The Death of a President

Location:   Buffalo, New York
Year:   1901 

The last photo taken of President McKinley, taken as he arrived at the Temple of Music. Note the lack of a bodyguard.

William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, was shot and fatally wounded on September 6, 1901 inside the Temple of Music on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. 

The death of President McKinley

McKinley was shaking hands with the public when he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. The President died on September 14 from gangrene caused by the bullet wound to his abdomen.

Leon Czolgosz, self-styled anarchist. Czolgosz was never clear on the reason for the shooting. After his execution, carbolic acid was poured into his grave to dissolve his body.

McKinley initially appeared to be recovering, but took a turn for the worse on September 13, and died early the next morning at the Milburn House in Buffalo. 

Milburn House, circa 1901

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office at the Milburn House where he had come to see McKinley, and succeeded him in the White House. 

Theodore Roosevelt

 
After McKinley's murder, for which Czolgosz was put to death in the electric chair, the United States Congress passed legislation to officially charge the Secret Service with the responsibility for protecting the president.