Talk:William McKinley

Pious vs Devout

The section "Early life and Family" includes the line "He was a lifelong pious Methodist." I think this should say "He was a lifelong devout Methodist." The term "pious" holds a moral/ethical implication, while "devout" is more neutral; devout would more accurately reflect that McKinley was a practicing and dedicated Methodist without introducing a potential value judgement. The source cited (Morgan, pp9-10) argues that McKinley had a "sincere lifelong adherence to Methodism," which is probably more appropriate.

References

Semi-protected edit request on 21 November 2023

there is a mistake in the biography. Goofball1134 (talk) 19:16, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Cannolis (talk) 19:33, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Last photo source is incorrect

Back in 2012, the last photo was updated with "better scan" (and then in 2016 updated again with some contrast changes). But this is a different photo than the original, in that it crops detail on the right and has new detail on the left, and it does not match the photo that is listed in the source (Andrews, E. Benjamin. History of the United States, volume V. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1912, p. 363). Where is this new photo from? 73.239.241.245 (talk) 06:14, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

grammar/ incomplete sentence?

( 2nd paragraph after infobox: )

"He hoped to persuade Spain to grant independence to rebellious Cuba without conflict, but when negotiation failed, requested and signed Congress's declaration of war to begin the Spanish-American War of 1898, which the United States saw a quick and decisive victory."

in this part: "requested (...) Congress's declaration of war to begin the Spanish-American War of 1898, which the United States saw a quick and decisive victory."

I think either between "1898," and "which (...) saw (...)" or at the end, behind "victory." something is missing, a word like "in" or "at" or the like most probably.

Hopefully a wikipedian who has a user account and can write in this locked article and is sure of the English language will fix it :-)

 Done --R. S. Shaw (talk) 05:30, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 February 2024

Add “Jr.” to the end of his name at the beginning of the article (Not the articles title). This will bring the article in line with those of other United States Presidents that all begin with the Presidents’ full legal names / birth names. 2600:4040:9565:3500:5D90:8BE0:B344:1D16 (talk) 18:37, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

No. See MOS:JR. While McKinley and others sometimes added the Jr. while his father was alive, he dropped it after that and present-day sources do not generally call him that.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:17, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 March 2025

Legal career and marriage: paragraph 3, line 5 Change "McKinley's wife" to "Ida Saxton McKinley" She should be referred to by her own name. Using "Ida" may be confused with the subject with the previous sentence. Plant4678 (talk) 16:07, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

Note: Using "McKinley's wife" does not confuse the reader. Using the full name does feel awkward to use here. Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:32, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

"Ida" is used six times in just over a paragraph. Saying "McKinley's wife" is another way of referring to her. Wehwalt (talk) 16:35, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: Closing this request per the above. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 15:37, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

McKinley's historical ranking

Previously, I remember this article stating near the end of the lead section how McKinley is generally ranked as an above average president. Why was that removed? His contemporaries Cleveland, Harrison and Roosevelt still have their rankings mentioned near the end of the lead sections of their articles. EZBird (talk) 18:55, 20 April 2025 (UTC)

Assassin's gun

Wehwalt — I asked 'AI' what type of gun was used to assassinate William Mckinley, and it came back with, 'Iver-Johnson, 32 caliber, nickel plated revolver'. Know of any sources off hand that support that? Neither this article or the Assassination of William McKinley article mention this. Thought you might like to know. — Best, -- Gwillhickers (talk) 01:38, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

I seem to recall the Miller book mentioned it but I'm not certain how detailed they got. I don't have that book anymore. Best, Wehwalt (talk) 01:44, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

McKinley Memorial Baptist Church in Willow Grove, PA

old church that was founded the year after his assassination Jbt40 (talk) 22:15, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

It does not seem significant enough not related to McKinley enough to mention in this article. Wehwalt (talk) 22:19, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 June 2026

In the sidebar the “Succeeded by” line does not direct link to the article on Theodore Roosevelt. It should link to the Theodore Roosevelt article the same way it links in the Vice President section. JagKun (talk) 19:42, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: per MOS:REPEATLINK. Linking it again is unnecessary. Day Creature (talk) 22:52, 18 June 2026 (UTC)