“The Secret Service men are a very small but very necessary thorn in the flesh.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1906
As 1914 came to a close, Edmund Starling arrived at the White House to begin his new position as a Secret Service agent. His new boss, Joseph E. Murphy, sat down with Starling to describe the details of protecting the President, saying, “’If he plays golf, we go along; if he attends the theatre, so do we; if he leaves town, we travel with him…”
Starling even learned about the specifics of rail travel with President Wilson. As Starling recalled later, “every inch of railroad over which the special train was to travel had to be examined…switches were spiked and guarded so that no one could get to them. The crew of the train was specially selected; the engine and coaches were checked and rechecked for mechanical faults; everyone who rode on the train had to be a certified member of the Presidential party, and the Secret Service men had to know him on sight.[1]”
Apparently the artillery had not properly measured their distance to the train track. As soon as they fired, the windows on the side of the first train car were shattered.
George Cortelyou, the President’s personal secretary, rushed to get the shooting to stop. In 1901, presidents did not yet have a permanent Secret Service detail. Cortelyou worried constantly and vocally about President McKinley’s safety.
As Cortelyou motioned for the shooting to cease, the artillery read his motions as an invitation to continue. The entire 21-shot salute was completed to properly welcome McKinley to Buffalo. No one was injured and the President didn’t seem to mind, so the train continued onward[2].
The Secret Service, originally a portion of the Treasury Department meant to investigate counterfeiting, had been experimenting with providing security for the President in the years preceding McKinley’s trip to Buffalo. After all the country had recently witnessed two assassinations, Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881.
By the time of McKinley’s trip to Buffalo, it was clear that the President needed security, but nothing had been codified. This is evident in a new piece from the collections at the Ohio History Connection Archives/Library.This paper would likely have been handed out to organizers of the Pan-American Exposition and members of the President’s party that were involved with his activities on September 5, 1901. The list, compiled by the Exposition, detailed the needs and rules for the day. For example, “Order will be maintained in the government Building by the Government Guard. Marines and Regular soldiers detailed for that purpose. Exposition Guards being stationed on the outside of the various entrances.” To pass these Exposition Guards, the list specifies that an individual must be wearing a badge that marks their involvement.
However these brief security measures are buried in a list that also details music, staffing, and guest-list considerations.
Despite inconsistent security measures, the President was able to enjoy his day. He gave what is now considered one of his best speeches in the morning and enjoyed spectacular fireworks in the evening. With a morning trip planned to Niagara Falls, McKinley was looking forward to continuing his visit on September 6.[4]
McKinley was actually surrounded by a large number of guards as the event began. The Secret Service supplied three agents, the Exposition offered eighteen guards, and the 73rd Seacoast Artillery proffered seven soldiers (no 21-shot salutes were planned, thankfully). [5]
However, as presidential security was not yet a strictly organized system, a few key mistakes were made that evening.[6]
Next in line, behind this suspicious man, was “a rather tall, boy-ish looking fellow…of German-American extraction.” The New York Herald commented that, “his smooth, rather pointed face would not indicate any sinister purpose.[8]”
This man, Leon Czolgosz (going by the name Fred C. Neiman), was a native of Cleveland, Ohio. Czolgosz was a fairly average Midwestern man, however in the last few years his family had begun noticing odd and paranoid behaviors.[9]
Before getting in line to meet President McKinley, Czolgosz concealed a newly purchased gun in his right hand by covering it with a handkerchief. He offered his left hand to McKinley to shake. McKinley was slightly taken aback, but he willingly took Czolgosz’s left hand- he figured the man must have injured his right. Czolgosz grabbed McKinley tightly with his left hand and opened fire on the President with his concealed weapon.[10]
President William McKinley lingered painfully for over a week as doctors attempted to heal his injuries. However on September 14, 1901, the President became the third to die by an assassin’s hand in less than forty years. Czolgosz soon followed, meeting the electric chair for his crimes. While other anarchists were initially questioned, it was determined that Czolgosz acted alone.
Theodore Roosevelt, sworn in as President in Buffalo, New York, upon McKinley’s death, became the first President of the United States to experience full time protection from the Secret Service. [12]
With Czolgosz’s first shot, the days of unattended Presidential walks (McKinley liked to stroll across the White House grounds or through his hometown of Canton) or easily planned public Presidential events were immediately ended. The level of protection expected for the President would only continue to grow. As new agent Edmund Starling was told in 1914, “[The President] can’t order you to go away and leave him alone. That you must never do. His safety is your responsibility.[13]”
[1] Sugrue, Thomas. Starling of the White House: the story of the man whose secret service detail guarded five presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Franklin D. Roosevelt as told to Thomas Sugrue. Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1916.
[2] Pickenpaugh, Roger. McKinley, murder and the Pan-American Exposition: a history of the presidential assassination, September 6, 1901. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016. pg. 192-193.
[3] Pickenpaugh, Roger. McKinley, murder and the Pan-American Exposition: a history of the presidential assassination, September 6, 1901. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Johns, A. Wesley. The man who shot McKinley. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 1970.
[7] Pickenpaugh, Roger. McKinley, murder and the Pan-American Exposition: a history of the presidential assassination, September 6, 1901. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016
[8] New York Herald, September 07, 1901.
[9] Wilson, Antoine. The Assassination of William McKinley. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2002.
[10] Pickenpaugh, Roger. McKinley, murder and the Pan-American Exposition: a history of the presidential assassination, September 6, 1901. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016
[11] New York Herald, September 07, 1901.
[12] Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1964. 1 volume, 888 pages, Appendix 7. https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/appendix7.html
[13] Sugrue, Thomas. Starling of the White House: the story of the man whose secret service detail guarded five presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Franklin D. Roosevelt as told to Thomas Sugrue. Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1916.
