Mckinley Quotes

• Let me be the first to admit that the naked truth about me is to the naked truth about Salvador Dali as an old ukulele in the attic is to a piano in a tree, and I mean a piano with breasts. Senor Dali has the jump on me from the beginning. He remembers and describes in detail what it was like in the womb. My own earliest memory is of accompanying my father to a polling booth in Columbus, Ohio, where he voted for William McKinley.

  James Thurber

  Memories, Father, Mean

  JAMES THURBER (1945). “THE THURBER CARNIVAL”

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• The Republican nominee-to-be, of course, is also a young man. But his approach is as old as McKinley. His party is the party of the past. His speeches are generalities from Poor Richard's Almanac. Their platform, made up of left-over Democratic planks, has the courage of our old convictions. Their pledge is a pledge to the status quo-and today there can be no status quo.

  John F. Kennedy

  Party, Men, Past

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• In 1977, I climbed a fairly difficult mountain for the first time, which was Mount McKinley, in Alaska. I climbed the so-called 'American Direct Route,' which was a route straight up to the top. I really enjoyed it. Through such experiences, I learned that mountaineering wasn't just about height. I found that different routes have different charms.

  Tamae Watanabe

  Alaska, Mountain, Different

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• McKinley has no more backbone than a chocolate eclair.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Chocolate, Eclairs, Backbone

  Theodore Roosevelt (1997). “The Rough Riders”, Taylor Pub

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• Mr. Chairman, I think the record should show that for the first time since McKinley, we have a Republican president worth shooting, and I think that's a good sign.

  James Johnson

  Thinking, President, Records

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• McKinley shows all the background of a chocolate eclair.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Government, Chocolate, Eclairs

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• To say this sacred prayer [the Kaddish, prayer for the dead] for a Gentile is a most uncommon proceeding, but so unanimous and ardent is the feeling of the people of the New York ghetto in the present instance that Pres. William McKinley is spoken of in that quarter as "the loving brother of all of us," as one who "died a martyr to the freedom of Jew and Gentile.

  Abraham Cahan

  Brother, New York, Prayer

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• Why, they shot the wrong McKinley!

  Dizzy Dean

  Umpires, Shots

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• A skillful playwright might have a good time with the story of the assassination of President William McKinley, and especially with the three most flamboyant political figures involved: Mark Hanna, Theodore Roosevelt, and Emma Goldman.

  Russell Baker

  Political, President, Stories

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• At the time, I didn't know what forgiveness meant. I wouldn't really know what forgiveness meant for another year, until my pastor, Rick McKinley, happened to spell it out in a sermon. He said that when you forgive, you bear the burden somebody has given you without holding them accountable.

  Donald Miller

  Years, Forgiving, Another Year

  Donald Miller (2010). “Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation”, p.113, Simon and Schuster

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• Until that moment, I hadn't realized that I embarked on the project of touring historic sites and monuments having to do with the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley right around the time my country iffily went to war, which is to say right around the time my resentment of the current president cranked up into contempt. Not that I want the current president killed. Like that director, I will, for the record (and for the FBI agent assigned to read this and make sure I mean no harm — hello there), clearly state that while I am obsessed with death, I am against it.

  Sarah Vowell

  Country, War, Mean

  "Assassination Vacation". Book by Sarah Vowell, www.npr.org. March 2005.

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• I found myself thinking about President William McKinley, the third American president to be assassinated. He lived for several days after he was shot, and towards the end, his wife started crying and screaming, "I want to go too! I want to go too!" And with his last measure of strength, McKinley turned to her and spoke his last words: "We are all going.

  John Green

  Death, Real, Thinking

  John Green (2015). “Looking For Alaska Special 10th Anniversary Edition”, p.94, Penguin

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• William McKinley has left us a priceless gift in the example of a useful and pure life, in his fidelity to public trusts and in his demonstration of the value of kindly virtues that not only ennoble but lead to success.

  Grover Cleveland

  Example, Priceless, Virtue

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