PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 01/21/1888 - HFSID 13856

WILLIAM McKINLEY
The Congressman agrees to speak five months before his name is first placed in nomination for President.
Autograph letter signed: "Wm McKinley Jr", 1p, 5x8¾. Washington, D.C., 1888 January 31. On House of Representatives stationery to Mr. Cephar Brainerd, Wormleys Hotel. In full: "If nothing unforeseen occurs to prevent, I will be with you on the 11th. Please send me early as convenient where 'I come in' on the programme." Washington's Wormley Hotel, on the corner of 15th and H Streets, catered to Washington's political elite. It was where Republican and Democratic leaders negotiated a settlement resulting in the election of Hayes in 1876. William McKinley (1843-1901) represented Ohio as a Republican in the U.S. Congress from 1877-1883 and 1885-1891, and he served as Governor of Ohio from 1892-1896. Elected 25th U.S. President in 1896, McKinley was reelected to a second term in 1900 with a larger plurality of votes than any other Chief Executive before him. The U.S. became a world power during his Presidency, winning a war with Spain (1898) and acquiring overseas colonies (Puerto Rico and the Philippines). On September 6, 1901, at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, President McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. He died on September 14, 1901, the third President to be assassinated. Multiple folds. Binding holes on left margin, with tear on bottom hole. Corners worn and creased. Toned. Light surface creases. Faint pencil markings in unknown hand on bottom margin. Soiled on upper edge. Encapsulated. Otherwise, fine condition.