It was under the calm, steady leadership of William McKinley that the United States first became a force to be reckoned with on the world stage. That’s according to the biography “President McKinley: Architect of the American Century,” by Robert W. Merry. Clocking in at just under 500 pages, the book describes how McKinley took us to war against Spain to liberate Cuba. Along the way we sunk the Spanish fleet in the Philippines and turned that into a U.S. protectorate. But that turned bloody when native militants fought for their own independence and we wouldn’t grant it. We sent troops to put down the insurgency and to help the Filipinos establish their own U.S.-approved self-government. (What could possibly go wrong?) We also seized Guam and made Puerto Rico a territory.

In addition to the Spanish-American War and its aftermath, McKinley formulated an “open door policy” toward China, which called for equal trade with China among all countries. He also wanted to prevent other countries from carving up China. All this got very messy during what became known as the Boxer Rebellion, in which anti-colonial nationalists attacked Christians and foreign diplomats, including Americans. The United States joined in an eight-nation alliance to quell the rebellion, but as a result the ruling Qing Dynasty later collapsed. Oops.

McKinley also helped lay the groundwork for the construction of a shipping canal through Central America, by re-negotiating treaties with Great Britain and by setting up commissions to study the project. The canal was originally intended to go through Nicaragua, but McKinley also wanted a site in what became Panama to be considered.

Oh, and it was under McKinley that the United States annexed Hawaii. All this happened in McKinley’s first term.

Just like Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield, two of his recent predecessors, McKinley was a Republican from Ohio who had served in the Civil War. McKinley entered the war as an enlisted soldier and later became an officer, achieving the rank of Major. He fought in numerous engagements, including the Battle of Antietam. After the war McKinley was elected to Congress and focused on the issue of protective tariffs. After being gerrymandered out of office, he was elected governor of Ohio.

When he ran successfully for president in 1896 against Democrat William Jennings Bryan, McKinley did not travel the country to deliver speeches but rather conducted a “front porch campaign” in which various constituencies came to Ohio to visit him. It was a method of campaigning that had been previously employed by Indiana’s Benjamin Harrison, but McKinley was better at it, staging each front porch visit for maximum effect. The architect of his campaign, political ally Mark Hanna, distributed large volumes of campaign literature.

At the time the two biggest domestic issues were protective tariffs, and what to do about silver vs. gold as it related to the nation’s money supply. On the tariff issue, McKinley wanted to maintain protective rates but wanted the flexibility to negotiate reciprocity agreements with individual nations. On the metals issue, McKinley wanted gold but at the same time did not want to to shut out the silver advocates, who represented powerful constituencies. As his term in office went on and the nation’s economy improved, McKinley was able to soften his stance on tariffs and eventually sign legislation establishing a gold standard for the nation’s money supply once and for all.

Another domestic issue at the time was the problem of corporate monopolies, or trusts. A recent Supreme Court decision had struck down a law, and McKinley subsequently did very little to rein in trusts, saying federal legislation would likely be unconstitutional. It also appears that McKinley did very little if anything about civil rights, certainly nothing that was documented in any detail in the book.

Two future presidents played prominent roles during McKinley’s presidency. Theodore Roosevelt was McKinley’s Assistant Secretary of the Navy, but he resigned that post when the Spanish-American War broke out. Roosevelt founded the Rough Riders and fought in Cuba, then ran for governor of New York and won, before getting himself on the ticket in 1900 as the Republican vice presidential nominee. According to the book, McKinley did not want Roosevelt on the ticket but felt there was nothing he could do to stop him. McKinley also appointed William Howard Taft, who had been a circuit court judge, to be the civilian governor of the Philippines. In addition, future president Herbert Hoover was a mining engineer deployed to China.

Sadly, President McKinley was the victim of gun violence. He was shot twice at close range while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in September 1901, and he died a week later. The assassin was Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist.

Here are some additional facts about our nation’s 25^th President:

• McKinley was the fifth president to die in office and the third to be assassinated.
• His wife, Ida, had a number of chronic illnesses, both physical and psychological, that plagued her incessantly. At times her antics bordered on insanity, yet McKinley was devoted to her and constantly catered to her every demand.
• The McKinleys had two children, both daughters, who both died in childhood.
• After the election of 1896, Mark Hanna persuaded McKinley to name sitting U.S. Senator John Sherman of Ohio to the Secretary of State post, so that he could run for Sherman’s open Senate seat. It was a crazy plan, but it worked. Hanna became a Senator and subsequently ran McKinley’s successful re-election campaign in 1900.
• Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey was McKinley’s first Vice President. But Hobart died in office, clearing the way for Theodore Roosevelt to run on the ticket in the election of 1900.
• The election of 1900 was a rematch between McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. When McKinley won decisively, he considered that a confirmation from the American people that he was doing everything right.
• Unlike his immediate predecessor, Grover Cleveland, who largely ignored the press, McKinley was open with the press. In the papers he received plenty of praise, and lots and lots of condemnation over his “imperialist” policies.
• Oh, and one extra special fun fact: The wonderfully talented actor Michael Urie — who is currently appearing on Broadway in the lead role in Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song” — has a dog named President McKinley! It’s a Boston Terrier-Chihuahua mix, and, according to the New York Post, he puts “Kinley” in a backpack and they ride around town together on a bike!

As presidential biographies go, I found Robert W. Merry’s “President McKinley” to be insightful, with some very good analysis. As Merry freely admits, McKinley lacked creative thinking and was not the most charismatic of presidents. He did not have the force of personality of his immediate successor, Theodore Roosevelt. At the same time, to his credit, he did not make rash policy decisions or offer any bold pronouncements. (In other words, he did not tweet!) Yet Merry points out that despite McKinley’s lack of charisma, he usually achieved his goals in his own way, by listening respectfully to others, considering all sides of an issue before making a decision, and then using “incrementalism” to get what he wanted. But when it came to an aggressive foreign policy, were McKinley’s decisions good or bad? George Washington had famously warned our nation to avoid foreign entanglements, a policy that stood fast for the better part of a century. It’s therefore a bit shocking, in a way, to read how McKinley would point the United States on a much different path. He set the stage for the United States to take a leadership role in the enormous conflicts that would soon envelop the globe in two world wars. It’s what would later become, in what Merry calls in the subtitle to his book, “The American Century.”

“I want it understood that I am the grandson of nobody. I believe every man should stand on his own merits,” said Benjamin Harrison when he was just 22 years old and about to embark upon a public life. And what a life it turned out to be. As the 23^rd President of the United States — he served a single term between Grover Cleveland’s two nonconsecutive terms — Benjamin Harrison was tremendously productive, working closely with Congress to shepherd an immense amount of legislation, including the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the McKinley Tariff Act, legislation that established federal protection for forests, and much more. He strengthened the U.S. Navy and improved shipping for the trans-Atlantic passage of mail. Benjamin Harrison also skillfully faced a number of foreign policy crises, including disputes with Italy, Chile and Great Britain, all of which required wisdom, tact and steady resolve.

When Benjamin Harrison came into office there was a federal budget surplus, which was considered a big problem. At that time there was still no federal income tax. Instead the government raised revenue mostly through tariffs. Many Democrats wanted the tariffs reduced or eliminated altogether, but Harrison wanted them kept in place to protect American industry. He wanted the protective tariffs coupled with reciprocal trade agreements. He believed the federal government should spend money on veterans benefits, infrastructure and education, particularly schooling for blacks in the South. He was open to debate on currency but vigorously opposed the unlimited coinage of silver money, which would later cost him votes, especially in the West.

Benjamin Harrison also faced setbacks while in office. He failed to get voting rights legislation through Congress, though he did try. The tariff protections were intended to benefit workers, but instead industry leaders cut wages, leading to labor unrest and even violence. Like so many other presidents, Benjamin Harrison faced difficult problems dealing with Indian affairs. The battle of Wounded Knee, in which hundreds of Lakota Sioux were massacred by U.S. troops in North Dakota, happened under his watch. He also signed anti-Chinese immigration legislation.

Many of the bills Harrison got passed were on strict party-line votes, and the Republicans suffered huge losses in the midterm elections in 1890. In Harrison’s failed re-election bid in the presidential election of 1892, it was a rematch with Cleveland. Just two weeks before Election Day, in October of that year, his wife, Caroline, died. After leaving office Benjamin Harrison returned to Indianapolis and resumed his law practice, earning large fees. He represented Venezuela in a lengthy and arduous boundary dispute with Great Britain. He continued to follow politics but declined to seek office again or to campaign much for fellow Republicans. He was not a huge fan of Cleveland or of his successor, William McKinley. Benjamin Harrison died in 1901 at age 67.

Here are some additional facts about Benjamin Harrison, our nation’s 23^rd President:

• He served as an officer in the Civil War and was considered a war hero. He led troops in several battles.
• He was from Indianapolis, though he had been born in Ohio.
• Physically, he was small.
• In his personal life he was deeply religious.
• Many of his writings were published as a book, called This Country of Ours.
• His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was elected President when Benjamin was still a boy. The elder Harrison had been a Whig, but Benjamin Harrison was a Republican. President William Henry Harrison, who had also been a military hero, died after about a month in office. The Harrison family went all the way back to the founding of our country. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison V, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• Before Benjamin Harrison became President he served one term in the U.S. Senate, but he was defeated for re-election after the districts in Indiana were gerrymandered. He had also run for governor of Indiana but lost.
• Leading up to the 1888 presidential election, Harrison did not travel but rather conducted a “front porch” campaign, in which various groups came to Indianapolis to hear him speak.
• He selected a political rival, James G. Blaine, as Secretary of State, who turned into a huge pain in the ass. Blaine was frequently absent for long stretches due to his health, and Harrison did much of the State Department’s diplomatic work himself.
• Under Benjamin Harrison, federal spending topped $1 billion for the first time.
• He traveled extensively as president.
• Benjamin Harrison maintained a lifelong friendship with Mary “Mame” Dimmick, a niece of his wife. After his wife died and Harrison had left the presidency, he married this younger woman and they had a child together. His children with his first wife and their spouses loathed Mame.

To learn about the 23^rd President, I read “Benjamin Harrison” by Charles W. Calhoun. This is another in the American Presidents series, and like all books in this series it was short, concise and informative. The meatiest and most detailed chapters of the book covered Benjamin Harrison’s presidency. I got confused by all the controversy over silver. And I would have liked to learn just a bit more about his service in the Civil War.

Grover Cleveland — the 22^nd and 24^th President of the United States — had a meteoric rise. He was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and one year later he was elected Governor of New York. Just two years after that, in 1884, he was elected president, defeating the Republican James G. Blaine. Four years later, in 1888, Cleveland lost his re-election bid to Benjamin Harrison despite having won the popular vote. Four years after that, in 1892, he defeated Harrison and returned to power. Four years later, in 1896, he failed to receive the nomination of his party, and he retired from public office.

Cleveland was the fourth president to come from New York State and the second from Buffalo. He is one of only two Democrats, along with Woodrow Wilson, to serve as President in the post-Civil War era. He was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Cleveland was known for his honest integrity while in office. He was a hard worker and did a lot of paperwork. Politically, he believed in small government and was opposed to imperialist expansionism. He was opposed to tariffs and favored the gold standard over silver. He is sometimes referred to as a “Bourbon Democrat.”

He was a bachelor when he was first elected President, and during his first term he married a much younger woman, whose first name was Frank, who went by Frances. She was the daughter of a deceased friend. They were married in the White House and they went on to have a batch of children. One of them, a daughter, Ruth, died, and many years later the candy bar Baby Ruth was named after her!

Physically, Cleveland was tall and heavy. He got even heavier after he became president. He had a moustache but no beard. Later in life he suffered health problems, including gout. While he was president he developed oral cancer, and he was operated on in secret aboard a ship.

During his second term the economy crashed, and he lost popularity. After he left office, his reputation rebounded. After his presidency, Cleveland and his family moved to New Jersey, and he became a trustee at Princeton University. He also did work for the insurance industry. He died of a heart attack in 1908 at age 71.

Here are some additional facts about Grover Cleveland:

• Grover Cleveland was not from Cleveland, Ohio, but the city had been named for one of the president’s relatives! Both the family and the city originally spelled the name Cleaveland!
• He was born Stephen Grover Cleveland in Caldwell, N.J. His father was a minister. The name Grover came from one of his father’s friends, also a minister.
• While in Buffalo, Cleveland worked at the same law firm that Millard Fillmore had belonged to.
• Cleveland did not serve during the Civil War. When a draft was enacted, he paid a Polish immigrant $150 to take his place. This was legal and a common practice. At the time, he was supporting his family financially.
• During the 1884 Presidential election, Cleveland was accused of having fathered an illegitimate child with a woman of low character.
• He won the popular vote for president in three consecutive elections.
• He never served in a legislature.
• He used the Resolute Desk, which was a gift from Queen Victoria, first presented to President Hayes, which was made from timbers from the HMS Resolute, a famous British ship that had been decommissioned.
• He was President for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.
• It was said that just before the Clevelands left the White House on Benjamin Harrison’s inauguration day, Frances told a worker to take good care of the furniture because they would be back. And they did come back just four years later.

As presidential biographies go, I found “Grover Cleveland” by Henry F. Graff, part of the American Presidents Series, to be a little on the skimpy side. The book covered all the basics, but not much more. There was almost nothing about his family life, or his children. This was not my first choice for a presidential biography of Cleveland. I wanted to get “Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character” by Alyn Brodsky, but sadly I could not find an affordable new copy online, and the title was not available at Barnes and Noble nor at The Strand. So I went with this American Presidents Series book, which was quick and easy. What I liked best about Graff’s book was its excellent descriptions of the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions of 1884, 1888 and 1892.