Buried in the past

Earlier today I visited the McKinley presidential memorial and museum in Canton, Ohio.

Here’s a photo I took:

William McKinley is one of those under-appreciated presidents who does not fit the molds demanded by modern thinking. He believed in racial equality, strong defense, high tariff, and the gold standard. Shot in the gut by an anarchist, his wound — easily survivable today — was fatally compounded by medical ignorance.

A political realist, McKinley was beset by numerous personal tragedies. His wife Ida was plagued by seizures which began after a series of successive family deaths (her mother’s death was followed by the deaths of her two daughters) and her husband was her devoted caretaker until his pointless murder. After his assassination, he was placed in a receiving vault for six years while his memorial tomb was under construction.

Here’s how it looks today:

Loyal to the end, Ida the vault daily until (just six months before her husband’s memorial was completed) she too died. She was then placed in it along with him and placed in the memorial along with their dead daughters.

Here’s the plaque:

I’m no expert on McKinley, but I know tragedy when I see it.

On the bright side, the guy beat “godly hero” (or fundamentalist bigot, depending on your POV) William Jennings Bryan. Twice.

Times change and parties flip-flop, but disagreements remain.