Leon Czolgosz died in an electric chair on October 29, 1901. Flip of the switch, just like that. He had been found guilty of shooting our 25th President, William McKinley. Oodles of witnesses were standing there, watching, as Czolgosz fired two bullets, at close range. McKinley was getting ready to shake the guy’s hand, of all things. But Czolgosz had a gun and fired twice. Just like that.
Most of you probably know that McKinley didn’t die right away either. He was six months into his second term when the attack happened. McKinley was known for being a bit of a security nightmare during his presidency. He just did what he wanted to do most of the time. His hometown was Canton, Ohio. He took frequent walks there, unguarded. He drove around Washington, DC with his wife, Ida Saxton, unattended.
This is the anniversary of the date he was shot, standing there in Buffalo, NY — September 6, 1901. He was at a place called the Temple of Music, on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition. As I mentioned, he was greeting the public, smiling, shaking hands, and such. And then came along Leon with a gun.
The bullet took its time. McKinley died of gangrene on September 14, 1901, nine days later. This — by the way — is a great example for those COVID nay-sayers, the ones who have been giving out the 6% CDC figure lately. “McKinley died of gangrene,” they will say. “Czolgosz’s shooting of him is just the government spreading fake news about assassination attempts.” Just like someone with COVID dying due to complications from diabetes, or heart trouble. Someone give these people a good shaking, will you?
Prior to all of this happening the Secretary to the President — George B. Cortelyou — feared that someone would make an attempt on McKinley’s life during his visit to the Temple of Music. So Secretary Cortelyou took it off the schedule twice. And then McKinley restored it each time.
McKinley should have listened. After the shooting though, it seemed like things were on the upswing, like he was recovering. He started eating broth and toast, and appeared to be getting stronger. But as history has it, McKinley took a turn for the worse on September 13. That gangrene thing. He died early the next morning.
Czolgosz went on trial on September 23, 1901. It wasn’t much of a trial at all. Defense attorney Loran L. Lewis and his co-counsel called no witnesses. Lewis, giving his closing arguments, said that Czolgosz refused to cooperate with them. There was barely any deliberation on the part of the jury. Czolgosz was sentenced to death and executed by electric chair on October 29, 1901. Acid was placed in the casket to dissolve his body, before burial in the prison graveyard.
After McKinley died, his right-hand man and Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt stepped in. Congress passed legislation to officially assign the Secret Service with the responsibility for protecting the president from those days forward, and that how it remains today.
A total of four sitting presidents have been killed. They are Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963). Additionally, two presidents have been injured in attempted assassinations: Theodore Roosevelt (1912; former president at the time) and Ronald Reagan (1981).
I’m not sure what more to say about this, except that it makes me sad. The fact that people resort to violence to resolve anything, is beyond me. We are seeing it daily in the news, this upsurge in violence and hate. Ordinary people have taken to arming themselves to the teeth, in full combat regalia. A dangerous and ridiculous act.
My only recourse is, it seems, is to act peacefully, in all that I do, in my daily track. This day, and every day. And until another way is revealed to me, this is what I will do.
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“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
― E.F. Schumacher
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“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”
― Isaac Asimov
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“Violence is a disease, a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause.”
― Chris Hedges
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