Leon Czolgosz(1873-1901)
Leon Czolgosz was an American anarchist of Polish extraction who shot
President William McKinley
while the president was attending the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York in September 1901.
Born in Michigan in May 1873, the 28-year-old Czolgosz was the son of
ethnic Polish immigrants from Prussia. He arrived in Buffalo on August
31, 1901 and stalked the president once he arrived at the exposition.
He bought a pistol on September 2nd and on September 6th, joined a
receiving line at the Temple of Music whose members moved forward to
shake hands with the president. The meet-and-greet was only expected to
last was 10 minutes, but that was enough to change history.
The assassin had secreted his pistol wrapped in a handkerchief inside
his pocket. When he made it to the head of the line and McKinley
extended his hand, Czolgosz swatted it away and twice pulled the
trigger of his weapon, shooting McKinley in the stomach. The two
bullets fired at point-blank range staggered the president, but did not
immediately kill him. (He lived on for a week and a day, expiring on
the 14th.)
The crowd in the Temple of Music seized Czolgosz and beat him to the
point of death before soldiers and police intervened. The near-dead
Czolgosz was jailed and stood trial on September 23rd, nine days after
McKinley died of his wounds. Czolgosz had been deeply influenced by the
anarchists Alexander Berkman (himself the would-be assassin of Henry
Clay Frick) and Emma Goldman,
whom he had seen give a public speech and subsequently met.
Czolgosz's meeting with Goldman occurred the very same year he killed
McKinley, and she was arrested as part of a possible conspiracy but was
released for lack of evidence. It was apparent Czolgosz acted alone.
Goldman tried to rally support for the assassin, comparing him in print
to Brutus who had slain Julius Caesar, but many anarchists shunned
Czolgosz, as he had brought opprobrium onto the movement.
Theodore Roosevelt, the new
president, had declared, "When compared with the suppression of
anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance.
At his arraignment, Czolgosz pleaded guilty, which is not allowed in a
capital trial, and the judge changed his plea to "not guilty". His
lawyers wanted to go with an insanity defense such as used for Charles
J. Guiteau, the assassin of President
James Garfield, but a defiant
Czolgosz refused to cooperate with them as, to him, they were symbols
of the authority he hated and had struck out against in the Temple of
Music. He clearly wanted to be martyred, and he was, convicted after a
two day trial when the jury came back with a guilty verdict after one
hour. He was executed in the electric chair at Auburn State Prison
(Auburn, New York) on October 29, 1901, 53 days after he shot and
fatally wounded President McKinley.
President William McKinley
while the president was attending the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York in September 1901.
Born in Michigan in May 1873, the 28-year-old Czolgosz was the son of
ethnic Polish immigrants from Prussia. He arrived in Buffalo on August
31, 1901 and stalked the president once he arrived at the exposition.
He bought a pistol on September 2nd and on September 6th, joined a
receiving line at the Temple of Music whose members moved forward to
shake hands with the president. The meet-and-greet was only expected to
last was 10 minutes, but that was enough to change history.
The assassin had secreted his pistol wrapped in a handkerchief inside
his pocket. When he made it to the head of the line and McKinley
extended his hand, Czolgosz swatted it away and twice pulled the
trigger of his weapon, shooting McKinley in the stomach. The two
bullets fired at point-blank range staggered the president, but did not
immediately kill him. (He lived on for a week and a day, expiring on
the 14th.)
The crowd in the Temple of Music seized Czolgosz and beat him to the
point of death before soldiers and police intervened. The near-dead
Czolgosz was jailed and stood trial on September 23rd, nine days after
McKinley died of his wounds. Czolgosz had been deeply influenced by the
anarchists Alexander Berkman (himself the would-be assassin of Henry
Clay Frick) and Emma Goldman,
whom he had seen give a public speech and subsequently met.
Czolgosz's meeting with Goldman occurred the very same year he killed
McKinley, and she was arrested as part of a possible conspiracy but was
released for lack of evidence. It was apparent Czolgosz acted alone.
Goldman tried to rally support for the assassin, comparing him in print
to Brutus who had slain Julius Caesar, but many anarchists shunned
Czolgosz, as he had brought opprobrium onto the movement.
Theodore Roosevelt, the new
president, had declared, "When compared with the suppression of
anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance.
At his arraignment, Czolgosz pleaded guilty, which is not allowed in a
capital trial, and the judge changed his plea to "not guilty". His
lawyers wanted to go with an insanity defense such as used for Charles
J. Guiteau, the assassin of President
James Garfield, but a defiant
Czolgosz refused to cooperate with them as, to him, they were symbols
of the authority he hated and had struck out against in the Temple of
Music. He clearly wanted to be martyred, and he was, convicted after a
two day trial when the jury came back with a guilty verdict after one
hour. He was executed in the electric chair at Auburn State Prison
(Auburn, New York) on October 29, 1901, 53 days after he shot and
fatally wounded President McKinley.