 |
 An
Overview of McKinley's First Administration
William McKinley guided the United
States onto the path toward world leadership.
During his term, American business flourished at
home and abroad, and American soldiers and
sailors won the Spanish-American War. Guam,
Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and
American Samoa all came under the Stars and
Stripes. |
 William
McKinley: A Chronology of His Life and Career
William McKinley's friends
considered him tactful and charming, while others
sometimes regarded him as cold and pompous. He
went to church regularly and lavished great care
and affection upon his invalid wife. |
 The
Spanish-American War marked
the emergence of the United States as a world
power. The war began over the issue of the
liberation of Cuba from Spain, and resulted in
the United States gaining possession of Guam,
Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. |
 George Dewey
won the praise of the nation when his naval fleet
destroyed a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay soon
after outbreak of the Spanish-American War. In
1903 he was made Admiral of the Navy, and remains
the only man after to hold that rank. |
 Pascual Cervera y
Topete was a career officer in the
Spanish Navy when the Spanish-American War broke
out. In July 1898 he tried to run the American
blockade of Santiago Bay, but his entire fleet
was destroyed and he was taken prisoner. |
