In his inaugural oration on January 20, US President Donald Trump hailed William McKinley, who was President from 1897 to 1901, as his model. Trump praised the 25th US President McKinley for raising tariffs “to make America rich”.

Trump admired McKinley’s also for his expansionist policy. During McKinley’s tenure, the US acquired overseas territories, fought and won a war with a European power, Spain, and attempted to set international norms regarding trade with China. 

In short, under McKinley, the United States emerged on the world stage in new and unprecedented ways giving a foretaste of what was to come after World War II, namely, America’s rise as a super power supplanting Britain. 

The US victory in the war with Spain over Cuba saw Spain cede to the US, sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. It paved the way for the US to annex Hawaii, an independent country at that time.   

In 2025, President Trump expressed admiration for McKinley, describing him as “a great but highly under-rated” President. Under McKinley, the US was “very rich through tariffs and through talent,” Trump said in his inaugural address. Trump then pledged to change the name of North America’s tallest peak, Denali, in Alaska, to Mount McKinley. In 2015, it had been named Mount Dinali by President Barack Obama to honour the indigenous people of Alaska.

Was McKinley like Trump? Historians have differed on their assessment of McKinley. Yes, he did take aggressive actions, but mainly under public pressure, they say. And he later regretted the actions as they were not an unmixed blessing. This, Trump has failed to take note of.   

From 1901 to the 1960s, historians believed that McKinley was a “weak” President pressured into a war with Spain by popular passions and a nationalistic press. McKinley’s weakness extended to the domestic political arena also, they said. He was........

© Eurasia Review