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Leon Czolgosz and the Assassination of President McKinley

6/13/2026

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Artist's rendition, in black and white, of Czolgosz with a gun wrapped in a white handkerchief shooting McKinley in the stomach
In 1901, a man named Leon Czolgosz decided to attend the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. While there, he attacked United States President William McKinley. This episode of Footnoting History looks at the lives of Czolgosz and McKinley, their fatal encounter, the aftermath of the assassination, and its depiction in a Stephen Sondheim musical.

Host: Christine
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Further Reading
  • About Czolgosz, McKinley, and the Assassination
L. Vernon Briggs, The Manner of Man That Kills, Gorham Press, (1921). 

William Bushong, "The Life and Presidency of William McKinley", via The White House Historical Society, (2010).


Mark C. Carnes, "Czolgosz, Leon F. (1873–29 October 1901), assassin of President William McKinley," American National Biography, Oxford University Press, (2000). 

Walter Channing, “The Mental Status of Czolgosz: The Assassin of President McKinley,” Journal of Insanity, 59, (1902): 233-278.

James W. Clarke, American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics, Princeton University Press, (1990).

"
Emma Goldman: Radical Activist and Anarchist", via The New-York Historical.

Cary Federman, “The Life of an Unknown Assassin: Leon Czolgosz and the Death of William McKinley,” Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History & Societies, 14:2, (2010): 85–106.

Lewis L. Gould, "McKinley, William (1843-1901), twenty-fifth president of the United States," American National Biography, Oxford University Press, (2000). 

Mitch Kachun, “‘Big Jim’ Parker and the Assassination of William McKinley: Patriotism, Nativism, Anarchism, and the Struggle for African American Citizenship,” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 9:1, (2010): 93–116.

Last Days of a President: Films of McKinley and the Pan-American Exposition, 1901, via Library of Congress. 

“Leon Czolgosz's Incredibly Rare Confession to the Assassination of President William McKinley September 6, 1901”, Shapell Manuscript Collection. 

"McKinley National Memorial", via McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.

"The McKinley Tariff of 1890", via Historical Highlights: US House of Representatives.


Pan-American Exposition of 1901, via University of Buffalo. 

Eric Rauchway, Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America, Hill & Wang, (2003).

Richard B.  Sherman, “Presidential Protection during the Progressive Era: The Aftermath of the McKinley Assassination.” The Historian 46:1 (1983): 1–20. 

"Timeline of Our History", via United States Secret Service.

"William McKinley Presidency: 
September 5, 1901: Speech in Buffalo, New York", via Miller Center, University of Virginia.

"William McKinley: The 25th Presidents of the United States", via Biden White House Official Archives.

  • Historical Newspaper Articles

“Anarchist Czolgosz Makes a Confess”, Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 7 September 1901.

"
The Assassin Makes a Full Confession", New York Times (New York, New York), 8 September 1901.

“The Assassin Makes a Written Confession”, Cleveland Leader (Cleveland, Ohio), 7 September 1901.

“Czolgosz dies in electric chair”, Duluth News-Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota), 29 October 1901.

“Czolgosz is Found Guilty of Murder in First Degree…”, Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), 25 September 1901.

"Death Has Come", Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 14 September 1901.

“Doom Of Czolgosz. Law Consigns His Body to Quicklime Without Ceremony”, Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 2 October 1901.

"Fifth Extra! 12:00 o'clock P.M. President Resting Well", Evening Star (Washington, DC), 6 September 1901.

"He is Sane: Specialists Make an Examination of Czolgosz", Morning Herald (Lexington, Kentucky), 12 September 1901.

"His Nationality. Natives of Poland Desire to Disprove That Czolgosz is of Their Race", Fort Worth Morning Register (Fort Worth, Texas), 13 September  1901.

"Nearing His End. Czolgosz Time on Earth Short. 26 Eye Witnesses", Daily Alaska Dispatch (Juneau, Alaska), 22 October 1901.

"The President Lies In Shadow of Death: Surgeons to Locate Second Bullet by the Aid of X-Ray", Evening News (San Jose, California), 7 September 1901.

"President Shot down by the Hand of a Brutal Assassin", Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), 7 September 7, 1901.

“They Want Pieces of Czolgosz' Brain Gruesome Requests to Auburn's Warden”, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California), 29 September 1901.

"Unrepentant to the Last: Czolgosz Dies this Morning and Few Will Know of His Burial Place", Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 29 October 1901.

  • About Assassins

"Assassins (1990)", via Sondheim Society.

"Assassins 2004 Tony Performance", via YouTube.

"Assassins Conversation Piece", Music Theatre International, via YouTube.


"The Ballad of Czolgosz" from Assassins (Broadway Cast Recording), featuring  Neil Patrick Harris, Marc Kudisch, James Barbour, Assassins Company, PS Classics, (2004), via YouTube.

Scott Miller, From Assassins to West Side Story: The Director’s Guide to Musical Theatre, Heinmann, (1996).

Douglas Reside, "Stephen Sondheim's Assassins in the Archive", New York Public Library, (2022).

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, Assassins, Theatre Communication Group, (1991).

Images

"Shooting of President McKinley on the stage of the Temple of Music" from the cover of the September 21, 1901 issue of Leslie's Weekly via University of Buffalo.

Related Content

This episode is a part of our True Crime series.
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