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EXECUTED WITHIN TWO MONTHS
Ironically, had the new medical tool of x-rays (which were introduced at the Pan-American Exhibit) been available, they would have helped to save the dying President. Moreover, if a series of medical mistakes had not been made, his injuries (which developed into gangrene) may not have been fatal. Within eight days, however, McKinley's life was coming to an end. He called for his beloved Ida. Holding his wife's hand, he whispered, He was barely conscious. were his last words to Ida. On September 14, 1901 Leon Czolgosz became a murderer. The public cry for swift justice was loud and intense. The murder trial for the death of the President started barely more than a week after he breathed his last. Lawyers for Czolgosz had little time to learn the facts. Their defense efforts were complicated by Czolgosz himself who refused to talk to his lawyers. The best his defense team could do was try to convince the jury their client was insane, but the judge's instructions paralyzed even that effort. The jury was told that Czolgosz was presumed to be sane unless his lawyers proved otherwise. What would that proof have to be? That Leon did not know his actions were wrong. The defense lawyers did not have that proof. After a one-day trial, Czolgosz was found guilty and sentenced to death. On October 29, 1901 - less than two months after he killed President McKinley - the assassin died in the electric chair. The official White House picture and bio of William McKinley The official White House picture and bio of Ida Saxton McKinley McKinley's First Inaugural Address McKinley's Second Inaugural Address President McKinley always wore a red carnation in his lapel. His state of Ohio honored his memory by making the red carnation its state flower in 1904. The McKinley Museum and Library Motion picture and recorded sound from the Library of Congress on President McKinley 
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