the articles title). This will bring the article in line with those of other United States Presidents that all begin with the Presidents’ full legal names / birth names. 2600:4040:9565:3500:5D90:8BE0:B344:1D16 (talk) 18:37, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

No. See MOS:JR. While McKinley and others sometimes added the Jr. while his father was alive, he dropped it after that and present-day sources do not generally call him that.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:17, 28 February 2024 (UTC)