Nineteen-year-old William hunkered low in the mule-drawn wagon he drove, to avoid the bullets whizzing over his head.
Once he reached the front lines of his Ohio regiment, William and a few others began serving up tin plates of warm food and cups of hot coffee to the hundreds of soldiers—using the wagon as a shield.
The mission required numerous trips, but William did not stop until everyone had been fed.
No one had told the young commissary sergeant to attempt the undertaking. William took it upon himself, knowing that after three days of heavy fighting and not much breakfast, the men would be exhausted and famished.
His action during this crucial battle at Antietam, Maryland, may have helped turn the tide against the Confederates, who soon retreated back to Virginia.
William continued to distinguish himself as the Civil War wore on, living out his Christian faith with courage, compassion, integrity, and more. He earned the rank of major before General Lee surrendered in April, 1865.
William, 1865
Several years before William had proclaimed at his baptism, “Here I take my stand for life” [1].
Stand he did.
William read the Bible daily, testified to his faith, and lived a moral life. He also sought God’s guidance when making decisions [2].
After the war William returned to Ohio, becoming a lawyer in 1867. He garnered respect as an outstanding prosecuting attorney.
Leaders in the Republican Party noted his intelligence, winning personality, and integrity. They drafted him to run for the U.S. Congress in 1876, and William won. He served fourteen years, distinguishing himself on the Ways and Means Committee [3].
In 1890, however, William’s re-election bid failed due to gerrymandering. His district suddenly included three thousand more Democratic voters. Still, he lost by only three hundred votes.
Some may have thought they’d stymied William’s political career. Instead, he received a promotion, elected as Ohio’s governor in 1891. His success in that position led to an easily-won second term.
In June of 1896, the Republic Convention named William McKinley, Jr. as their presidential candidate. He won the popular vote and the electoral college.
In his first inaugural address, William repeated the oath administered to him. Then he added:
“This is the obligation I have reverently taken before the Lord this day. To keep it will be my single purpose and prayer . . .
“ . . . faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers . . . who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps” [4].
One of McKinley’s most difficult decisions occurred in 1898: what to do about the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Should he:
- Affirm their independence, which would lead to chaos and misrule due to dire instability?
- Allow a European power to take control?
- Or make the Philippines a U. S. Territory to prevent exploitation?
The last option would require financial investment from America, and some Filipinos would certainly resist American-annexation [5].
To a group of church leaders at the White House, McKinley later shared:
“The truth is, I didn’t want the Philippines. I did not know what to do. . . . I sought counsel from all sides—Democrats as well as Republicans—but got little help. . . .
“. . . I walked the floor of the White House night after night . . . and am not ashamed to tell you I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way.”
William explained the Philippines clearly needed help and the United States should “by God’s grace do the very best we could by them as our fellow-men for whom Christ died.
“And then,” William concluded, “I went to bed, and went to sleep and slept soundly [6].
In 1900, McKinley easily won a second term, the first president to do so since Grant in 1872.
But on September 6, 1901, an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, shot the president in the abdomen. Immediately, men nearby wrestled the assailant to the ground.
William instructed, “Don’t let them hurt him.” And then to his secretary, “My wife—be careful how you tell her—oh, be careful” [7].
Even in extreme crisis, William displayed honorable Christian character.
For eight days he lingered; the nation hoped and prayed for recovery. But as William grew increasingly weak, he told his doctors, “It is useless, gentlemen. I think we ought to have a prayer.”
Later the president recited from his favorite hymn, “Nearer My God to Thee.”
And finally William spoke his last words: “Good-bye, good-bye all. It is God’s way. His will, not ours be done” [8].
President McKinley did indeed stand tall on his Christian faith, from the day he first proclaimed it until his dying breath.
[1] https://www.tribtoday.com/news/local-news/2018/11/methodist-faith-affected-mckinleys-life/
[3] https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-life-and-presidency-of-william-mckinley
[4] https://courierheraldtoday.com/william-mckinley-american-patriot-and-man-of-faith/
[5] https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/878
[7] https://gentlereformation.com/2024/02/19/the-last-words-of-william-mckinley/
Additional source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-McKinley
Image credits: http://www.picryl.com; http://www.commons.wikimedia.org; http://www.canva.com; http://www.rawpixel.com (2); http://www.picryl.com (2).
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