September 6, 1901 - President McKinley Shot at Buffalo Fair

NYTimes ^ | September 6, 1901,

[swarthyguy]

On this date in:

1909 American explorer Robert Peary sent word that he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.

1939 South Africa declared war on Germany.

1941 Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear yellow Stars of David.

1966 South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was stabbed to death by a deranged page during a parliamentary session in Cape Town

1970 Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated.

1992 A 35-year-old man who was the recipient of a transplanted baboon liver died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 10 weeks after receiving the organ.

1996 Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles hit his 500th career home run during a game against the Detroit Tigers.

1997 Britain bade farewell to Princess Diana with a funeral service at Westminster Abbey. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey offers prayers for Diana Read the original AP story

1998 Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa died in Tokyo at age 88.

[dighton]

As you said, anarchists ...... well, you know.

[Fearless Flyers]

Is this an example of Media Biased?

I heard no mention of this on the news.

It would be interesting to discover how many news stations mentioned this.

[Swiss]

He was the greatest President of the 20th Century.

Those that followed either expanded government or refused to roll it back to McKinley's size and power of the Federal Government. Starting with that damn cowboy Teddy Roosevelt who started us on the road to Socialism.

[ALASKA]

I'm worried SICK!! Is he OK?

[William McKinley]

Go easy on him, boys.

[William McKinley]

No, I died.

[xp38]

So you can Freep in the afterlife? Cool!

[Neets]

Remember saying this?

"That’s all a man can hope for during his lifetime—to set an example—and when he is dead, to be an inspiration to history."

[William McKinley]

Good-bye—good bye, all. It’s God’s way. His will, not ours, be done. Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee.

[William McKinley]

One of the really sad things is, he was truly a great man, admirable in so many ways.

He should be touted as an inspiration to history.

Yet in many ways, he is a forgotten president.

[nickcarraway]

The president of the United States is shot and it doesn't rate a bigger headline than this? The headline part is relegated to one of six headlines? That seems really strange. What qualifies as big news?

[William McKinley]

I tell ya I get no respect.

The odd thing about it is that McKinley was, at the time, the most popular President in the post civil-war era.

[swarthyguy]

Huh? Looked at the front page; the article takes up half a page.

They were less hysterical in those days, i think and didn't need screaming headlines.

[Dog Gone]

No, I died.

You sure took your sweet time doing it, though. Eight days.

Next time, try to be more dramatic about it, and maybe you'll get your face on the half dollar coin.

[skeeter]

Here's an example of some real reporting. How things have changed at the Times.

[William McKinley]

I wonder how different the world would be if McKinley had not been shot. Teddy Roosevelt may still have been elected in 1904, but would he have not run in 1908 had he not served out the majority of McKinley's second term? I bet he would have.

That would totally changed the dynamic of the 1912 election. Instead of Wilson facing a divided Republican camp, with conservatives staying with the incumbent Taft and the progressives following Roosevelt to a third party, it is likely that there would not have been a third party challenge- either Roosevelt would have run for a third term as a Republican or he wouldn't have run at all. In either case, it is likely we would never have had the disasterous Woodrow Wilson administration during World War I.

And without the way Wilson handled WWI, there may never have been a WWII, never have been a League of Nations (and the subsequent UN).

[Dog Gone]

Yes, it's a very interesting exercise to consider what might have happened if something slightly different had occurred at one point in history.

It's very ironic that an anarchist's bullet probably led to Wilson's ascendancy and the world we have today.

[nickcarraway]

The article itself is fairly long, but look how small the headline is. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that if the president is shot, it will be a banner headline.

[Jonah Hex]

Did Oliver Stone release a movie based on this?

Seriously, though, Akira Kurosawa was a director who is missed. Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune were a great director/actor team!