The Story of an American (Political) Assassination

President William McKinley’s Death and the Process Against his Assassin

Abstract

Assassinations of American presidents are not a new phenomenon and continue to this day, as evidenced by the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump. To date, four American presidents have been assassinated (1865, 1881, 1901, and 1963). This article looks at the 1901 presidential assassination, when William McKinley was shot by a young American anarchist while shaking hands with the public at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo. Immediate medical surgery was unable to save the president, who died eight days later from his injuries. The perpetrator, Leon F. Czolgosz, was arrested and taken into custody at the scene. Following the news of the president's death, proceedings began on September 16, in which Czolgosz was charged with first degree murder. The trial took place on September 23 and 24. The appointed defense attorneys did little to help the defendant, which is also why the jury returned with a guilty verdict after a very short deliberation, resulting in the judge sentencing Czolgosz to death on September 26. The sentence was carried out a little over a month later, on October 29, 1901, in the electric chair at Auburn State Prison.