Talk:William McKinley

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

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)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 March 2025

Legal career and marriage: paragraph 3, line 5 Change "McKinley's wife" to "Ida Saxton McKinley" She should be referred to by her own name. Using "Ida" may be confused with the subject with the previous sentence. Plant4678 (talk) 16:07, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

Note: Using "McKinley's wife" does not confuse the reader. Using the full name does feel awkward to use here. Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:32, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

"Ida" is used six times in just over a paragraph. Saying "McKinley's wife" is another way of referring to her. Wehwalt (talk) 16:35, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: Closing this request per the above. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 15:37, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

McKinley's historical ranking

Previously, I remember this article stating near the end of the lead section how McKinley is generally ranked as an above average president. Why was that removed? His contemporaries Cleveland, Harrison and Roosevelt still have their rankings mentioned near the end of the lead sections of their articles. EZBird (talk) 18:55, 20 April 2025 (UTC)

Assassin's gun

Wehwalt — I asked 'AI' what type of gun was used to assassinate William Mckinley, and it came back with, 'Iver-Johnson, 32 caliber, nickel plated revolver'. Know of any sources off hand that support that? Neither this article or the Assassination of William McKinley article mention this. Thought you might like to know. — Best, -- Gwillhickers (talk) 01:38, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

I seem to recall the Miller book mentioned it but I'm not certain how detailed they got. I don't have that book anymore. Best, Wehwalt (talk) 01:44, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

McKinley Memorial Baptist Church in Willow Grove, PA

old church that was founded the year after his assassination Jbt40 (talk) 22:15, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

It does not seem significant enough not related to McKinley enough to mention in this article. Wehwalt (talk) 22:19, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 June 2026

In the sidebar the “Succeeded by” line does not direct link to the article on Theodore Roosevelt. It should link to the Theodore Roosevelt article the same way it links in the Vice President section. JagKun (talk) 19:42, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: per MOS:REPEATLINK. Linking it again is unnecessary. Day Creature (talk) 22:52, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Inaccuracy: McKinley isn't "generally" ranked among the middle tier of presidents

In the Historical rankings of presidents of the United States article, it's shown that McKinley is usually ranked in the middle to above-average tier of presidents, peaking at the 11th out of 36 presidents and his second highest being 14 out of 44 presidents. He's also been ranked among the middle tier in APSA's 2025 survey (24th, just below the median) and Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.'s 1962 survey (15, right above the median). However, this means he isn't "generally" a middle-tier president. The opposite mistake is in the page for McKinley's presidency, with it saying he's typically ranked among the upper tier. Worst of all, there are no sources for either. For both pages, I think it's best to say he's ranked as an average to above-average president and cite some of the surveys. IIikewolves (talk) 09:39, 10 September 2026 (UTC)

I think we should remove ranking from the lede altogether. This obsession with medians and quartiles for presidents is a Wikipedia invention, I've never read a biography that quantifies ranking outside of the handful of presidents who are considered the best or the worst. It's not a notable feature to be "average", "middle-tier", or slightly above or below that. Aside from the the general issues with ranking systems, the "survey summary" Wikipedia has compiled and uses in these articles assumes that every survey is equal with no regard to methodology or biases of individual surveys. I T B F 📢 12:10, 10 September 2026 (UTC)

I do not disagree, but perhaps the place to bring this up is Wikipedia Talk:WikiProject Presidents of the United States. Bruce leverett (talk) 14:36, 10 September 2026 (UTC)

I would agree with removing them. Wehwalt (talk) 15:33, 10 September 2026 (UTC)

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

On the page, there was a reference to President McKinley’s membership in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. His membership is unique as he was not initiated as a traditional undergraduate student, but rather he was initiated in the Ohio State capital while serving as governor and meant much to him for if you look closely at the first inauguration picture of McKinley, you will see that he is wearing his fraternity badge on his left lapel.

When I made my original change, I removed the incorrect reference, but then struggled to try to find the chronologically appropriate place for my update because the rest of the bio is appropriately centric to his political life. Then I looked at the first paragraph of his first inauguration.

Without going into all the above detail, I was going to write something like the following, “…on March 4, 1897, as his wife and mother looked on, he took the oath of office while wearing on his left breast lapel the fraternity badge of Sigma Alpha Epsilon where, while serving as governor, he was initiated into the Ohio Sigma chapter (Mount Union).”

When I first did this, I think it was too much for a guarded page and received a warning message that I’m may have been guilty of vandalism, which I hope has since been cleared. But before I try my update again, I would like to get approval. As much as I would like to have the ΣΑΕ reference properly updated, I do not want to be banned. If anyone was in this group can find a better place for me to put this historical tidbit, I am all ears. Finally, I will improve on the sentence if I have given the approval.

Thank you for indulging me in this Request. Historically speaking, he was very proud of his membership in the fraternity and quite frankly we are proud of it too. Behold1856! (talk) 04:22, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

I guess my question is how the proposed addition improves the reader's understanding of McKinley. I am sure it could be adequately sourced, but I don't find it terribly relevant or important to McKinley's career. If there were high quality, independent (of the fraternity) sources that explained the importance of his membership to the career, than I would have no objection to a modest addition. Probably not as long as you propose, though, which takes over a brief description of his first inauguration. Wehwalt (talk) 16:13, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

And if you can refer me to the warning you received, I can advise you regarding it, as an administrator. Leave word on my talk page. In the meantime, I see no reason why your advocacy for your position should be an issue. Wehwalt (talk) 16:19, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. I certainly want to be a good contributor. Behold1856! (talk) 19:18, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

I am not adding anything new. The reference was already there, albeit, incorrectly stated. I goal was to correct it. I do agree that relative to the rest of the president's political life, it has very little significance. But the opportunity to look into a man, who as governor, was initiated in a fraternity in is board room located at the state capital may seem interesting. Couple it with the idea that he wore his fraternity badge to his first inauguration (it can be seen in the photo) tells once more how proud he was to be a member. Generally, this would easily fit into the early years section of his bio but does not fit chronologically.

I also suggest his approval to the ideals of ΣAE may be akin to his wanting to be a free mason. Also, he is ΣAE's sole member. Behold1856! (talk) 19:15, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

I like your idea about not cramming a bunch of info into one small paragraph. perhaps I move it to the section as the governor of Ohio and add something like this:

Fearing that the Ohio governor would emerge as a candidate, Harrison's managers arranged for McKinley to be permanent chairman of the convention in Minneapolis, requiring him to play a public, neutral role. Before leaving for the convention, McKinley was initated on the grounds of the state capital into the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Upon arrival, Hanna established an unofficial McKinley headquarters near the convention hall, though no active effort was made to convert delegates to McKinley's cause. Behold1856! (talk) 19:31, 10 November 2026 (UTC)

I just don't see the relevance. 19th and 20th century politicians were often serial joiners. Unless a third party finds significance in the membership, then what do we really have to tell the reader about it? Wehwalt (talk) 13:57, 11 November 2026 (UTC)