McKinley Dies, Roosevelt Rises: Progressive Era Begins
William McKinley died at 2:15 a.m. on September 14, 1901, eight days after being shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Theodore Roosevelt, who had been assured McKinley was recovering, was hiking in the Adirondack Mountains when a messenger arrived with the news. He rode through the night to the nearest train station and was sworn in at the home of his friend Ansley Wilcox in Buffalo later that day. At 42, Roosevelt became the youngest president in American history. His presidency would transform the office: he busted trusts, created national parks, built the Panama Canal, and asserted American power globally. The cautious, business-friendly McKinley era ended with a bullet, and the Progressive Era began.
September 14, 1901
125 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on September 14
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