William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901.
Despite his brief tenure in office, McKinley presided over a period of rapid industrial growth and expansion in the United States, ushering in the era of American imperialism and consolidating the country's position as a global power.Born in Niles, Ohio in 1843, McKinley grew up in a working-class family and served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
After the war, he studied law and eventually entered politics, rising through the ranks of the Republican Party to become a congressman and then governor of Ohio.