PRESIDENT WILLIAM McKINLEY - MILITARY APPOINTMENT SIGNED 12/26/1899 CO-SIGNED BY: LT. GENERAL HENRY C. CORBIN, ELIHU ROOT - HFSID 27412

WILLIAM MCKINLEY, HENRY C. CORBIN, and ELIHU ROOT
Mervyn C. Buckey is appointed a First Lieutenant of Artillery with this signed document
Military Appointment Signed: "William McKinley" as President and "Elihu Root" as Secretary of War. One page, 15x18¾. On vellum. Washington, District of Columbia. December 26, 1899. Appointment of Mervyn C. Buckey as First Lieutenant of Artillery. 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 Commander-in-Chief 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. President McKinley depended on Adjutant General Henry C. Corbin (1842-1909) when it came to military matters. Frequently, it was Corbin who ordered military movements, not Secretary of War Alger. Corbin served as Adjutant General from 1898-1904. The Spanish-American War ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898. By this treaty, Spain freed Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States, receiving $20 million in payment for the Philippines. Elihu Root (1845-1937) first gained notoriety as a top-notch lawyer. Notable clients include William "Boss" Tweed (junior counsel), Andrew Carnegie, eventual President Chester A. Arthur, and Jay Gould. He was named a United States Attorney by former client President Chester A. Arthur and later served as the Secretary of War for President William McKinley and President Theodore Roosevelt from 1899-1904. As Secretary of War, he modernized the armed forces of the United States, particularly the National Guard. Roosevelt appointed him to be Secretary of State following John Hay's death in 1905; he served in that position until 1909. Root was elected to represent New York in the United States Senate for one term, from 1909-1915. As recognition for his arbitration and collaboration skills between multiple international actors, Root was awarded the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize. In 1917, the elderly statesman was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to travel to revolutionary Russia to engage in cooperation talks with the new government. He promoted international arbitration treaties and played an influential role at the Washington Naval Conference (1921-1922). Today, his home in Clinton, New York, stands as a National Historic Landmark. Very heavily creased and wrinkled. Stained and soiled. Heavily toned. Corners and edges worn.