For any history buffs:
Buffalo Focus Of History Channel Special
Monday, April 10, 2006 05:33 AM - WBEN Newsroom
Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - The assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901 was one of "Ten Days That Changed America", according to the producer of a 10-part series on cable's History Channel.
The episode about the presidential murder airs tonight at 9-on channel 41 on the Adelphia cable system, channel 51 in the city, and channel 269 if you have a satellite dish.
McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czuglosz at the fair. He lingered for several days, and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, who was sworn in at the Wilcox Mansion on Delaware Avenue in the city.
"Ten Days" producer Joe Berlinger says he chose the assassination because it was a turning point in American history--when social issues were becoming more of an issue, and McKinley's apparent decision to ignore them ultimately lead to his murder.
I'm sorry I missed that.
There's always something that irked me about TR's presidency--which is why I suspect they chose McKinley's assination as one of the "Ten Days".
I don't think they care a whit about dull ol' McKinley or that he was assasinated.
What they care about is TR. A bellicose proponent of an activist government.
I watched THC's series on "The Presidents" several times. They generally portrayed the men from Johnson through McKinley as a bunch of dull, easily-forgettable guys, several of whom could have been stand-ins for the Smith Bros cough drops guys.
Dull, dull, dull. Including Cleveland (sorry, Rez).
Instead, they could have portrayed these guys as having the self-restraint to turn away from the allure of the all-powerful Presidency that Lincoln had to fashion in order to win the Civil War. One hundred years before Nixon, we could have had the Imperial Presidency that everyone bemoaned in the seventies.
Think of the tempataion that faced Grant, Hayes and Arthur!! To be the first among equals by far in the three branches of the federal government.
But they resisted that temptation. They allowed the power of the Civil War Executive branch to ebb away. They felt that initiatives should emanate from the voice of the people, Congress.
Cleveland felt his job was to veto the more rash legislation, period. He issued more vetoes than Prez Washington through Arthur combined.
The country is lucky to have had a string of men who believed in the role of "limited govt" on which the country was founded.
Truth springs from argument among friends.
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