Mckinley
McivlNLEY
dential canvass of 1896 he remained in Canton
and received between June 19 and November 2
over 750,000 visitors, who journeyed from all
pai'ts of the Union to make liis acquaintance and
listen to informal speeches delivered from his
piazza, Mr. McKinley speaking in this way over
300 different times. He was elected President of
the United States, Nov. 3, 1896, the McKinley
and Hobart electors receiving 7,106,199 votes
to 6,502,685 for the Bryan and Sewall electors,
and the electors of the minority candidates,
Levering and Johnson, Prohibition, receiving
132,000 votes; Palmer and Buckner, National
Democrat, 133,148 votes; Matchett and Maguire,
Social Labor, 36,274 votes, and Bentley and
Southgate, Nationalist, 13,969 votes. William
McKinley was formally announced by the elec-
toral college as the choice of that body for Presi-
dent of the United States by a vote of 271 to 176
for W. J. Bryan, and he was inaugurated March
4, 1897, Chief-Justice Fuller administering the
oath of office. He at once announced his cab-
inet as follows: John Sherman of Ohio, secre-
tary of state; Lyman J . Gage of Illinois, secre-
tary of the treasury; Russell A. Alger of
Michigan, secretary of war; Cornelius N. Bliss
of New York, secretary of the interior; John D.
Long of Massachusetts, secretary of the navy;
James Wilson of Iowa, secretary of agriculture;
James A. Gary of Maryland, postmaster-general,
and Joseph McKenna of California, attorney-
general. On Dec. 17, 1897, Attorney-General
McKenna resigned to accept the position of
associate justice of the U.S. supreme court and
President McKinley appointed John W. Griggs
of New Jersey attorney-general, Jan. 21, 1898.
The administration was represented at foreign
courts as follows: ambassador to Great Britain,
John Hay of Ohio, succeeded in 1899 by Joseph
H. Choate of New York; to France, Horace
Porter of New York; to Austria and Austria-
Hungary, Charlemagne Tower of Pennsylvania,
succeeded in 1899 by Addison C. Harris of In-
diana; U.S. minister to Russia, Ethan A. Hitch-
cock of Missouri, raised to ambassador in 1898
and succeeded in 1899 by Charlemagne Tower;
ambassador to Germany, Andrew D. White of
New York; ambassador to Italy, William F.
Draper of Massachusetts, succeeded in 1901 by
George von L. Meyer of Ma.ssachusetts; ambas-
sador to Spain, Stewart L. Woodford of New
York, who served till official relations were
broken off. April, 1898, and in April, 1899. he
was succeeded by Bellamy Storer of Ohio. The
changes in President McKinley's cabinet were
the resignation of John Sherman from the state
department, April 27, 1898, and the promotion of
William R. Day, assistant secretary of state, wljo
resigned Sept. 16, 1898, and was succeeded by
John Hay, recalled from the court of St. James;
the resignation of Gen. Russell A. Alger from
the war department, Aug. 1, 1899, and the ap-
pointment of Elihu Root of New York as his
successor; the resignation of Cornelius N. Bliss
from the interior department, Dec. 22, 1898, to
be succeeded by Ethan A. Hitchcock, recalled
from St. Petersburg; the resignation of James
A. Gary from the post-office department, April
21, 1898, and the appointment of Charles Emory
Smith of Pennsylvania to that office, and the res-
ignation of John W. Griggs from the office of
attorney-general in March, 1901, to be succeeded
by Philander Chase Knox of Pennsylvania. The
President called an extra session of congress to
assemble March 15, 1897, and the Dingley tariff
bill was passed and became a law by receiving
his signature July 24, 1897. On May 17 he sent
to congress a special message asking for an ap-
propriation for the aid of suffering American
citizens in Cuba and secured $50,000 for that
purpose. The treatment of the Cuban patriots
then struggling for freedom aroused the sym-
pathies of the people of the United States and
the demands of the U.S. minister at Madrid for
more humane treatment were disregarded. The
destruction of the U.S. cruiser Maine in Havana
harbor, Feb. 15, 1898, resulting in the death of
264 U.S. officers and men and in the wounding of
60 others, aggravated the condition of affairs and
on March 8-9, 1898, congress authorized the
raising of two new regiments of artillery; voted
$50,000,000 for national defence, placing the
amount in the hands of the President for/lisi)osal
at his discretion, and authorized the contingent
increase of the army to 100,000 men. On Marcli 23,
1898, the President sent his ultimatum to Spain
respecting the treatment of the Cubans, and on
March 28 he officially reported to congress the
destruction of the U.S. battlesliip Maine. He
advised congress on April 11 not to recognize
the Cuban government, but advocated interven-
tion to put a stop to Spanish cruelt}'. On April
13, 1898, congress gave the President full author-
ity to act in the matter of the difficulties with
Spain, and on April 16 passed a resolution nc-
knowledging Cuban independence. The Presi-
