THIS DAY IN HISTORY: The Death of a President and What That Has to Do With My Character

On this day in history William McKinley, a beloved U.S. president died as the result of a gunshot wound.

So happens, I'm writing about that.

Just 7 days earlier my character had been at the Pan American Exhibition, waiting to catch a glimpse of the President and even to shake his hand.  But an assassin got there first. 

Photo of a drawing by T. Dart Walker used with permission under Creative Commons License

 The assassin was Leon Czolgosz.  He'd been a hard worker at a wire plant in Ohio for a number of years but became mentally unstable and began showing up at anarchist meetings.

When questioned about his motivations, he responded with, “I killed President McKinley because I done my duty. I didn’t believe one man should have so much service and another man should have none.”

Photo by unknown photographer around 1900 - in public domain

In fact, the president was not yet, dead.  But doctors failed to find the bullet that lodged in his back and, as a result, gangrene took his life.

Czolgosz was executed on the electric chair about 6 weeks later.  His final words were, " "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime."

My protagonist had nothing to do with the president's assassin.  He just happened to be standing a few feet behind him, in the same line, waiting to meet the president.  But he also had a paper and pencil in his hand. Which, in my opinion, makes things a little more interesting!  All of America was deeply affected by this tragic  incident.  But, for my character, this death of the president was much too close for comfort.