December 11

"Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness, and peace to all our neighbors, and like blessings to all peoples and powers of the earth."

William McKinley, 25th President, 1897-1901- from McKinley's last speech given September 5, 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York.McKinley had advocated tariffs to protect and encourage American industry and production. As America began to prosper he now advocated expanding trade between the nations of the American hemisphere. "...A system which provides a mutual exchange of commodities is manifestly essential to the continued and healthful growth of our export trade. We must not repose in fancied security that we can forever sell everything and buy little or nothing...What we produce beyond our domestic consumption must have a vent abroad...(and) the buying will enlarge our sales and productions, and thereby make a greater demand for home labor. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times...Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness, and peace to all our neighbors, and like blessings to all peoples and powers of the earth." -In fact these are the last words of McKinley's last speech before he was shot by an anarchist the following afternoon at a short ten minute reception reception at the exposition. Doctors were unable to find the bullet and it was thought McKinley would recover. However, a week later he took a turn for the worse and died at 2:15 in the morning of September 14, 1901. Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, was sworn into office as the next and youngest President of our nation. The assassin was tried and executed October 29, 1901. McKinley became the third President to have been assassinated.