He was a president for another century, another era of American political infighting.
William McKinley spent a little more than four years in the White House before his assassination in 1901 in Buffalo, N.Y. He is viewed by some as a mediocre chief executive, controlled by his cronies and pressured into war with Spain by imperialistic newspapers of his day.
Supporters say McKinley's subtle brilliance is in the details — a Republican president who made tough decisions in his policy toward China and declared war with Spain over Cuban independence, who sent the United States into a generation as an emerging world power.
The former president lies in the middle of a controversy over a mountain in a place he never visited. On Monday, President Obama officially redesignated Alaska's Mt. McKinley as Denali, the original Native American-inspired name for the tallest mountain in North America.
The change has inspired some to cry foul, especially politicians representing Ohio, McKinley's birth state, with most saying the name-swipe has disrespected America's 25th president.
Starting late Sunday and continuing well into Monday, high-ranking Republicans led by House Speaker John Boehner and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a presidental candidate, voiced their disapproval.
“McKinley served our country with distinction during the Civil War as a member of the Army,” read a statement released by Boehner, who has represented the Cincinnati area for more than two decades.
Denali is a native Koyukon Athabaskan word for “the Great One” or “the High One.” The mountain sits in Denali National Park, so named in 1975.
Lisa Murkowski, the GOP senator for Alaska who campaigned for the change, tweeted Monday that she was “honored” to recognize the mountain as Denali.
For others, the move was tantamount to robbing Gen. George Washington of his obelisk-shaped monument in the nation's capital, or having workers with drills and sandblasters scaling Mount Rushmore to efface the memory of one of the four great men memorialized there.
Rep. Bob Gibbs, another Ohio Republican, said of McKinley's mountain namesake: “This landmark is a testament to his countless years of service to our country.”
