- The last Civil War veteran to be elected President.
- McKinley was the third US President to be assassinated. He was killed in September of 1901 by Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was greeting visitors who were in line to meet him when Czolgosz approached him with a bandage on his hand. Inside the bandage was a pistol and he shot McKinley twice in the stomach. McKinley died of his wounds eight days later. Czolgosz claimed that the government was evil and sick and should be dismantled from the top down. He was tried, convicted and executed in the electric chair.
- Had two daughters Katherine "Katie" McKinley (1871-1875) and Ida McKinley (April 1873-August 1873) who died as children.
- Third president to be successfully assassinated (an attempt on President Andrew Jackson's life failed) and the fifth president to die in office.
- Has a street named after him in Buffalo, New York, McKinley Ave.
- McKinley Street in Hollywood, Florida was named for him. It is located between Cleveland Street (for President Grover Cleveland) and Roosevelt Street (for President Theodore Roosevelt), in the same order in which they served as President of the United States.
- Inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1992 (inaugural class).
- 25th President of the United States, 1897-1901
- Pictured on the 25¢ US postage stamp in the Presidential Series, issued 2 December 1938.
- Pictured on a US 7¢ regular-issue postage stamp issued 1 May 1923.
- Pictured on a 5¢ US postage stamp issued 30 April 1904, as part of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition series.
- U.S. Representative, 1877-1883, 1885-1891.
- Governor of Ohio, 1892-1896.
- Many of McKinley's advisers and aides did everything they could to keep his bodyguards on their toes, not for fear of his safety but because they feared Theodore Roosevelt gaining the office.
- Obtained the rank of brevet major during the Civil War, being promoted by General (and future President) Rutherford B. Hayes. He was the last veteran of the Civil War to become president of the United States.
- His portrait graced the $500 bill in the Series of 1928 and 1934, the latter being the last series of denominations over $100 printed by the United States. Although they hadn't been printed for many years, bills over $100 were officially discontinued by the U.S. Treasury in 1969, and the McKinley $500 bill stopped circulating.
- When he died in 1901, he left the bulk of his estate, valued at $200,000 to his wife Ida. He provided a $1,000 lifetime annuity to his mother, but since she had already died, it passed to his sister Helen.
- He was the first U.S. president to have his inauguration filmed.
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