Visit the site of the assassination of President William McKinley
President William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States. McKinley was born in Ohio. He would fight for the Union during the Civil War, become a lawyer, Governor of Ohio, and ultimately President of the United States. However, despite such a storied life, McKinley is best known for being assassinated by a gunman in Buffalo, New York.
Today only a small boulder with a plaque in the middle of a neighborhood is all that marks such an important event in history.
Visit the site where President McKinley was assassinated
In 1901, President McKinley was beginning his second term. He had just handily defeated Democratic rival William Jennings Bryan for the second time. On September 6th, 1901, McKinley was glad-handing at the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Little did McKinley, an anarchist bent on the assassination, wait in ambush.
As the President made his rounds, he reached for the hand of Leon Czolgosz, who pulled out a revolver covered in a handkerchief and fired two shots at the President. One round grazed a button on the President’s coat and missed; the other stuck him squarely in the abdomen. The crowd captured the gunman and began beating Czolgosz.
As McKinley slumped to the ground, he said, “Go easy on him, boys.”
McKinley was taken to the Pan-American Hospital, where he was initially operated on by Dr. Mathew Mann. Mann was unable to find the bullet and sewed him back up. His condition initially improved but quickly took a turn for the worse as infection set in. President McKinley died at 2:15 am September 14, 1901. It’s been debated over the years whether McKinley would have survived with better doctors. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President at the Wilcox House in downtown Buffalo shortly afterward. That site is not preserved as Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site.
After the President passed, the assassin, Leon Czolgosz, was charged, trialed, and executed in an electric chair on October 29th, 1901, 45 days after McKinley’s death. Czolgosz’s last words were: “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.”
Today, you can visit the site of an American tragedy, the assassination of President William McKinley. The location has a modest memorial that marks a tremendous moment in history on the quiet residential street at 30 Fordham Dr, Buffalo, New York.
Other things to do in Buffalo.
Hike the Eternal Flame Trail for a truly unique experience.
