In the Days of McKinley

Rating:
Summary: Warning! Not a true biography....
Review: Less than 50 pages are dedicated to Mckinley's childhood, schooling, Civil War days, and his rise in Ohio from a struggling attorney to a Congressman then state gov. The remaining 550 pages deal with the detailed issues of his presidency and some portions (such as several long chapters about Cuba & the Philippines) do not even mention him. Fortunately, his presidency with the various wars, his wife's condition, thru his assination makes this detailed account worthwhile. However, if you are like me & find the struggles of the person before the presidency (especially those with war experience) interesting, you will be somewhat dissappointed in the lack of info. here.

Rating:
Summary: Warning! Not a true biography....
Review: Less than 50 pages are dedicated to Mckinley's childhood, schooling, Civil War days, and his rise in Ohio from a struggling attorney to a Congressman then state gov. The remaining 550 pages deal with the detailed issues of his presidency and some portions (such as several long chapters about Cuba & the Philippines) do not even mention him. Fortunately, his presidency with the various wars, his wife's condition, thru his assination makes this detailed account worthwhile. However, if you are like me & find the struggles of the person before the presidency (especially those with war experience) interesting, you will be somewhat dissappointed in the lack of info. here.

Rating:
Summary: The life & times of William McKinley
Review: Like him or not, Margaret Leech's Pulitzer-winning biography of William McKinley is an excellent overall view of the life and times of the 25th President of the United States.

Her style is engrossing, even when her subject is not. It's a fascinating look at the United States at the turn of the previous century, a nation on the verge of becoming a world power.