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Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America
When President William McKinley was murdered at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, Americans were bereaved and frightened. Rumor ran A wild-eyed foreign anarchist with an unpronounceable name had killed the commander-in-chief. Eric Rauchway's brilliant Murdering McKinley restages Leon Czolgosz's hastily conducted trial and then traverses America with Dr. Vernon Briggs, a Boston alienist who sets out to discover why Czolgosz rose up to kill his president.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2003
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420 people want to read
About the author
Eric Rauchway
13 books44 followersEric Rauchway is an American historian and professor at the University of California, Davis. Rauchway's scholarship focuses on modern US political, social and economic history, particularly the Progressive Era and the New Deal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
December 23, 2009
This one is a muddle. Overlooking the evident sympathy of the author for a cold blooded killer, we have a narrative that rambles on three fronts. The book does not compelling explain the rise of Progressivism, the presidency of Roosevelt, the medical "investigation" of the assassin, or anything else. Not recommended.
January 14, 2015
A wonderful succinct history of Progressive Era focusing on how the assassination of McKinley shaped Progressivism, Rauchway treats TR more kindly than I've seen him treated in the last few years. I have a love-hate relationship with TR and tend to agree with the author on TR's domestic policies. Now, if heh adn't insisted on that Big Stick and let the Philippines alone. Outside of Jefferson I think TR was our most brilliant president. And like Jefferson he was batshit crazy, too. I knew some f the history of Leon Czolgosz, but was unaware of the Briggs study that Rauchway draws on extensively. Of real interest to me is Rauchway's analysis of TR and Leon. This is a great addition to Progressive Era, anarchist, and crime studies. And, of course, a study in the shaping of political power
March 16, 2020
The central theme of this book is the assassination William McKinley. The author details the events around the shooting,the capture of the assassin, and subsequent trial and execution. The author gives a biography of Czolgosz which is taken mostly from the research done by an alienist named Briggs who was trying to diagnose whether Czolcosz was insane.
However, that story is only a portion of the book’s content. The author describes America at the time period and all the factors working in society. Labor strife,industrialization, immigration, and the rise of the progressive movement are all woven into the book. Add to all these scenarios the rise of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency and how he blended all these strains into a fairly coherent fabric.
A last aspect covered in the book was the development of psychology as a science. Doctors in this field were called alienists at this time. There was controversy over the causes and treatment of insanity. The assassin was studied and his mental condition was argued over whether he was sane or not. This book gives the reader a fascinating picture of this period in history.
However, that story is only a portion of the book’s content. The author describes America at the time period and all the factors working in society. Labor strife,industrialization, immigration, and the rise of the progressive movement are all woven into the book. Add to all these scenarios the rise of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency and how he blended all these strains into a fairly coherent fabric.
A last aspect covered in the book was the development of psychology as a science. Doctors in this field were called alienists at this time. There was controversy over the causes and treatment of insanity. The assassin was studied and his mental condition was argued over whether he was sane or not. This book gives the reader a fascinating picture of this period in history.
March 4, 2024
Mid, read for u.s history
February 15, 2008
This book is more about an Era rather than the crime. Rauchway does talk about the trial and what a sham it was. He discusses the legal definition of insanity and how it effected the trial. But he focuses on the forces that were conferging in that period. Roosevelt's drive for social reform and McKinley's support of big business. There are certain parts of it that are very relivant for today's relationship between big business and congress and the president. Overall, it was interesting but toward the end it got weak from overanalysis. I would recommed this to anyone who is interested in social movements and reform.
March 1, 2008
Whew! Excellent account of McKinley's assassination and the incredible impact it had on American history (since it placed TR in the White House). Amazing story.
May 25, 2023
Eric Rauchway investigates Leon Czolgosz, an American-born. laborer and part-time anarchist, who walked up to William McKinley outside a music venue in Buffalo and shot him once in the chest. One of the president's bodyguards maintained that he looked like an American, so he ignored his approach and kept tabs on a swarthy, large man behind him. The man who was profiled turned out to be the hero of the day, knocking Czolgosz down and disarming him dramatically. Rauchway gives us this detail and few others. He discovers that the 'facts' regarding the assassin, the police investigation which may have involved two torture sessions, the autopsy and the reports of the alienists who examined Czolgosz for mental defect were all placed off limits or lost. Interviews with acquaintances and family members went nowhere. One of his brothers coyly dropped hints, describing Czolgosz as a nervous man concerned about his health. Leon Czolgosz, a slight, gentle dreamer of a man who avoided even the briefest social interaction with women, was according to his brother, increasingly obsessed with illness, particularly syphillis. Thinking he had already contracted the disease, he took medicine that gave him its symptoms, and followed all the rules for avoiding contact with healthy people to prevent spreading the illness. Rauchway implied that Czolgosz was perhaps "inverted" as a possible reason for his extreme avoidance of women. He would cross the street to avoid having to greet a woman, though he had be sexually active in his youth. Several famous alienists became involved after his death, used what records they were given access to, and concluded he was not insane under the McNaughton standard.
The explanation for all this secrecy and unseemly haste was apparently the extreme screwup that surrounded James Garfield's death just 20 years earlier. Also to blame was a fear of anarchists, a disease that made men do odd things. Those of you old enough to remember the hunt for Communists in government during the years after WWII will remember how out of their minds men became in the face of a perceived threat to their well being.
My quibbles with the book involved the light research, which might have been explained and made a feature to prove a few of his points, and the author's tendency to promise as every chapter began, to provide information he did not have. He did not take the opportunity to make clear what part of his story was based on facts discovered during research, and what was an educated guess based on hints gleaned from the evidence available. The book suffered from comparison to a book I had recently finished: a book about Edgar A Poe which dissected his last days meticulously and fairly underlined the possible explanations, next to the reasons the author took a stand on which was the most likely. I thought Murdering McKinley was lacking in most ways, but could have been an interesting essay on the anarchist period in the United States, the way racial attitudes impacted the attitudes of the public, and the way the rules changed overnight as a result of Roosevelt's progressive politics.
The explanation for all this secrecy and unseemly haste was apparently the extreme screwup that surrounded James Garfield's death just 20 years earlier. Also to blame was a fear of anarchists, a disease that made men do odd things. Those of you old enough to remember the hunt for Communists in government during the years after WWII will remember how out of their minds men became in the face of a perceived threat to their well being.
My quibbles with the book involved the light research, which might have been explained and made a feature to prove a few of his points, and the author's tendency to promise as every chapter began, to provide information he did not have. He did not take the opportunity to make clear what part of his story was based on facts discovered during research, and what was an educated guess based on hints gleaned from the evidence available. The book suffered from comparison to a book I had recently finished: a book about Edgar A Poe which dissected his last days meticulously and fairly underlined the possible explanations, next to the reasons the author took a stand on which was the most likely. I thought Murdering McKinley was lacking in most ways, but could have been an interesting essay on the anarchist period in the United States, the way racial attitudes impacted the attitudes of the public, and the way the rules changed overnight as a result of Roosevelt's progressive politics.
April 16, 2025
I recently read The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America and have been thinking about Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism; early 20th century American history has been on my mind. I find reading history to be reassuring; our current times are unprecedented, but looking back, you can see echoes of the past.
Rauchway tells not only the story of William McKinley's assassination by Leon Czolgosz, but also the story of the rise of progressivism at the turn of the 20th century, the story of immigrants and Blacks and unions and the settlement movement and party politics and socialism. He goes through the story of the assassination itself pretty quickly, then delves into McKinley's career, Roosevelt's career, and Czolgosz's life.
I enjoyed learning more about Czolgosz and what led him to the point of assassination; disturbingly, some of it resonated quite a bit: "If he had not drunk so deeply of [America's] promise he could never have fallen so far into disillusionment" (p. 167); "Leon could not understand how everything he had learned--about obedience to God, about equality and democracy in America--had no effect on economic justice in the United States" (p. 168). And how people were sad about McKinley dying, but also "There was a widespread feeling that the bullet had been a long time coming, propelled by irresistible pressures building up in the industrial West, whose workers dreamed of liberation" (p. 173).
And this led to Teddy Roosevelt, who "steadily expanded the definition of national interest to cover the improvement of social welfare, trying to prevent the creation of a class of oppressed and excluded Americans" (p. 202). "If there was any single purpose to progressivism as Roosevelt defined it, it was that Americans must all exercise themselves to the utmost, and sacrifice as need be, to prevent the creation of wounded souls like Czolgosz" (p. 197).
Rauchway tells the story of America at the turn of the century. I ultimately found it encouraging; it encapsulates the two steps forward, one step back progression of history. I just wish that we had a Teddy Roosevelt (minus the imperialist tendencies) in government today who could lead us.
Rauchway tells not only the story of William McKinley's assassination by Leon Czolgosz, but also the story of the rise of progressivism at the turn of the 20th century, the story of immigrants and Blacks and unions and the settlement movement and party politics and socialism. He goes through the story of the assassination itself pretty quickly, then delves into McKinley's career, Roosevelt's career, and Czolgosz's life.
I enjoyed learning more about Czolgosz and what led him to the point of assassination; disturbingly, some of it resonated quite a bit: "If he had not drunk so deeply of [America's] promise he could never have fallen so far into disillusionment" (p. 167); "Leon could not understand how everything he had learned--about obedience to God, about equality and democracy in America--had no effect on economic justice in the United States" (p. 168). And how people were sad about McKinley dying, but also "There was a widespread feeling that the bullet had been a long time coming, propelled by irresistible pressures building up in the industrial West, whose workers dreamed of liberation" (p. 173).
And this led to Teddy Roosevelt, who "steadily expanded the definition of national interest to cover the improvement of social welfare, trying to prevent the creation of a class of oppressed and excluded Americans" (p. 202). "If there was any single purpose to progressivism as Roosevelt defined it, it was that Americans must all exercise themselves to the utmost, and sacrifice as need be, to prevent the creation of wounded souls like Czolgosz" (p. 197).
Rauchway tells the story of America at the turn of the century. I ultimately found it encouraging; it encapsulates the two steps forward, one step back progression of history. I just wish that we had a Teddy Roosevelt (minus the imperialist tendencies) in government today who could lead us.
November 11, 2023
The subtitle is a little misleading - while there is much here about the ways Roosevelt represented progressive interests during his presidency and even more afterwards, the sense I have after the end is that America even then was not easily described as following the patterns of any one leader or even class.
Nonetheless, the book is an absolute gem of historical details. The account of Leon Czolgosz standing in a line of people greeting the president and then shooting McKinley point blank is richer than I could have imagined. There is the secret service agent who skipped studying Czolgosz in favor of watching a "swarthy" gentleman more closely. There is the African-American who actually grabbed Czolgosz immediately after the second shot and thus prevented even more bullets from being fired. There is the fact that the most qualified doctor on the scene capable of treating the man who was shot in the chest happened to be a gynecologist.
Then there are the questions of sanity vs. anarchism. There is the ridiculously speedy trial, the need of the defense attorney to acknowledge he was working under some duress, the medical establishment's inability to find the second bullet in McKinley which led to him dying of poisoning a week later, the need to destroy Czogosz's body after his electrocution (not to mention the brief background on the still recent development of the electric chair in 1901), the research into Czogosz's background, the machinations of Roosevelt in his early days as President, and so much more. Really, almost every couple pages I felt like Johnny Carson saying, "I did not know that."
Rauchway knows how to tell stories and how to make complex disagreements on big subjects feel understandable on human levels. His tale of Czogosz's life intertwined with big picture arguments about the tariff and other political events - just magnificently done.
Nonetheless, the book is an absolute gem of historical details. The account of Leon Czolgosz standing in a line of people greeting the president and then shooting McKinley point blank is richer than I could have imagined. There is the secret service agent who skipped studying Czolgosz in favor of watching a "swarthy" gentleman more closely. There is the African-American who actually grabbed Czolgosz immediately after the second shot and thus prevented even more bullets from being fired. There is the fact that the most qualified doctor on the scene capable of treating the man who was shot in the chest happened to be a gynecologist.
Then there are the questions of sanity vs. anarchism. There is the ridiculously speedy trial, the need of the defense attorney to acknowledge he was working under some duress, the medical establishment's inability to find the second bullet in McKinley which led to him dying of poisoning a week later, the need to destroy Czogosz's body after his electrocution (not to mention the brief background on the still recent development of the electric chair in 1901), the research into Czogosz's background, the machinations of Roosevelt in his early days as President, and so much more. Really, almost every couple pages I felt like Johnny Carson saying, "I did not know that."
Rauchway knows how to tell stories and how to make complex disagreements on big subjects feel understandable on human levels. His tale of Czogosz's life intertwined with big picture arguments about the tariff and other political events - just magnificently done.
February 7, 2025
This book does precisely what the title promises (despite its titular premonition of forthcoming O'Reilly books - this one predates him by decades): it focuses specifically on the circumstances and consequences of the assassination of President McKinley in Buffalo in 1901. In breezy but insightful prose, you will learn who Leon Czolgosz was, what President McKinley did as President that triggered him, and how Czolgosz pulled it off. You will learn about the trial and then execution of Czolgosz. You will learn then how this assassination impacted Roosevelt's Presidency as well as what the assassination pre-empted and prevented from impacting on history. You will also learn briefly what the action enabled by placing Roosevelt in the White House sooner rather than later.
I loved it. I got the detailed version of this assassination rather than the briefer version usually supplied by McKinley or Roosevelt bios so I highly recommend this as the book to read if you want to focus on the morbid details of this assassination as well as who Czolgosz was. It's also relatively brief at 250 pp of main text. Recommended if this interests you and you can find a copy (probably on Amazon as this won't be in your typical bookstore by now - it's from 2004).
Hints about what involved his motivations: anarchy, labor rights, immigration, corporations vs. immigrant labor. Maybe a little insane as well - but that is for you to decide. Easily read over a weekend.
I loved it. I got the detailed version of this assassination rather than the briefer version usually supplied by McKinley or Roosevelt bios so I highly recommend this as the book to read if you want to focus on the morbid details of this assassination as well as who Czolgosz was. It's also relatively brief at 250 pp of main text. Recommended if this interests you and you can find a copy (probably on Amazon as this won't be in your typical bookstore by now - it's from 2004).
Hints about what involved his motivations: anarchy, labor rights, immigration, corporations vs. immigrant labor. Maybe a little insane as well - but that is for you to decide. Easily read over a weekend.
August 25, 2018
According to this author there is a connection between the assassination of President McKinley and the growth of the Progressive movement in politics. His arguments are pretty good but I'm not convinced that Progressivism needed the killing to get going...unless you credit Theodore Roosevelt's powerful personality with this movement. Life for the poor and the newly arrived immigrants was quite a struggle and this struggle demanded the work of progressives and labor unions to set things right, or at least to set things on a path to fairness. There are good sections on Jane Addams and Jacob Riis, two heroes of those times.
February 20, 2021
I liked the concept but found I couldn't focus on it so I returned it after 3 renewals. It ties into my family history. My Italian Grandfather either was in line to shake McKinley's hand in Buffalo in 1901 or was thinking of going or was next in line or was in the building. He was not an anarchist. He laid cement. Grandpa was an imposing figure, big man, smoked cigars, didn't speak English at least not to me and once chased us off the porch thinking we were the neighbor kids that were harassing him. I'm still curious about this era of American history. Makes me curious about Teddy Roosevelt too.
March 3, 2019
Educational look at the murder of president McKinley. It discusses the political beliefs of the time, the killer, Theodore Roosevelt, and a few other people. Their experiences are loosely tied together to provide an interesting look at the time period of 1898 to 1912. Progressive movement based on new psychological research showing environments mold people – activists thought if they could change others’ environment and living conditions they would become better people. Informative, but a little unorganized.
March 21, 2023
This book was issued as reading for my American History Since 1877 class at Grand Valley State University. It dealt lightly with William McKinley, talked extensively about Leon Czolgosz and immigrants, but centered mainly on American History from the 1890s-early 1900s. It is a great book to turn to if you're looking to become educated on day-to-day life for these Americans. My problems arise in the subtitle: this book provides little details on Theodore Roosevelt other than perhaps setting the stage.
January 2, 2021
A very dry, but interesting read, reflecting on a time in the Progressive Era as tumultuous toward immigrants and the low to middle working classes. The author reflects empathy to McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz, a victim of "society punishing the person it created." The book highlights the backgrounds of McKinley and Roosevelt's Presidencies but emphasizes more on the psychology of what made Czolgosz do the evil deed of assassination.
February 26, 2021
listen I didn't technically finish this but I have a burning feeling my issue will still stand. Its my issue with a lot of non-fic and its that this feels far too drawn out. I read 75% of this and all I can say is it was a nice concept to cover, but it could've been half this size. Especially early on, there is just so much wasted page space covering the same points or covering something that could be summarized in far less words.
May 24, 2024
I'm glad I read this book as it helped in my understanding of the transition between the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations. The book goes a lot of different directions but overall it was very solid. The role of psychology in determining if Leon Czolgosz was insane at the time of the assassination was something I had not considered. I was surprised at how much it impacted the evolution of psychology as a science.
September 15, 2024
Fascinating exploration of a contemporary psychologist (then known as an Alienist) researching what happened to create the scenario in which an out of work, native-born citizen might want to shoot a sitting President. The subtitle alludes to the resulting transformation of the American political landscape that happened as a result, a landscape the author suggests may have prevented the murder had the political change taken place earlier.
May 27, 2025
Clear and concise this isn't an exhaustive history of the 1890s and 1900s and nor should it be. The clear examination of the murder of McKinley and the responses to the event across the ideological spectrum provide a nice case study in Gilded Age America. The final chapter's attempts to weave these into the Wilsonian era are somewhat brief but I think this is an excellent piece for anyone doing more general reading about the period.
December 25, 2020
Thorough study that makes for a great read
This is a superbly detailed study of the factors that led up to President McKinley's assassination and its aftermath. In this case study, all aspects of the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century are thoroughly researched and illustrated to make a remarkable reading.
This is a superbly detailed study of the factors that led up to President McKinley's assassination and its aftermath. In this case study, all aspects of the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century are thoroughly researched and illustrated to make a remarkable reading.
September 29, 2020
Have you ever read a 700-page book and thought “Wow! That went fast!” Yea, this is the opposite of that. This book is thin gruel that hangs a paper-thin theory around a murder. It goes off in multiple directions and never really comes together.
January 18, 2025
Well written and very well researched chronology of McKinley’s death and TR’s rise to “fame.” I was surprised to learn the background of McKinley’s killer, anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. This was the beginning of pleading insanity.
December 16, 2018
A very interesting concept that failed to deliver. Not a good book.
January 22, 2020
This is a really excellent book. Taking a little remembered assassination of a forgotten president, Rauchway reveals a complex moment that transformed America.
May 18, 2023
Well written account.
January 2, 2016
Summary of by book by Eric Rauchway
"How an assassin, a dead President, and Theodore Roosevelt defined the Progressive Era. When President McKinley was murdered at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901, Americans were bereaved and frightened. Rumor ran rampant: A wild-eyed foreign anarchist with an unpronounceable name had killed the Commander-in-Chief. Eric Rauchway's brilliant Murdering McKinley re-creates Leon Czolgosz's hastily conducted trial and then traverses America as Dr. Vernon Briggs, a Boston alienist, sets out to discover why Czolgosz rose up to kill his President. While uncovering the answer that eluded Briggs and setting the historical record straight about Czolgosz, Rauchway also provides the finest portrait yet of Theodore Roosevelt at the moment of his sudden ascension to the White House. "- See more at: http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/177827...
From the preface:
"The meaning of a murderer's madness depends on who makes the diagnosis. Lawyers asserting a client's insanity mean to get him off the hook, because by law a madman cannot be held responsible for his actions. Politicians calling murder an act of madness mean they cannot imagine a motive for such a horror--and if they can, they prefer not to discuss it; mad motives can be safely ignored. Doctors finding a murderer mad believe him irresponsible for his actions, but also (in spirit of scientific inquiry) seek to explain how someone could have grown so alienated from civilization that he became a killer. But in all cases--especially when confronting political, symbolic violence--we need murder to mean something so we know what to do about it. If we believe mad killers are born, we resolve to identify and stop them. If we believe mad killers are made, we determine to stop the process of their manufacture, even if it means shouldering some share of the blame for their actions. Most often we act on bits of both beliefs, because in our humble uncertainty of the causes of evil, we hope to prevent further hurt any way we can."
The book goes into history of that era that I was not aware of. For example, I didn't realize that an attempt to assassinate was made on Teddy Roosevelt, the history of definition of insane versus sane, the electric chair, the use of expert witnesses, etc.
While reading the book I struck at how past is the present and the present is the past, except the terms of how present is expressed is different. We have terrorist today the past was filled with anarchists.
Anarchism:
"To most Americans at the turn of the century, anarchism meant the politics of terrorism and violence."
"Reporters and politicians had a habit of referring to anarchism as itself a form of lunacy."
The book presented an debate on use of "expert witnesses" in the trial system and how it was started.
It seemed in the book--that Teddy Roosevelt was never a very "likable" person and a very unlikely person to become president (I'm going on to read the book "River of Doubt" to find out more of Roosevelt.) but I think he has his place in history and at that time pushing the "progressionism" ideals forward.
Pg 40: The book told about the gruesome rise of electrocution for execution.
Dr. Lloyd Vernon Briggs was an interesting man.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/20...
"http://articles.chicagotribune.com/20......"
Dr. Walter Channing was ahead of his time also.
P133 "...When a girl comes back (from college), what can she do? She can teach, but after she's done that she finds that she has reached top, that there is nothing more for her."
"Facing these limits, the highly educated and inventive women alumnae of the late nineteenth century invented a profession of their own: social work." (Further reading Addams and the Hull House)
Further reading: "Looking Backward" by Bellamy
P210 "If progressivism began as a political creation, it became a conviction. A politician in the Roosevelt years might espouse progressive politics to rope disparate constituencies together in a a national coalition (Sounds like the same politics today again only under a different term.), seeking to bind the dissenters of the populist years with the immigrants of the early twentieth century, ..."
"How an assassin, a dead President, and Theodore Roosevelt defined the Progressive Era. When President McKinley was murdered at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901, Americans were bereaved and frightened. Rumor ran rampant: A wild-eyed foreign anarchist with an unpronounceable name had killed the Commander-in-Chief. Eric Rauchway's brilliant Murdering McKinley re-creates Leon Czolgosz's hastily conducted trial and then traverses America as Dr. Vernon Briggs, a Boston alienist, sets out to discover why Czolgosz rose up to kill his President. While uncovering the answer that eluded Briggs and setting the historical record straight about Czolgosz, Rauchway also provides the finest portrait yet of Theodore Roosevelt at the moment of his sudden ascension to the White House. "- See more at: http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/177827...
From the preface:
"The meaning of a murderer's madness depends on who makes the diagnosis. Lawyers asserting a client's insanity mean to get him off the hook, because by law a madman cannot be held responsible for his actions. Politicians calling murder an act of madness mean they cannot imagine a motive for such a horror--and if they can, they prefer not to discuss it; mad motives can be safely ignored. Doctors finding a murderer mad believe him irresponsible for his actions, but also (in spirit of scientific inquiry) seek to explain how someone could have grown so alienated from civilization that he became a killer. But in all cases--especially when confronting political, symbolic violence--we need murder to mean something so we know what to do about it. If we believe mad killers are born, we resolve to identify and stop them. If we believe mad killers are made, we determine to stop the process of their manufacture, even if it means shouldering some share of the blame for their actions. Most often we act on bits of both beliefs, because in our humble uncertainty of the causes of evil, we hope to prevent further hurt any way we can."
The book goes into history of that era that I was not aware of. For example, I didn't realize that an attempt to assassinate was made on Teddy Roosevelt, the history of definition of insane versus sane, the electric chair, the use of expert witnesses, etc.
While reading the book I struck at how past is the present and the present is the past, except the terms of how present is expressed is different. We have terrorist today the past was filled with anarchists.
Anarchism:
"To most Americans at the turn of the century, anarchism meant the politics of terrorism and violence."
"Reporters and politicians had a habit of referring to anarchism as itself a form of lunacy."
The book presented an debate on use of "expert witnesses" in the trial system and how it was started.
It seemed in the book--that Teddy Roosevelt was never a very "likable" person and a very unlikely person to become president (I'm going on to read the book "River of Doubt" to find out more of Roosevelt.) but I think he has his place in history and at that time pushing the "progressionism" ideals forward.
Pg 40: The book told about the gruesome rise of electrocution for execution.
Dr. Lloyd Vernon Briggs was an interesting man.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/20...
"http://articles.chicagotribune.com/20......"
Dr. Walter Channing was ahead of his time also.
P133 "...When a girl comes back (from college), what can she do? She can teach, but after she's done that she finds that she has reached top, that there is nothing more for her."
"Facing these limits, the highly educated and inventive women alumnae of the late nineteenth century invented a profession of their own: social work." (Further reading Addams and the Hull House)
Further reading: "Looking Backward" by Bellamy
P210 "If progressivism began as a political creation, it became a conviction. A politician in the Roosevelt years might espouse progressive politics to rope disparate constituencies together in a a national coalition (Sounds like the same politics today again only under a different term.), seeking to bind the dissenters of the populist years with the immigrants of the early twentieth century, ..."
October 31, 2014
This book could have benefited from a stronger focus, but barring that slight editorial problem, I really, really enjoyed it. I might be biased as this is one of my favorite historical eras to explore, but Rauchway really does some interesting things with the ideas he's working with and you really get a sense of the fundamental shift in thinking of the turn of the century in America.
Rauchway has constructed a picture here in which Czolgosz's bullet kills not only President McKinley, but also the very essence of 19th Century America itself, and in so doing successfully frames the entire Progressive narrative that underwrites Theodore Roosevelt's place in history. The author meanders a bit and sometimes strays far enough from his central point on long diversions of dubious value that you sort of wonder where his editor ran off to, but those digressions don't undermine the piece too much.
Ultimately, if you're like me and you dig in-depth examinations of that drastic shift from Gilded Age to Progressive America, and the larger-than-life personalities that trod the Earth in those world-changing days, you'll probably enjoy "Murdering McKinley."
Rauchway has constructed a picture here in which Czolgosz's bullet kills not only President McKinley, but also the very essence of 19th Century America itself, and in so doing successfully frames the entire Progressive narrative that underwrites Theodore Roosevelt's place in history. The author meanders a bit and sometimes strays far enough from his central point on long diversions of dubious value that you sort of wonder where his editor ran off to, but those digressions don't undermine the piece too much.
Ultimately, if you're like me and you dig in-depth examinations of that drastic shift from Gilded Age to Progressive America, and the larger-than-life personalities that trod the Earth in those world-changing days, you'll probably enjoy "Murdering McKinley."
May 10, 2012
Don't be misled by the title. Murdering McKinley is not a true crime expose. In the hands of this author, the assassination of President McKinley seems almost incidental to the larger picture of forces at play in 1901 and beyond--corporate coddling, progressivism vs. socialism, political smear tactics, criminal psychology, enterprising women becoming social workers, etc. Yet although the author's focus is muddled (I was constantly wondering, "What point is he trying to prove now, and why?"), the book is an engaging read. It's like an anthology of journalism feature articles about domestic issues in U.S. politics of the time led by some colorful political figures.
December 2, 2011
This book purports to be about the assassination of President McKinley at the beginning of the 20th century, but it is more an overall history of the era, with a focus on the laborers and minorities who the Progressive movement sought to help. It is a decent history of the period, but it continually rambles, with the author sometimes spending several chapters talking about something that has nothing to do with the assassination. Also, I found the author's constant excuse making for criminals of the working classes, such as McKinley's assassin, tiresome.
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January 8, 2014Rauchway provides a fairly comprehensive look at the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt and American progressivism at the turn of the 20th century, refining his vision through the prism of William McKinley's assassination in 1901.
McKinley's first and abbreviated second terms are summarized, but Rauchway's primary interest is the society that led to his murder. He presents a wide range of people who had greater of lesser involvement in government, industry, and social movements that brought about the populist
stance Roosevelt became famous for when he ascended to the Presidency.
McKinley's first and abbreviated second terms are summarized, but Rauchway's primary interest is the society that led to his murder. He presents a wide range of people who had greater of lesser involvement in government, industry, and social movements that brought about the populist
stance Roosevelt became famous for when he ascended to the Presidency.
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