William McKinley in The Spanish-American War

William McKinley in The Spanish-American War

William McKinley (1843–1901) was the 25th President of the United States. 

The Republican candidate for president in 1896, he defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. He was reelected in 1900, but during the first year of his second term, anarchist assassin Leon Czolgosz took McKinley's life.

In April 1898, President William McKinley asked the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war against Spain amidst great public and political pressure. To this day, historians debate whether President McKinley had global expansion in mind when he chose to intervene in the Cuban Revolution.