Indiana Bicentennial 7.1: The National Scene (1897 – 1913) (Part One)

In this, the seventh installment of my bicentennial series, we’ll cover the period from 1897 to 1913. The world is really starting to change now. Cars were a recent invention, and this period would see their mass production and the invention of powered flight. The Bell system was growing. In 1892 network stretched from New York to Chicago. Transcontinental telephone service would become a reality by 1915 when, in something of a marketing stunt, Alexander Graham Bell would echo his first telephone call by calling his assistant, Thomas Watson, in San Francisco and repeating his famous line, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.”

William McKinley (1897-1901) –  Since high school (for reasons I can’t recall), in my head, I have always thought of President McKinley as “Big Bill” McKinley. He took office on March 4, 1897. Prior to that, he had been a U.S. Representative and the governor from Ohio. His election to the Presidency is always associated with Mark Hanna (who figures prominently in a way that other political advisers almost never seem to do.) Hanna’s prominence is probably a combination of the fact that he raised record amounts of money and the rise of mass communication. He was effectively lampooned by Homer Davenport in a way that was apparently difficult to do with McKinley himself. The big issue of the campaign was whether to retain the gold standard or not. McKinley’s opponent, William Jennings Bryan, was a very effective speaker and his “Cross of Gold” speech had populist appeal. But, at the end of the day, a populist speaker drawing crowds gave way to money and organization. McKinley won the election comfortably.

One by-product of the relationship with Hanna was a problematic appointment to the Secretary of State position. McKinley appointed Senator John (“brother of William Tecumseh”) Sherman of Ohio to the post in order to open up a Senator’s spot for Mark Hanna. The problem was that Sherman’s mental faculties were in decline. There were rumors prior to Sherman’s appointment, but McKinley declined to believe them. Sherman’s impairment became evident to those in the State department, and he was often by-passed. McKinley also gave into some pressure to appoint one Theodore Roosevelt, head of the New York City Police Commission, to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

In the late 1890s, Cuban rebellion against Spain had turned into a full on war for independence. The American people generally sided with the Cubans, and Spanish methods were apparently becoming unusually harsh. The U.S. attempted to broker negotiations, but the sides’ positions had hardened and they were useless. In January 1898, there were riots in Havana, and McKinley sent the U.S.S. Maine to protect U.S. citizens and property. However, on February 15, 1898, the Maine sank and 266 men were killed. The press and the public wanted blood. This was another instance where mass media seems to have been a new force. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were in a circulation war, and a real war was a good way to sell papers; particularly for newspapermen who were comfortable with stories that had only a nodding acquaintance with the truth.  Hearst is reported to have told a reporter, “you furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” In fact, Congress declared war on April 20, 1898.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt, was instrumental in preparing the Navy for conflict with Spain. On May 1, 1898, far far from Cuba, Commodore George Dewey engaged the Spanish Pacific Squadron and, in one of the most decisive naval battles in history, destroyed the Spanish forces with minimal loss to the Americans. The U.S. ended up taking possession of the Phillippines. In 1901, William Howard Taft would be appointed as Governor General.

Meanwhile, back in the Western Hemisphere, Theodore Roosevelt resigned his position as assistant director of the Navy and joined the Rough Riders, a volunteer unit commanded initially by Col. Leonard Wood. Roosevelt would earn a measure of glory by leading the charge up Kettle Hill in Cuba while taking the San Juan heights. On August 12, 1898, the Spanish Government surrendered to the United States and agreed to an armistice that relinquished their control of Cuba. The armistice also gained the United States the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The United States had acquired an empire. In June 1900, McKinley further exerted a sort of imperial power when he ordered 5,000 troops into Peking, China to assist westerners threatened by the Boxer Rebellion. The United States’ increased interests in the Pacific also led to an increased effort to secure a canal across Central America. After the war with Spain, McKinley had appointed a new Secretary of State, John Hay (a notable individual, born in Salem, Indiana, who got his start as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln). Hay negotiated a treaty with Britain that ultimately paved the way for the Panama Canal.

McKinley was popular in the run up to the 1900 election. His vice president Garret Hobart died in 1899, leaving the position open. Theodore Roosevelt had returned from Cuba covered in glory and won the governor’s position in New York. He was a popular choice for vice-president, but Mark Hanna opposed Roosevelt, regarding him as too impulsive. However, Hanna was undermined by another political boss — Thomas Platt of New York. Platt opposed Roosevelt’s reform agenda and wanted to get him out of New York, sidelining him in the Vice-President’s office. Roosevelt was chosen for the spot and was the active campaigner of the ticket. The Democrats once again chose William Jennings Bryan who, in a time of prosperity and after a popular war, failed to excite the voters. McKinley won handily.

McKinley was inaugurated for his second term on March 4, 1901. On September 6, he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, part of the growing anarchist movement.

Next time: Roosevelt & Taft.