Leon Czolgosz (pronounced CHOL-gosh), a 28-year-old anarchist who believed that governmental leaders prohibited individual liberty, also traveled to Buffalo. His real purpose, however, was to kill the popular president.

On September 5th, McKinley gave a speech at the Expo. The next day, shortly after 4 p.m., he was greeting people at the Temple of Music. In line to shake McKinley’s hand, Czolgosz pulled out a .32 caliber short-barreled Johnson revolver, hidden in a handkerchief, and shot the President twice.

As an inexperienced doctor tried to save the president, an X-ray machine was on display near the assassination scene. Had physicians known how to use that device, it likely would have saved McKinley’s life. Instead, he died eight days after the shooting. The official cause of death was “gangrene which affected the stomach around the bullet wounds.”

By the end of the month, Czolgosz had been convicted of murder. He was condemned to die in Auburn Prison’s electric chair. Sentence was carried out on the 29th of October, 1901. His remains were doused with sulphuric acid so no one would steal the body or Czolgosz’ clothes.

In this story about the assassination, meet President McKinley and his wife, Ida. Discover why his death - and the presidency of his successor, Teddy Roosevelt - led to a turning point in American history.

Learn about the assassin, Leon Czolgosz, and view the gun which he used to shoot McKinley. See movies made by Thomas Edison’s company, including clips from the day of the assassination, the president’s funeral and the recreated execution of Czolgosz in Auburn Prison’s electric chair.

See the early X-ray machine which was on display near the assassination scene. Meet Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a physics professor who discovered x-rays, and see the original radiograph he made of his wife’s hand on December 22, 1895.