The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller

Oct 31, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Scott Miller used the assassination of President William McKinley as the centering point of this historical overview of the events at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century that brought America forward as a world power. This book came out almost at the same time as Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, a book about the Garfield assassination, and both books are not only highly readable, but do an excellent job of describing...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: want to know how "America, F*CK YEAH!" got started?

Recommended to Karla (Mossy Love Grotto) by: Kerrie

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime, politics, political-figures-and-wives, war-spanish-american, eras-gilded-age-to-1900, 4-stars

A very readable popular history of the beginnings of American imperialism as we know it today, linked to McKinley's assassination. Prior to reading this, I had known that there were many cycles of boom and bust in the Gilded Age, but I'd had no idea that it was due in no small part to full-throttle production. According to the wisdom of the times, it was cheaper to produce more with smaller profits than tailor output to fit demand and make larger profits. Therefore, by the time the mid 1890s rol...more A very readable popular history of the beginnings of American imperialism as we know it today, linked to McKinley's assassination. Prior to reading this, I had known that there were many cycles of boom and bust in the Gilded Age, but I'd had no idea that it was due in no small part to full-throttle production. According to the wisdom of the times, it was cheaper to produce more with smaller profits than tailor output to fit demand and make larger profits. Therefore, by the time the mid 1890s rolled around, supply had completely outstripped demand within the U.S. and NEW MARKETS were required to prevent another, and possibly worse, financial panic. Asia was a natural land of opportunity, and there needed to be a few stops along the way, so that's where Hawaii and Guam came in. And of course, we invaded Cuba for "humanitarian reasons" after a trumped-up pretext that gave the American public a raging war boner, and then we didn't leave for decades. (Hmmm....so familiar.....)

I do so wish I'd learned this stuff in school because later American imperial grabs and wars of aggression in the past 60 years would have made so much more sense if I'd been able to see it all in a larger context. But better late than never.

While the frequent asides into the evolution of anarchy in the U.S. tended to make the McKinley/Imperialism narrative threads lose steam, it was entirely relevant with regards to the plight of the worker and their role as disposable cogs in the supply & demand machine. I'd only vaguely heard of Emma Goldman before, but had been left with the impression that she was formidable. This book didn't make her seem so compelling as a force of change or influence (though the author insists she was beautiful which, given the pictures included in the book, would probably take some IMAX beer goggles to make me agree with that assertion). At any rate, I began to think that she came off as a bit of a crank, a female Don Quixote. Oh well, I'm not that interested in her to read more and find out about the real Emma Goldman.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot about the politics and policy in an era that seems to be inexplicably ignored in high school history class. From the garbled and brief factoids in my history book, I'm surprised that I didn't end up forming a vague thought that it was John Philip Sousa who shouted "Remember the Maine!" before he shot a guy and Teddy Roosevelt became president. :P(less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Arminius rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

The President and the Assassin is a great book about an underappreciated President and a relatively unknown assassin. The author goes back and forth between President McKinley and his assassin Leon Czolgosz.

I will start with President McKinley’s great accomplishments. First, exports nearly doubled going from $833 million in 1896 (when McKinley took office) to 1.5 billion when he was unfortunately murdered.
Workers wages increased, cotton, wheat and corn prices climbed and inventions for convenien...more The President and the Assassin is a great book about an underappreciated President and a relatively unknown assassin. The author goes back and forth between President McKinley and his assassin Leon Czolgosz.

I will start with President McKinley’s great accomplishments. First, exports nearly doubled going from $833 million in 1896 (when McKinley took office) to 1.5 billion when he was unfortunately murdered.
Workers wages increased, cotton, wheat and corn prices climbed and inventions for convenience and pleasure increased as well. Kodak Camera and Hoover vacuum machines for example began. Electricity became common and cars had just started providing transportation.
Medical advances also occurred at a rapid rate. For example, Dr. Walter Reed had proved that mosquitoes caused yellow fever during McKinley’s reign as President.
New York had become the world’s Center of finance. The Park Row building in New York was the highest building in the world.
Hawaii became a state, Guam and Puerto Rico had become U.S. protectorates as a result of the decisive victory for America in the Spanish American war and brilliant power diplomacy employed by the President.

Leon Czolgoszi, on the other hand, was a very smart, reserved and introverted hard working individual. However, when the Depression of 1893 left him unemployed his vision of capitalism collapsed as well. He was prone to read inflammatory anarchist literature. He also became a follower of the brilliant anarchist linguistic Emma Goldman. Anarchists had a large following in the late 19th Century. They were, somewhat, the predecessor enemy to the government as the communists would be in the 1940’s. However, communists generally tried to change people’s minds while Anarchists looked to kill political and business leaders as a goal to self government. Many laws were passed to curb anarchism. Also anarchist communities were set up in places like New York but they always failed.

Czolgosz took it upon himself to rid the world of the American president and bought a .32 caliber revolver to accomplish this. When Czolgosz found out that McKinley was attending the Pan American Expeditions in Buffalo, NY he showed up with his weapon. When the President reached out to shake his hand Czolgosz fired 2 shots. Czolgosz was immediately tackled and beaten. McKinley while bleeding profusely ordered them to stop. The President died a few days later. Czolgosz was later executed.
(less)

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Feb 09, 2013 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My junior high history teacher — going back to the mid 1960s — told me to read this book during a phone conversation we had several months ago. I’m glad I did my assignment.

“The President and the Assassin” started slowly. I didn’t think, early on, that I would finish it. About a third into to it, though, my interest picked up. At the halfway mark, I was hooked.

Scott Miller provides the reader with a dose of late 19th and early 20th century politics, an overview of the rise of anarchism in Europe...more My junior high history teacher — going back to the mid 1960s — told me to read this book during a phone conversation we had several months ago. I’m glad I did my assignment.

“The President and the Assassin” started slowly. I didn’t think, early on, that I would finish it. About a third into to it, though, my interest picked up. At the halfway mark, I was hooked.

Scott Miller provides the reader with a dose of late 19th and early 20th century politics, an overview of the rise of anarchism in Europe and North America, an accounting of the U.S.S. Maine sunk in Havana’s harbor, America’s subsequent war with Spain, a profile of McKinley’s killer and a summary of the implications of everything that occurred — what happened to the anarchist movement, and how the politics behind the Spanish-American War carried over into troubles in Asia and into World War II.

The assassination is introduced in the first chapter. As a reader, I said, Huh? Then Miller divides the rest of the book into parallel worlds, in a way. We learn about the leaders of anarchism in the United States and about a simple worker, but socially challenged Leon Czolgosz, aka Fred Nieman, who toys with anarchism but is more a drifter looking for something.

What really struck me was the presentation of the Spanish-American War, which I admittedly didn’t know a lot about, other than the yellow journalism that stirred public opinion toward the demand for war. President McKinley’s handling, as laid out here, shows a leader who wanted facts and sought a diplomatic solution — before slowly coming to the realization that the U.S. could not only rid Cuba of the Spanish but also claim Puerto Rico and begin building a sea bridge to open trade with China.

The reader is taken into depth through the war in Cuba, the taking of the Philippines and Guam, and the annexation of Hawaii. McKinley entered the White House as a politician wanting to continue and expand what was then highly successful economic times — which were being built on the back of poorly paid and often-abused workers. Expanding America’s reach, pursuing an almost colonial building attitude, is shown to be his way of expanding American markets, in which manufacturers were overproducing because they, well simply put, could.

I learned more about our “take over” of the Philippines than in any previous classroom or textbook discussions. I particularly enjoyed the way the U.S. military finally found a way to capture the last major anti-American Filipino rebel by way of trickery. Meanwhile, overtures by the world to tap China’s potential markets are detailed, as is the Boxer Rebellion, and how it was put down by international forces, which included the U.S. in what then was an unheard of role.

Readers get a long look at Czolgosz, the emerging assassin, through the eyes of his own family, the anarchist acquaintances he made and alienated, and others along the way. Was he mentally unstable? Was he mired in deep depression? Did he have a personality defect? After the assassination, a lot of effort was made by most leaders of the anarchy movement to distance themselves from Czolgosz. Did he help or hurt the cause becomes a debatable question.

The book builds until the collision of assassin and president in Buffalo. Like a good movie that starts with a snippet of the end, then rolls from the beginning, you find yourself in the room when opportunity presents itself to the assassin. Readers then learn of the medical efforts made to save the president. What went wrong in the treatment McKinley received is examined. And we, as readers, are taken into the death chamber, where Czolgosz in executed in the electric chair.

The book was an eye-opener for me. The 1890s and early years of the 20th century were pretty amazing growth years — the U.S. economy, U.S. political power at home and emerging internationally, the rise of Germany, abuses by growing and powerful corporations, assassinations in Spain and Italy. And I even learned that McKinley was the first president to ride in a engine-powered automobile; he was picked up by a friend, who, with McKinley aboard had to swerve to miss hitting a bicyclist.

Now, at age 58, I find myself prepping to present an oral report of my take on Miller’s book. Wish me luck.(less)

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Sep 03, 2012 Jim Gallen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The President and the Assassin" tells the parallel stories of President William McKinley who was leading the United States to threshold of the American Century and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist drifter who would gun him down in Buffalo. More than the stories of two people, it is the stories of movements that were pulling America in opposite directions.

The focus on McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt brings up much that is found in other volumes with an emphasis on the governing class' fear and conce...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amer-culture, history

Enjoyable history of the McKinley assassination from a broader perspective, with information about McKinley's push for empire, wars/territory wrangling in the Philippines and Guam as pawns for the real prize, Cuba, as well as background on anarchism and a bit of Leon Czolgosz's life and the anarchist espousal of terrorism (well, some anarchists' espousal, anyway). Slightly bothersome were the occasional offhand conservate assumptions (the author apparently writes for the WSJ, maybe he didn't not...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Alfredo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book by Scott Miller takes us into a journey to the times surrounding the assassination of president McKinley; rather than focus specifically on the assassination, which receives only cursory coverage, the author focuses on the political and social times with special emphasis on the rise of American overseas imperialism and anarchy in the USA.

We follow varied characters in different times as the main storyline builds onto the fateful shooting in Buffalo New York in September 1901.

I found th...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Matthew Hunter rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

Absolutely fantastic! Miller tells the parallel stories of President McKinley and his anarchist assassin Leon Czolgosz. Teddy Roosevelt, Emma Goldman, Andrew Carnegie, Johann Most, William Jennings Bryan and many other important figures make appearances in this drama. Throughout my reading of the book, I was struck by how little I knew about turn of the century America and the McKinley presidency. Why is that? The Spanish-American War, occupations of the Phillipines, Guam, Cuba, the dawn of US i...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Jay Connor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This must be my week for late 1800's intrigue. I just reviewed Candice Millard's strong "The Destiny of the Republic" about the events surrounding the murder of James Garfield and now I turn to Scott Miller's "The President and the Assassin" which travels not too dissimilar ground in the assassin of Wm. McKinley.

Millard tells the better story, but Miller had the better material. History, to have impact, needs theater and relevance in its telling, and our great historians (Shelby Foote, David Mc...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Andi Marquette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-stuff

I've been really into Gilded Age and early Progressive Era history lately, as I said elsewhere, because of what I consider some parallels between political and social situations then and now.

I didn't know much about President McKinley or the assassin who shot him in September, 1901 (McKinley would die a week after the event), but author Scott Miller sure did enlighten me about that. He's a former Wall Street Journal and Reuters correspondent, so you can be sure that he tells a good story with a...more I've been really into Gilded Age and early Progressive Era history lately, as I said elsewhere, because of what I consider some parallels between political and social situations then and now.

I didn't know much about President McKinley or the assassin who shot him in September, 1901 (McKinley would die a week after the event), but author Scott Miller sure did enlighten me about that. He's a former Wall Street Journal and Reuters correspondent, so you can be sure that he tells a good story with a tight narrative.

This isn't just a story about McKinley's death, or about the man who shot him (Leon Czolgosz). It's about the unrest of an era, shifts in ideologies, America's controversial domestic and foreign policy and McKinley's role in it. It's also about the American anarchist movement, as exemplified by people like Albert Parsons and Emma Goldman (both of whom Miller addresses at length here). What I found fascinating about Czolgosz is the way Miller portrayed him. Most history text books state that he was an anarchist, but you don't really know what that means or how he exemplified it. From Miller's description, Czolgosz struck me as more of a lost soul who may have suffered from some kind of social anxiety disorder and ended up gravitating to radical thought because it made him feel somehow "useful" or "worthwhile."

So I'm not sure -- given Miller's work and the sources he used -- that we could definitively say that Czolgosz was a true anarchist like, say, Goldman was. Regardless, Czolgosz got it in his head that in order to advance the anarchist cause, he needed to kill the president, and he got that idea from one of Goldman's speeches (so no, she's not off the hook entirely, either).

This is thus a story of American empire, the man at the head of the ship of state, and how one other man would become inextricably linked to him through an act of violence. It's a story set on several stages, but Miller's characterizations are strong enough to keep people turning the pages and getting a sense of people long gone and how they reacted to domestic and world events.(less)

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Sep 17, 2011 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was amazing if only for the fact that I learned so much about the US and their foreign policies of the early 1900's. The story of our involvement with Hawaii, Guam, Cuba and the Philippines is all in there. Amazing what just one president did.

It is also the story of the assassin that killed him and I think the author did an amazing job going back and forth between the two stories and keeping us interested in what what going on with both men.

Finally, I was shocked at how similar things...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Sally rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, politics, non-fiction, borrowed-from-library

Since I live near Buffalo and had recently visited the Roosevelt inauguration site, I jumped at the opportunity to borrow and read this book. I knew a small amount about McKinley's assassination, that it happened at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and was carried out by anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. This book details the lives of McKinley and Czolgosz until their paths met on September 06, 1911. They came from very different backgrounds and while McKinley headed a country on its path to gobal...more Since I live near Buffalo and had recently visited the Roosevelt inauguration site, I jumped at the opportunity to borrow and read this book. I knew a small amount about McKinley's assassination, that it happened at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and was carried out by anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. This book details the lives of McKinley and Czolgosz until their paths met on September 06, 1911. They came from very different backgrounds and while McKinley headed a country on its path to gobal domination, Czolgosz was a drifter looking for something in which he could believe. This book tells us that he found that something in a speech of Russian anarchist Emma Goldman, but I'm still undecided as to whether or not Czolgosz wholeheartedly embraced the cause.

The President and the Assassin is very detailed and I frequently headed online to learn more about the people and situations in it. I think I learned more about the anarchist cause than I'd ever had reason to before, including the attempted murder of Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick by an associate of Goldman's. I also came to understand how America became involved in Cuba, the Philippines, and Guam with the Spanish-American War.

The downside to this book - and the reason I only give it three stars - is that the two timelines do not run parallel. The 34 chapters alternate between McKinley (and US actions) and Czolgosz (and other anarchists) but go back and forth in time. For example, chapter 10 looks at the sinking of the USS Maine on 15 February 1898, but chapter 11 takes the reader back to the Haymarket riot of 04 May 1896. As a result, the narrative is disjointed.

The only structure remaining in Buffalo connected to McKinley's assassination is the building where his Vice-President, Theodore Roosevelt, took the oath of office. The Pan-Am Expo had an amazing layout, but the buildings never intended to be permanent and were torn down after the fair ended. A plaque on a residential street now marks the location of the shooting. The Milburn House, where McKinley died, was demolished in 1956 to make way for a high school parking lot.(less)

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Aug 17, 2011 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways

I entered the giveaway for this book because I realized it covers a period in history that I didn't know much about. There is a profound gap in my reading between the Civil War (of interest because three of my grandparents served) and WW II (of personal interest and a basis for my Master's thesis). In addition, my father and his five siblings were born between 1897 and 1906. I wanted to learn about the times of their parents and into which they were born.
So far this book is more than fulfulling...more I entered the giveaway for this book because I realized it covers a period in history that I didn't know much about. There is a profound gap in my reading between the Civil War (of interest because three of my grandparents served) and WW II (of personal interest and a basis for my Master's thesis). In addition, my father and his five siblings were born between 1897 and 1906. I wanted to learn about the times of their parents and into which they were born.
So far this book is more than fulfulling my expectations.
Its premise is the assassination of President McKinley and the fatal intersection of his life with the anarchist assassin. But it tells the tale by setting the lives of each in the context of their times. Fascinating.
Just a few of the things I have gleaned so far mostly concern the Industrial Revolution and how it was vastly different here than in other countries. As one British journalist put it Europeans might have a "fitment" in their homes or offices that served them very well. If someone came along with a product that was just a little bit better the European would consider him a "nuisance." Americans, on the other hand, would immediately throw out the old and adopt the new.
American Patents in 1871 totaled 12,688. In 1896 - 72,470.
Consider just these few products that were in use by the 1890s: Cream of Wheat, Kellogg's Shredded Wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Juicy Fruit gum, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Coca-Cola, Quaker Oats.
Advertising: H.J. Heinz erected a 50-foot electric pickle in Times Square in an effort to make Heinz a household word. And, Procter & Gamble initiated an $11,000 "advertising blitz" to promote Ivory Soap so American housewives would no longer have to boil animal fat to make their own.
Can't wait to read the rest.
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Finished this excellent book. The author's objective - to tell the story of McKinley's assassination by following the paths taken by McKinley and the assassin to reach that fateful day. His method of following the lives of each and how they got to that point in time was very effective. Thoroughly enjoyed this look at the history of the times.(less)

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Jul 10, 2011 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a Goodreads First Reads win. I really enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit about a time I did not know much about. I usually read earlier U S history and have never really found earlier parts of the 1900's and late 1800's that interesting. This book changed my mind about those periods in time. We have all heard of the Maine, the Rough Riders and the assisination of President McKinley but this book gives you an interesting look at this history in greater detail. I learned several thi...more

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Sep 08, 2011 Losososdiane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book explains how the U.S. became an international commercial powerhouse that acquired something of an overseas empire to provide markets for the goods that our rapidly growing industries created. The author explains the convoluted thinking that changed McKinely's mind about the need for the U.S. to be involved in what we know today as global commerce. As part of the justification, we see the rise of the idea of American exceptionalism and the view that wealth represents the approval of the...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Cheryl Gatling added it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-one-thing-and-the-other-thing

This book begins with President McKinley's reception at the Pan-American Exposition, and Leon Czolgosz walking up to him and pulling a gun. I thought, well, that's it. That's the assassination of the President. What is the rest of the book going to be about? The rest of the book backs up and looks into all the political, economic, and military events shaping the American of 1901, and into the lives of McKinley and Czolgosz. McKinley was an affable, somewhat bland man who hated conflict. He was e...more This book begins with President McKinley's reception at the Pan-American Exposition, and Leon Czolgosz walking up to him and pulling a gun. I thought, well, that's it. That's the assassination of the President. What is the rest of the book going to be about? The rest of the book backs up and looks into all the political, economic, and military events shaping the American of 1901, and into the lives of McKinley and Czolgosz. McKinley was an affable, somewhat bland man who hated conflict. He was elected as the representative of business interests. There was at the time a great divide between the wealthy few, and the laboring many. At first I thought, naturally, hey, that sounds like today. It was, in that captains of industry did not really care that factory conditions were dangerous, hours long, and wages so low that whole families, including children, could work full time, and barely subsist. But it was also totally different because production was booming. Manufacturers were cranking out more goods than anyone could buy. The idea of empire enters the story because American businesses wanted to find new countries to sell stuff to. China, with its huge population, seemed like a good place, so America began acquiring Pacific islands, as places to refuel on its trading mission to Asia. At home there was bitter labor unrest. Desperate workers would strike, and company men would put the strikes down with violence. Both sides became more and more violent, so that strikes were marred by fires, beatings, shootings, and bombs, with death sentences following for workers "inciting to riot." In this environment, the idea of anarchy began to look good to some people. If no one had power, and if everyone had freedom, then everyone would live in perfect peace, said anarchist theory, a philosophy of childish naivete, in my opinion, for failing to take into account human nature. But it had followers then, and still has a few today. Leon Czolgosz identifies himself as an anarchist, and said that he had killed the President for the sake of the working man, because it was his duty to remove men of power. But Leon Czolgosz was a very strange man, and a man working alone. All his life he was a loner, socially awkward, rootless, and restless. He had held factory jobs, but ended up being a couch potato on the family farm, refusing to come down to dinner, and refusing to work. He seemed to think that one grand gesture would give his life meaning. All it got him was universally despised. There is much more of interest in this wide-ranging book. The mysterious illness of the President's wife, war in Cuba, and in the Philippines, political assassinations around the globe, and many aspects of a period of history that deserves to be better known.(less)

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Jan 31, 2012 Clayton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an interesting telling of a period of American history that I knew little about. This follows the rise of William McKinley from his humble beginnings in Canton, Ohio to the White House, and his eventual assassination. It also follows the end of the gilded era in the United States and the rise of the progressive era. At the epicenter is the Industrial Revolution and the fight for workers rights.

I didn't really expect this book to be a full history of Pres. William McKinley but that's what...more This is an interesting telling of a period of American history that I knew little about. This follows the rise of William McKinley from his humble beginnings in Canton, Ohio to the White House, and his eventual assassination. It also follows the end of the gilded era in the United States and the rise of the progressive era. At the epicenter is the Industrial Revolution and the fight for workers rights.

I didn't really expect this book to be a full history of Pres. William McKinley but that's what it is. I thought it would focus perhaps on the tail end of his presidency close to his assassination in Buffalo. You really can't understand why he would've been assassinated by this anarchist if we didn't have this broader picture about the unrest in the United States at the time.

It was illuminating for me to learn out the discontent across the United States as the economy began to shrink and workers felt like disillusioned pawns on the chessboard, out of work out of money. The railroad system became oversaturated and the need for steel was drying up. But there was a promise of what would happen in China with its sudden thirst for steel. Workers in the United States were treated poorly. Many of the steel magnates were paying workers $.90 a day at best. Children as young as 11 years old were sewing buttons on shirts because their fingers were small enough to handle the job

I was really struck between the similarities of early 1900 and the year 2012. The fight over collective-bargaining rights among labor workers call for better wages. But the fight was very similar to the fight we're having now over the haves and have-nots the 1% versus the 99%. History repeats itself.

The author also covers an interesting moment in American history where utopian villages began to pop up. In upstate New York a harmony style village emerged where workers would live off the land and others could contribute $100 and be free of having to do manual labor. In many ways it was socialist commune. A few of these failed miserably. And then others popped up and tried to improve upon the model but inevitably they fell apart. I would love to read a hasty Odgers see of these communes as a stand-alone work.

The author paints a portrait of United States as a picture of discontent. It is out of that discontent that is born the assassin, Leon Czolgosz.

As Leon Czolgosz was being electrocuted following the assassination he finally remarked that he did it for the workingman, the laborer. Remarkable for me was the level of access the people had to the President. That a guy like this could just walk right up to the president at an event and point a gun, covered in handkerchief, at McKinley's chest and pull the trigger. People who wanted to meet the president could go to the Oval Office sit outside in the waiting room, help themselves to a glass of water out of the jelly jar, and wait his/her turn to see the president. Sounds like a doctor's office.

I thought the author did a great job of capturing the sentiment of the United States in the late 1890s through the assassination of McKinley in 1901.

** I really want to do some further reading about the sinking of the Maine off the coast of Cuba. In the afterword Scott Miller highlights some recent research that shows the Maine blew up on accident. The Spanish-American War started because of an accident!(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, biography

Very comprehensive. Ostensibly the story of President McKinley's assassination, the book is pretty wide ranging: covering the history of anarchist philosophy in Europe and the US, American expansion into the Pacific and the Caribbean, the Spanish American War, the American labor movement and the evolution of the Republican party from slave liberators to the pro-industry party of the rich. In this respect, it's one of the more valuable and readable popular history books I've read in some time.

McK...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, other-history

This book's title is less fitting than its subtitle (or part of it): "Terror and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century" is a much better description.

The author is interested in the simultaneous development of American imperialism and radical political protest movements, then called "anarchism." Miller has tried to present the rise of imperialism and anarchism in palateable form by centering one narrative on McKinley and the other on McKinley's assassin, Leon Czolgosz. The trouble is that ne...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Andy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book, but I couldn't give it 4 stars because I found it to be lacking direction at times.

The story is essentially split between 3 threads:
- President McKinley and his rather aggressive imperialist campaigns
- The rising anarchist movement in America as a response to the devastating working conditions the Industrial Revolution is famous for
- The paths and beliefs of famous anarchists such as Emma Goldman and the eventual assassin of President McKinley, Leon Czolgosz.

It seemed to me...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Broadsnark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Miller is a good writer and it is a smooth read. The turn of the last century is a fascinating time in American history. He does a pretty good job of showing how the US empire grew. The idea of juxtaposing President McKinley's life against that of the man who killed him was a good one. It does give you a certain sense of the time.

It is clear; however, where Miller's politics lie. Not surprisingly, a man who worked for the Wall Street Journal and graduated from Cambridge does not have a lot of lo...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I picked up this book at the library, I thought that it would be strictly about President William McKinley's shooting in 1901 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Instead, Miller views the September assassination as the culmination of a series of events that occurred in the late 19th century and included the Haymarket Square Riot, the Homestead and Pullman Strikes, the Spanish-American War, and Imperialism. In detailing the history of the U.S. in t...more

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Feb 16, 2013 John Behle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: history and Americana buffs

Recommended to John by: the title and the back cover notes

Scott Miller takes you by the hand and leads each reader down the storied cobblestone path of the 1890s and early 1900s. I like Miller's style. I'll describe it as a good bit technical history, a touch of a front page newspaper, with a dash of movie script. Then he serves it up with a Stars and Stripes bunting flourish.

The color, light and people skills that Miller lushly provides made me feel as if I was living in 1901. That's power--putting the book down to tend to 2013 living such as sliding...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to like this book much more than I did. It had all of the historical information I hoped to learn, but I did not find the style compelling. It is written in the fashion of a novel. I understand that this is to make history more interesting, more breathless even. However, every time I was getting into a subject (Emma Goldman, the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion) the author would jump to someone or somewhere else, to return at a later point. I think this cross-cutting was suppos...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So Fabry and I have started an on-going series to read a book about every U.S. President. We don't except to finish the project for a couple of years. This book, a dual-bio about McKinley and Czolgosz does an interesting job alternating chapters on the respective subjects. Showing the two most extremes sides of the coin in respect to our country at the time. Though only skimming the surface at times, I did think the book succeeded in its purpose. I thought the chapters that centered on early soc...more

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Jun 03, 2012 ***Dave Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook, text

American History, as taught in the schools, has some disturbingly large gaps. For example, we usually go straight from the Civil War and Taming of the West to WW I and the Great Depression, with perhaps a small mention of the Spanish-American War in passing (mostly for the sake of Teddy Roosevelt and San Juan Hill).

But there's a huge sea change in American history that takes place in this period -- the transition from the Gilded Age of unbridled industrial expansion and capitalism to the Progres...more American History, as taught in the schools, has some disturbingly large gaps. For example, we usually go straight from the Civil War and Taming of the West to WW I and the Great Depression, with perhaps a small mention of the Spanish-American War in passing (mostly for the sake of Teddy Roosevelt and San Juan Hill).

But there's a huge sea change in American history that takes place in this period -- the transition from the Gilded Age of unbridled industrial expansion and capitalism to the Progressive Era with the rise of labor unions and employment law, as well as a shift from the US as the "sea to shining sea" Lower 48 to a international force and nascent empire with that Spanish-American war.

That's the period this book covers, with its centerpiece the assassination of William McKinley by Leon Czolgosz ("Chalgosh"). The book starts with the actual assassination, then goes back to trace both men's lives, as reflections of the forces shaping the US in the period: the rise of labor movements (including socialists and anarchists) and the expansion of the US onto the world stage with a foreign policy that is at times equal parts naivete, bluster, comic opera, good will, and commerce-driven betrayal of principle.

The Haymarket Massacre, Pinkertons, the Homestead strike, the Industrial Revolution with its booms and busts, the plight of Cuba, the Boxer Rebellion, the Open Door policy, the conquest of the Philippines and Hawaii, figures like William Jennings Bryan, Emma Goldman, Andrew Carnegie, Teddy Roosevelt, Johann Most, and McKinley and Czolgosz themselves ... the parallels at times to current American affairs in terms of military intervention (for humanitarian and commercial reasons) and the conflict between workers and business are sometimes remarkable, and often disturbing. By forgetting the quasi-imperialist past of the US, we too easily find ourselves getting into similar messes today; by ignoring the past of labor relations and the violence (on all sides) that stemmed from income inequality and cruel living conditions amidst increasing wealth, we set the stage for a return to such conditions again.

Miller provides copious detail without getting bogged down, and manages to provide sympathetic viewpoints of all the players without giving anyone an unstained white hat. In the afterward, he notes the short-mid-range results of the events he describes -- progressive advances within the US alongside a rejection of anarchism, and a short-lived US empire the stretched on for another handful of decades but which laid the ground for aspects of both WWII and Communist revolution in Cuba.

Arthur Morley's narration of the book is clear and gripping. He doesn't try to imitate voices, but he imbues both text and quotes with an appropriate level of personality and interest.

As an overview of neglected US history in the pivotal years of the 1890s and 1900s, this is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it.

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Aug 04, 2011 Du rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-govt

This was an interesting book about an interesting time. It followed William McKinley into his presidency and described the many policies and actions that he undertook in his political life. In a parallel fashion it described the life and beliefs of Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, who assassinated the President.

One of the most interesting facets of the book was the specter of Teddy Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley. He never is allowed to take away the center stage from McKinley, which I suspect wo...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Budd Bailey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's difficult to live in Buffalo for long without hearing about the assassination of President McKinley. The site of it is only a few miles from my house. Knowledge of the circumstances is a little hard to come by. Scott Miller comes to the rescue, then, with this book. Miller takes it through joint tracks -- one through the life of McKinley, mostly concentrating on his Presidency, and one through the life of assassin Leon Czolgosz. Along the way there's plenty to be learned about the Spanish-A...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Meredith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To be fair, this is at least a 3.5 star rating. I really would recommend this book. I don't know if it's because I grew up in Buffalo, hearing about the McKinley assassination my whole life, or if it's because I have an MA in American history, or if it's because I recently read Nixonland, which is VERY thorough and on-point, but this book seems a bit incomplete, or at least seems to lose and/or deviate from its focus fairly often. It's billed as a book which parallels the lives of William McKinl...more To be fair, this is at least a 3.5 star rating. I really would recommend this book. I don't know if it's because I grew up in Buffalo, hearing about the McKinley assassination my whole life, or if it's because I have an MA in American history, or if it's because I recently read Nixonland, which is VERY thorough and on-point, but this book seems a bit incomplete, or at least seems to lose and/or deviate from its focus fairly often. It's billed as a book which parallels the lives of William McKinley and his assassin, Lean Czolgosz. Then why give us several chapters which detail battles in the Pacific during the Spanish American war? I understand that the author was trying to develop the feel of the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, and that's perfectly valid if America's rise to industrial superpower is the premise of your book. But I finished this book with a cursory understanding of the lives of both McKinley and Czolgosz. On the other hand, I certainly learned a lot about the Spanish American War in the Philippines...

In the end, I think the author couldn't really figure out why McKinley, specifically, was targeted by Czolgosz. And you know what? In the end, it wasn't specifically because of McKinley's business-friendly policies. In fact, the time during the McKinley administration, while business-friendly, wasn't quite as laissez-faire as the environment had been 15-20 years before. I came away from this book not believing that McKinley specifically was destined to be cut down by the radical labor movement, but that it was really just a crime of opportunity.

I believe the author couldn't help but try to put all of his research and everything he knew about the period into the book. I know there's more about the anarchist movement he didn't necessarily add, and I'd really be interested to know more about specific business policies and economically-oriented SCOTUS decisions at the time, in addition to radical movements in America. Flesh out more of that, cut out the parts about "and then this is what happened in 1899" and I think the book would have a much better focus. (less)

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Jul 14, 2012 Corculum rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I expected this to be a quick read of no great consequence but I was surprised and pleased. Scott Miller has managed to weave so many "narratives" of the time together that it's truly impressive. You gain clear understanding of events that have, too often, been glossed over in our history books. The labor movement, the imperialist, the anarchist, the government establishment all come alive as do the characters of the President and the Assassin. I especially found the description of the Haymarket...more

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