Leon Czolgosz (5 May 1873-29 October 1901) was an American anarchist who was responsible for assassinating President William McKinley on 8 September 1901.
Biography[]
Leon Czolgosz was born in Alpena, Michigan on 5 May 1873, the son of two immigrants from Poland. He worked at a glass factory in Natrona, Pennsylvania, until the economic crisis of 1893 forced him to quit his job. In 1898, he began reading socialist and anarchist newspapers, and he was radicalized by Emma Goldman in May 1901. Czolgosz became obsessed with Gaetano Bresci after the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy. Czolgosz resolved to imitate Bresci by killing President William McKinley, believing that he would fight for the common people by assassinating the imperialist president.
Assassination of McKinley[]
The assassination of McKinley
On 6 September 1901, Czolgosz headed to the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, where President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exhibition. He concealed a .32 caliber revolver under a handkerchief, and he waited in line to shake hands with the president. At 4:07 PM, he reached the front of the line. McKinley reached out his hand to shake Czolgosz's hand, but Czolgosz slapped it aside and shot him twice at point-blank range. One bullet grazed the president, while another hit him in the abdomen. The president said, "Go easy on him boys," and the guards arrested Czolgosz.
Czolgosz waas sentenced to death for his crime, and President Theodore Roosevelt allowed for him to be executed by electric chair at Auburn in New York. On 29 October 1901, Czolgosz was executed by three electric jolts, expressing regret that he was unable to see his father before he died.