President McKinley had made plans well in advance to attend the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo, New York. One of his first stops would be to meet and shake hands with the crowd that had gathered at the Temple of Music there. He arrived on the afternoon of September 6, 1901.
Standing in line was Leon Czolgosz. He had wrapped his right arm in a phony bandage to conceal a pistol. Czolgosz kept his head bowed to avoid being recognized by local police who knew him as a dangerous man. Finally, he reached his turn in line. While McKinley stepped towards him to shake his hand, Czolgosz removed the pistol from the bandage and shot twice at the President.
The first bullet missed completely, but the second hit the president in the abdomen. McKinley, still conscious, fell to the ground. Czolgosz screamed I did my duty! and then was punched in the face by an angry guard.
The President died six days later on September 14th due to gangrene of the pancreas. Historians today believe that his death was really due to incompetent surgery and unsterilized instruments. The surgeons were never able to locate the bullet that had killed him.
Czolgosz was brought to trial on September 23rd. It lasted exactly eight hours since the assassin refused to have any legal representation during the trial. He was found guilty and electrocuted On October 29, 1901. His last words were ΓÇ£I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people-the good working people, I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.ΓÇ¥
CzolgoszΓÇÖs family was denied the body for burial. Prison authorities had him buried in a prison grave and covered the body with quicklime and sulfuric acid.
McKinleyΓÇÖs assassination lead Theodore Roosevelt to start the Secret Service who sole job is to protect all living chief executives.
