Although campaigning for the presidency without leaving home is not a new strategy, William McKinley, and his campaign manager Marcus Hanna, take the 1986 “Front Porch Campaign” to a whole new level!

By arranging for the party faithful to travel by special trains to hear McKinley speak, Hanna is able to give him advance notice of who is attending enabling McKinley to tailor his speeches to the concerns of his audience.

Every day, people from all over the country arrive at the station in Canton, Ohio where bands play and visitors march and wave flags up Market Avenue to McKinley’s home.

For eight weeks, Canton enjoys this festive atmosphere. Meanwhile, his opponent, William Jennings Bryan, travels 18,000 miles in three months speaking to an estimated five million people!

William McKinley wins the election and is sworn in as the President of the US on March 4, 1897. With his wife and mother seated behind him, he kisses the bible and then delivers his inaugural address. His is the first presidential inauguration to be recorded on motion picture film.

After a buffet at the Senate and a three-hour parade in his honour, President and Mrs. McKinley attend the inaugural ball and by 11 p.m. they are in bed in their new home, the White House.

In 1900 President McKinley wins a second term and alongside his new vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, they are poised to lead the country into the 20^thcentury …

A scarlet carnation is the state flower of Ohio and one always worn by William McKinley, 25^thPresident of the United States.

The rocking chair used by William McKinley in his front-porch campaign.