William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, is memorialized in a monument and museum in Canton, Ohio. Perhaps, like me, you struggle to remember any important facts about this president. Here are a few things I learned.

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McKinley served from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901. Under McKinley’s leadership, the United States became one of the world’s colonial powers. After the Paris Peace Treaty was signed in 1898, the United States obtained Puerto Rico, Guam, and—for $20 million—the Philippine Islands. He is remembered for his foreign policy decisions: the Boxer Rebellion in China and the “open door” policy there, raising protective tariffs to promote American industry, and leading the Spanish-American War.

His assassination prompted the creation of the Secret Service. He was shaking hands at an event in New York when he was approached by a young anarchist who shot him in the chest. Before collapsing, the President said “be careful how you tell my wife.” (Both of their daughters died before age 5 and she still mourned that loss.) After his death, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president.

One country, one flag

The assassin explained his motivations: “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the working people.”

Statue of William McKinley

The monument is majestic and towers above the treetops, placed on a hill with 108 steps leading up to it.

I had hoped the presidential library would be filled with information about the president and his life. Only a small portion pertained to him. Instead, the large building is filled with unrelated exhibits. There is a planetarium, an Interactive Science Center with natural history objects and rescue animal friends at “Ecology Island”.

Beverage set
One section is devoted to the time period of the McKinley family and their lives in Canton, Ohio. But, the rotating exhibit that was there when we visited was unbelievably random. Titled, “A Constellation of Objects,” the artifacts were intended to represent a variety of cultures and time periods. Instead, it felt like a jarring junk drawer jumble. Unconnected to the president or to each other, there seemed to be no purpose.

Vaccum chair lift

One other Canton, Ohio claim to fame was well represented. The Hoover Vacuum was invented here in 1908. This is the only museum I have visited with a vacuum-cleaner-powered ride.

Train set
The area my children most enjoyed was Stark County Street of Shops. There was a general store, a dentist office, a tailor and a hat maker. They loved seeing the model trains, too! The exhibit was very engaging.

I had hoped for more politics or history in the gift shop. Instead, like the rest of the museum, it was filled with interesting but unrelated items. Though it was a pleasant place to pass an afternoon, this wasn’t the presidential history visit I had hoped for. I came away disappointed. It feels as though Canton, Ohio, doesn’t think people will attend the museum just to learn about President McKinley and that they need to add more confetti to make it attractive.

Dress, piano, harp