Major McKinley participated in the final act of the great war drama, the grand review in Washington. On his return to Poland, a complimentary dinner was given him by the citizens. He entered the office of Judge Charles E. Glidden, at Youngstown, Ohio. After one year’s study under the preceptorship of Judge Glidden, he went to law school in Albany, N. Y., and in March, 1867, was admitted to the bar at Warren, Ohio.
On the advice of his sister Anna, he decided to settle at Canton, and was elected prosecuting attorney of Stark County in 1869. He was renominated, but missed reëlection by forty-five votes. Resuming his private practice, he soon built up a profitable business. But in all political campaigns he was in constant demand as a speaker.
Mr. McKinley was married to Miss Ida Saxton on January 25, 1871. Miss Saxton’s grandparents were among the founders of Canton nearly a century ago. She was the daughter of a prominent banker, James A. Saxton, and granddaughter of John Saxton, who established a well-known publication, the Canton Repository, during the War of 1812.
Miss Ida Saxton was born in June of 1847. As a girl she was extremely pretty, lively, and popular. While completing her education she also participated in the various activities of her time for soldier relief. Her father undertook the supervision of her training and education, and as soon as her graduation closed her studies at a seminary in Media, he resolved she should be properly trained in practical business, especially as she would have a little property left her. Consequently, she served as his assistant in the bank with which he was associated.
When about nineteen, and when she had been in the bank about three years, her father died. His loss was such a shock that she was threatened with serious illness, and her older sister, with whom she lived, persuaded her to travel abroad.
After her return to Canton came the romance of her life with the young lawyer who had just been elected prosecuting attorney of Stark County. Like the Harrisons, they started their married life in a boarding house, but only until their own little home was ready. Here their first child, Katie, was born, late in December of 1871. This little one lived to be three years old. Another little daughter, named Ida for the young mother, also died in infancy. Added to the grief of losing her children, she had the additional sorrow of her mother’s death. Altogether, the shock proved too much for her reserve force. From the time she was sixteen, ill health had threatened, and the poignant grief for her loved ones made her an invalid.
Mr. McKinley was first nominated for Congress in 1876, and elected. During the progress of this canvass, he visited the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia and was introduced by James G. Blaine to a great audience which he completely captivated.
He entered Congress while his old colonel, Hayes, was President, and the friendship gave him at the start an influence which might have taken a much longer time to win under other circumstances. His power as a speaker brought him distinction, and his ability as a worker in committees was soon recognized. He was reëlected to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses. During his whole career in Congress, Mr. McKinley was a consistent advocate of a protective tariff.
It was in the Fifty-first Congress that McKinley’s great political opportunity came. He was a leading candidate for the speakership with Thomas B. Reed. Reed was elected. The chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee fell to McKinley. On April 6, 1890, he introduced the tariff measure which has since borne his name. The bill became a law on October 6, 1890. During all of the struggle while the bill was pending, McKinley displayed qualities of leadership of the highest order. Before the next election came around, his district had been gerrymandered against him, the adverse majority being fully 3,000. McKinley was defeated by 300 votes. His defeat really made him Governor of Ohio. His victory over Governor Campbell, the Democratic candidate for reëlection, was decisive.
He was the presiding officer of the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis in 1892, when the attempt was made to stampede the delegates for him. It was a most trying situation, but he bore himself with coolness and decision. When Ohio recorded two votes for him, he challenged the vote so as to put himself on record for Harrison. When the roll call was complete, Harrison received 535 votes, Blaine 182, McKinley 182, and Reed 4. Leaving the chair, Mr. McKinley mounted a seat in the Ohio delegation and moved to make the nomination of Harrison unanimous. Governor McKinley’s campaign tour through the West for Harrison was one of the marvels of the time. He made 325 speeches in 300 different towns. For more than eight weeks he averaged more than seven speeches a day. He travelled over sixteen thousand miles and addressed more than two million people.