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4 Questions about the Assassination of President William McKinley
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On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot twice by anarchist Leon Frank Czolgosz at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He was rushed to the hospital where he would die on September 14th.
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What Did McKinley Give Away to a Young Girl Minutes Before Being Shot?
It started when a political opponent made the apparently ill-informed decision to give McKinley a red carnation before a debate. McKinley won the debate and the election, and came to view the flower as his good luck charm. He got a healthy dose of confirmation bias as he kept wearing red carnations and won numerous other elections for the Ohio House, the governorship and, oh yeah, the presidency. After that last election, he stepped up his red carnation addiction, wearing them all the time, keeping a bouquet of them on his desk, and giving them away as gifts. One day, while chatting with the common folk, he decided to give 12-year-old Myrtle Ledger the carnation off his lapel. Minutes after giving away his good luck charm, McKinley was shot.
The red carnation is now the official state flower of Ohio.
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McKinley Died a Couple Weeks before He Was Scheduled to Meet with Casimir Zeglen, a Man Who Wanted to Sell Him What?
Casimir Zeglen was a priest who had figured out a way to weave a steel plate into silk and create a bulletproof vest. He was so confident in his invention that he even agreed to be shot by a gun to prove it worked.
Luckily for him, it did. He reached out to the White House to see if he could get McKinley to try out his invention, and they told him he could show it to the President in a month. Unfortunately for Zeglen and McKinley, the President was shot two weeks later.
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What Invention Was Being Shown at the Exposition That Might Have Helped McKinley's Doctors?
After being shot, McKinley was rushed to the hospital. Doctors had no problem accounting for one bullet, but, despite their best efforts, could not find the other. If you're thinking that back in 1901, X-Ray machines were probably a little hard to come by, you'd be right. But it just so happens that the then-new technology was on display at the very exposition McKinley was attending. One was even sent to his hospital. But doctors never used the new-fangled technology and never found that bullet. However it's worth noting that while it would have helped in the bullet-finding mission, it probably would not have saved McKinley's life.
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The Assassination of McKinley Caused What Shift in the Duties of the Secret Service?
We've all seen The West Wing and Scandal, we know what the Secret Service does. They stand there dressed nicely with telephone chords running to their ears making sure the President doesn't die. But this wasn't always their job description. The Secret Service got its start in 1865 as an organization meant to suppress counterfeit money. But after the assassination of McKinley, Congress gave them a new task: Protecting the President of the United States.
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On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot twice by anarchist Leon Frank Czolgosz at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He was rushed to the hospital where he would die on September 14th.
🇺🇸
What Did McKinley Give Away to a Young Girl Minutes Before Being Shot?
It started when a political opponent made the apparently ill-informed decision to give McKinley a red carnation before a debate. McKinley won the debate and the election, and came to view the flower as his good luck charm. He got a healthy dose of confirmation bias as he kept wearing red carnations and won numerous other elections for the Ohio House, the governorship and, oh yeah, the presidency. After that last election, he stepped up his red carnation addiction, wearing them all the time, keeping a bouquet of them on his desk, and giving them away as gifts. One day, while chatting with the common folk, he decided to give 12-year-old Myrtle Ledger the carnation off his lapel. Minutes after giving away his good luck charm, McKinley was shot.
The red carnation is now the official state flower of Ohio.
🇺🇸
McKinley Died a Couple Weeks before He Was Scheduled to Meet with Casimir Zeglen, a Man Who Wanted to Sell Him What?
Casimir Zeglen was a priest who had figured out a way to weave a steel plate into silk and create a bulletproof vest. He was so confident in his invention that he even agreed to be shot by a gun to prove it worked.
Luckily for him, it did. He reached out to the White House to see if he could get McKinley to try out his invention, and they told him he could show it to the President in a month. Unfortunately for Zeglen and McKinley, the President was shot two weeks later.
🇺🇸
What Invention Was Being Shown at the Exposition That Might Have Helped McKinley's Doctors?
After being shot, McKinley was rushed to the hospital. Doctors had no problem accounting for one bullet, but, despite their best efforts, could not find the other. If you're thinking that back in 1901, X-Ray machines were probably a little hard to come by, you'd be right. But it just so happens that the then-new technology was on display at the very exposition McKinley was attending. One was even sent to his hospital. But doctors never used the new-fangled technology and never found that bullet. However it's worth noting that while it would have helped in the bullet-finding mission, it probably would not have saved McKinley's life.
🇺🇸
The Assassination of McKinley Caused What Shift in the Duties of the Secret Service?
We've all seen The West Wing and Scandal, we know what the Secret Service does. They stand there dressed nicely with telephone chords running to their ears making sure the President doesn't die. But this wasn't always their job description. The Secret Service got its start in 1865 as an organization meant to suppress counterfeit money. But after the assassination of McKinley, Congress gave them a new task: Protecting the President of the United States.
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