Mount McKinley National Park: see Denali National Park and Preserve.

McKinley, William, 1843-1901, 25th president of the United States (1897-1901), b. Niles, Ohio. He was educated at Poland (Ohio) Seminary and Allegheny College. After service in the Union army in the Civil War, he returned to Ohio and became a lawyer at Canton. He entered politics and was elected as a Republican to Congress in 1876. As a congressman until 1891 (except for part of one term when his election was declared invalid), he strongly advocated protective tariffs, thus pleasing Ohio industrialists. The highly protective McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 was unpopular and helped to bring about the Republican defeat in 1892. It had already cost McKinley his seat in Congress in the election of 1890, but he had attracted the attention of the powerful capitalist-politician Marcus A. Hanna, who put the force of the efficiently organized Ohio Republican machine behind the ex-congressman. McKinley was elected governor in 1891 and again in 1893.

Two years later Hanna began a skillful and successful preconvention campaign to have McKinley nominated by the Republicans for president in 1896. The Democrats took a radical position and nominated William Jennings Bryan with a platform favoring free silver. Although McKinley had earlier favored bimetallism and voted for the Bland-Allison Act, he accepted a platform endorsing the gold standard, and the issue was squarely joined. Many conservative Democrats viewed their party's stand as reckless, and Hanna's handling of the campaign was a masterpiece of adroitness. Conservatism and McKinley won. The Republicans also had control of Congress, and in 1897 a thoroughgoing Republican tariff was adopted.

Interest then swung to external affairs. There was much sympathy in the United States for the rebels in Cuba, who were seeking independence from Spain. The destruction of the battleship Maine gave the advocates of war a rallying cry, and McKinley made the decision to ask Congress for a declaration of war. The Spanish-American War was brief, and from it the United States emerged a world power. McKinley directed the peace commissioners to demand the Philippine Islands for the United States. This resulted in the unsuccessful and bloody Philippine insurrection (1899-1901) led by Emilio Aguinaldo against U.S. rule. Cuba became a U.S. protectorate. The president also signed the bill to annex Hawaii and supported the Open Door policy in China, thus vigorously advancing the interests of the United States and American commerce. The Currency Act of 1900 consolidated the gold standard policy on which McKinley had been elected in 1896. He was reelected in 1900, but his new administration was short. On Sept. 5, 1901, he addressed the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, N.Y., advocating commercial reciprocity among nations. The next day he was shot down by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, and on Sept. 14 he died. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

McKinley, Mount, peak, 20,320 ft (6,194 m) high, S central Alaska, in the Alaska Range; highest point in North America. Permanent snowfields cover more than half the mountain and feed numerous glaciers. Known locally as Denali ["the Great One"], Mt. McKinley was first scaled successfully by the American explorer Hudson Stuck in 1913. It is included in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Dirksen, Everett McKinley, 1896-1969, American politician, b. Pekin, Ill. A veteran of World War I, he held minor offices in Pekin before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1933-49). As a Republican member of the House, Dirksen was critical of New Deal monetary and fiscal policies but supported President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's foreign policy. Elected to the Senate in 1950 and reelected in 1956, 1962, and 1968, he maintained a generally conservative position on domestic legislation. Elected Republican whip of the Senate in 1957, he became minority leader in 1959. With House minority leader Charles A. Halleck, Dirksen began (1961) to hold weekly televised news conferences to voice Republican opposition to President Kennedy's administration; these came to be known as the Ev and Charlie Shows. In 1964-65, however, he worked to secure passage of the Johnson administration's Civil Rights Bill and Voting Rights Act.

(born Jan. 29, 1843, Niles, Ohio, U.S.—died Sept. 14, 1901, Buffalo, N.Y.) 25th president of the U.S. (1897–1901). He served in the American Civil War as an aide to Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, who later encouraged his political career. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1877–91), where he favoured protective tariffs; he was the principal sponsor of the McKinley Tariff of 1890. With the support of Mark Hanna, he won two terms as governor of Ohio (1892–96). As the Republican presidential candidate in 1896 he decisively defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. In 1897 he signed the Dingley Tariff, the highest protective tariff in American history to that time. In 1898 the USS Maine exploded and sank in the harbour of Havana, Cuba, then a colony of Spain; believing the Spanish responsible, McKinley demanded independence for the island, which Spain refused. The U.S. easily won the brief Spanish-American War. McKinley supported ratification of the peace treaty that ceded the Spanish possessions of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., claiming that the U.S. had an obligation to assume responsibility for “the welfare of an alien people.” Following his inauguration in 1901 he began a speaking tour of the western states, during which he urged control of the trusts and commercial reciprocity to boost foreign trade. On Sept. 6, 1901, he was fatally shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. He was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.

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Athabascan Denali

Highest mountain in North America. Located near the centre of the Alaska Range in south-central Alaska, U.S., and in Denali National Park, it rises to 20,320 ft (6,194 m). The northern peak was first scaled in 1910, and in 1913 Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens ascended the southern peak, the true summit. It was named Densmores Peak in 1889 after a prospector but was renamed in 1896 in honour of Pres. William McKinley.

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(born Jan. 29, 1843, Niles, Ohio, U.S.—died Sept. 14, 1901, Buffalo, N.Y.) 25th president of the U.S. (1897–1901). He served in the American Civil War as an aide to Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, who later encouraged his political career. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1877–91), where he favoured protective tariffs; he was the principal sponsor of the McKinley Tariff of 1890. With the support of Mark Hanna, he won two terms as governor of Ohio (1892–96). As the Republican presidential candidate in 1896 he decisively defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. In 1897 he signed the Dingley Tariff, the highest protective tariff in American history to that time. In 1898 the USS Maine exploded and sank in the harbour of Havana, Cuba, then a colony of Spain; believing the Spanish responsible, McKinley demanded independence for the island, which Spain refused. The U.S. easily won the brief Spanish-American War. McKinley supported ratification of the peace treaty that ceded the Spanish possessions of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., claiming that the U.S. had an obligation to assume responsibility for “the welfare of an alien people.” Following his inauguration in 1901 he began a speaking tour of the western states, during which he urged control of the trusts and commercial reciprocity to boost foreign trade. On Sept. 6, 1901, he was fatally shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. He was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.

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Athabascan Denali

Highest mountain in North America. Located near the centre of the Alaska Range in south-central Alaska, U.S., and in Denali National Park, it rises to 20,320 ft (6,194 m). The northern peak was first scaled in 1910, and in 1913 Hudson Stuck and Harry Karstens ascended the southern peak, the true summit. It was named Densmores Peak in 1889 after a prospector but was renamed in 1896 in honour of Pres. William McKinley.

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(born Jan. 4, 1896, Pekin, Ill., U.S.—died Sept. 7, 1969, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. After serving in World War I, he returned to Illinois to pursue business interests. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1932–48), where he voted against most New Deal measures and remained an isolationist until the U.S. entered World War II. He later served in the U.S. Senate (1950–69), becoming minority leader in 1959. He was noted for his oratorical style. Though a conservative, he helped secure passage of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act.

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(born Jan. 4, 1896, Pekin, Ill., U.S.—died Sept. 7, 1969, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. After serving in World War I, he returned to Illinois to pursue business interests. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1932–48), where he voted against most New Deal measures and remained an isolationist until the U.S. entered World War II. He later served in the U.S. Senate (1950–69), becoming minority leader in 1959. He was noted for his oratorical style. Though a conservative, he helped secure passage of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act.

Learn more about Dirksen, Everett McKinley with a free trial on Britannica.com.