Why Donald Trump loves William McKinley and what it could mean for the country
A former president from Ohio could play a big role in shaping President Donald Trump's policies.
Trump's a fan of President William McKinley, giving the Canton, Ohio, native a major shout-out in his inaugural address.
He promised on Monday to rename North America's tallest mountain, Denali, back to Mount McKinley, which it was known as for more than a century before President Barack Obama's administration in 2015 changed the name to honor the native Alaskan culture.
"We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs," Trump said in his address.
McKinley, 123 years after his assassination, often ranks as an above average but not spectacular president in presidential rankings.
For Trump, McKinley ranks high because of his love of tariffs.
"President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent," Trump said in his inaugural speech on Monday. "He was a natural businessman."
The 'Napoleon of Protection'
Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on America's competitors abroad. More than a century ago, McKinley pushed so enthusiastically for tariffs he was dubbed by the press at the time the "Napoleon of Protection."
McKinley, as a Republican congressman prior to his presidency, fought so much to increase the taxes on imported goods that Congress named the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 after him.
Tariffs are taxes paid on imported goods and are intended to help American manufacturers. In most cases, they are paid by the American importers and not the foreign corporations, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonprofit thinktank in Washington, D.C. Tariffs can lead to higher prices if the cost is passed on to consumers.
How the tariffs worked out in the 1890s
Tariffs were just as divisive in the 1890s as they are now.
While the McKinley Tariff Act at first appeared beneficial, the good times didn't last long, wrote Richard L. McElroy in his 2009 book "Battlefield Presidents: Zachary Taylor and Benjamin Harrison and Their America."
The tariffs angered America's trade partners, he wrote.
"There was a sharp decline in trade while American businessmen reaped huge profits, often at the expense of the blood, sweat and misery of American workers," McElroy wrote.
Newspaper coverage at the time blamed rising costs of clothing and other items on the the tariffs.
McKinley lost his seat in Congress that same year. People blamed the unpopularity of tariffs for Republican President Benjamin Harrison's (also an Ohioan) defeat in 1892.
Democrats lowered the tariffs in 1894.
McKinley rebounded, took softer stance
McKinley's career quickly rebounded, winning election in 1892 as Ohio governor and then as U.S. President in 1896.
When he became president, one of McKinley's first acts was to sign into law another tariff on consumer goods. By this time, however, McKinley had softened his stance on tariffs, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, D.C.-based thinktank.
McKinley later favored trade agreements and more friendly relations with foreign countries, according to the institute, saying, “Commercial wars are unprofitable. A policy of good will and friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals."
Through wars and purchases, McKinley also expanded the territory of the United States, which acquired the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines during his administration. This echoes Trump's calls to expand the United States territory with his proposed acquisition of Greenland and vows to take back the Panama Canal.
McKinley was reelected in 1900, but then assassinated by an anarchist at the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo. He is buried in Canton.
What Trump said about McKinley at his inauguration
"We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States."