McKINLEY, William (1843-1901). Signature (“William McKinley...

A RARE SURVIVING RELIC FROM THE MCKINLEY ASSASSINATION

McKINLEY, William (1843-1901). Signature (“William McKinley”) cut from a document. N.d. On a small parchment vellum slip (38 x 146 mm), small paperclip stain slightly affecting the “W” in “William”. Accompanied with a TLS from the late President’s Secretary, George B. Cortelyou (1862-1940), 26 May 1902, on official White House letterhead, responding to a request from the House Representative Loren Fletcher regarding acquiring an autograph of McKinley which Cortelyou describes as being “very difficult to obtain”. Also, with a newspaper clipping describing Cortelyou as being overwhelmed by the large number of requests for the autograph of McKinley. On 6 September 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, and was set to greet the public at the Temple of Music but while in a receiving line, was shot twice in the abdomen by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley seemed to be recovering from his wounds, however, he developed gangrene, and succumbed to his injuries on 14 September 1901. The assassination of McKinley led to increased security measures for future U.S. presidents.