William McKinley

1843--1901

Presidency
From the beginning of his administration, President McKinley was concerned about the Cuban insurrection. On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine was sunk on an official visit to Havana. President McKinley attempted to prevent war and endeavored to persuade the Spanish government to adopt a conciliatory policy with the Cuban insurrectionists. The Spanish government yielded too late to restrain the popular demand in the United States for intervention. On April 20, Congress adopted a resolution declaring war against Spain. A peace protocol ended hostilities on August 12, 1898. Under the peace treaty signed at Paris on December 10, 1898, Spain relinquished title to Cuba, and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Phillippines to the United States.

Following the acquisition of these possessions, McKinley questioned whether the Constitution applied to them as it did to the continental United States. He accepted the view of Congress that since they lay outside the free trade area of the United States and were not incorporated territories, the provisions of the Constitution did not apply to them.

In 1900, McKinley was re-elected President. During his second term, he was gratified by the Supreme Court's decisons confirming the administration's limited application of the Constitution to these insular possessions, such as in Balzac v. Porto Rico. McKinley did not complete his second term because he was shot by an anarchist on September 6, 1901. He died shortly thereafter, on September 14, 1901, from complications related to the gunshot wound.

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