William McKinley

1843 – 1901

William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. He led the United States into the 1898 Spanish–American War on the contested pretext of the explosion of the USS Maine, and the resulting peace settlement gave the U.S. control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, in addition to the simultaneous annexation of Hawaii. The subsequent Philippine–American War to suppress Filipino independence killed an estimated 200,000 to 750,000 Filipino civilians and inaugurated formal U.S. overseas empire.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM