The Inauguration of William McKinley (1897)

Recently I posted early movies of the Inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge from 1925. Then I wondered, what were the FIRST movies ever shot of an American Inauguration?
I found the answer by looking it up in the National Archives: it was President William McKinley on March 4, 1897.
With less than 2 minutes of film footage, here is that historic event from over 110 years ago!
William McKinley, Jr. (January 29, 1843 September 14, 1901) was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected.
By the 1880s, McKinley was a national Republican leader; his signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for prosperity, as typified by his McKinley Tariff of 1890. As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election, he upheld the gold standard, and promoted pluralism among ethnic groups. His campaign introduced new advertising-style campaign techniques that revolutionized campaign practices and beat back the crusading of his arch-rival, William Jennings Bryan. The 1896 election is often considered a realigning election that marked the beginning of the Progressive Era.

President and Mrs. McKinley attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He delivered a speech about his positions on tariffs and foreign trade on September 5, 1901. On the second day, McKinley was at the Temple of Music, greeting the public. Leon Frank Czolgosz waited in line with a pistol in his right hand concealed by a handkerchief. At 4:07 P.M. Czolgosz fired twice at the president. The first bullet grazed the president's shoulder. The second, however, went through McKinley's stomach, pancreas, and kidney, and finally lodged in the muscles of his back. McKinley's doctors believed he would recover, and the President convalesced for more than a week in Buffalo at the home of the exposition's director. On the morning of September 12, he felt strong enough to receive his first food orally since the shooting—toast and a small cup of coffee. However, by afternoon he began to experience discomfort and his condition rapidly worsened. McKinley began to go into shock. At 2:15 A.M. on September 14, 1901, eight days after he was shot, he died from gangrene surrounding his wounds. He was 58. His last words were "It is God's way; His will be done, not ours."

Recorded: March 4, 1897

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Kerry
• Decker
• William
• McKinley
• 1897
• Washington
• DC
• Inauguration
• President
• silent
• movie
• history
• historic

[wkunzelman1]

@Bullocks123 Actually 1901, but close enough.

[CadillacL]

Simply amazing.

[1TakeVlog]

wow mckinley

[Bullocks123]

Amazing looking at a video from 1897!

This is less than 100 years after the death of George Washington. Only 70 years after the death of Adams and Jefferson!

And until about 1997, we really didn't have video footage of the world from 100 years ago.

[klenmn]

Thank you for putting this on.

[jimcooke1]

Thanks for doing this.

[tomitstube]

pretty cool. the footage is amazing.

[jevansturner]

0:09 "Inaugeration" (lol)