by Stephanie Bohnak, Director of Education & Outreach

In the past, Ida McKinley has been painted as a “permanent” and “petulant invalid.” However, this is simply a broad stroke generalization. In recent years and in ongoing research, the National First Ladies Library & Museum has come across some vastly interesting elements regarding Ida McKinley’s life. In fact, we have an ongoing initiative to reimagine the third floor of the Saxton-McKinley House at the First Ladies National Historic Site to draw more attention to this remarkable First Lady who called Ohio home. In reimagining the third floor, we are further exploring the political acumen of First Lady McKinley while also investigating and contextualizing her struggles with sporadic muscle weakness and episodic seizures.  

William and Ida McKinley shared a special love – one founded on mutual respect and intellect. Highly educated for her time and for her gender, Mrs. McKinley was especially invested in using her privilege for public good. Following the McKinley honeymoon on the Eastern seaboard, Ida McKinley began dedicating her life to husband and home as the two welcomed their first child, Katie, on Christmas Day 1871.

Unfortunately, life was pinpricked with tragedy. When the two welcomed their second child, ‘Baby Ida’ in 1873, she died only four months later and during this time, there is speculation that Ida McKinley herself suffered from preeclampsia, which may have onset the episodic seizures and sporadic muscle weakness that would continue to afflict her for the rest of her life. It is also believed that Mrs. McKinley suffered a head injury of blunt force that contributed to this condition as well. In 1875, the family endured another loss when Katie, the last remaining McKinley child, also died, which devastated the family, especially Mrs. McKinley. Some even believe this to be a loss from which she never fully recovered.  

Yet, Ida McKinley was a resilient woman in all respects. The couple preserved Katie in their memories and continued to share a loving marriage. It is of unfortunate happenstance that early medical treatment for seizures was often one which either over medicated the patient or forced them into solitary and stationary “cures,” both which happened to Ida McKinley.

When William McKinley went to Washington D.C. in 1877 following his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Ida McKinley was placed in the medical care of a neurologist, Silas Weir Mitchell, a Philadelphia doctor. Mitchell actively ‘cured’ women through rest and isolation. Known as the ‘rest cure,’ Silas Weir Mitchell used this method to cure women whose brains he believed were being overworked. Thus, this cure theory forced Ida McKinley into a sedentary isolation, which some speculate to be the cause of her phlebitis, an inflammation of the veins in her one leg.

Mitchell was not the only medical professional to work with Ida McKinley. Other neurologists attempted to halt her unpredictable seizures, including Dr. John N. Bishop from New York, who in the early 1890s began sending William McKinley unregulated bromides to give to his wife. Bromides, still used today to treat severe epilepsy, particularly myoclonic seizures, sedated Ida, but still did not cure her. These treatments not only furthered her health issues, but at times caused her to be melancholy, as she occasionally had to rely on her husband’s arm for support or even the occasional use of a wheelchair.  

As a congressman then eventually as Governor of Ohio, William McKinley was never far from his wife’s side. He rearranged their lives to provide accessibility for his wife. Most often remembered for being confined to a small rocking chair in which she crocheted bedroom slippers, Ida McKinley was not permanently invalid. Despite the sporadic muscle weakness and episodic seizures, she still very much enjoyed walking around downtown Canton with William and traveled extensively with her husband throughout his political career. In fact, the two celebrated their ten-year wedding anniversary in 1880 on a trip to California where Ida McKinley was photographed hiking alongside her husband and their friends in the Sierra Mountain Range.  

As wife to a public servant, Ida McKinley spent a large portion of her time that same year welcoming thousands of Ohio’s Union Army veterans to Canton, Ohio for a reunion. And given her political standing and influence, she helped to place young women who were responsible for financially supporting themselves and their families into federal positions. Even when her health confined her to that familiar rocking chair, she was drawn into her husband’s work. William McKinley is even said to have kept the door of his home office open so that she, in their parlor just outside, was made privy to even the most confidential meetings.  

In preparation for the 1896 election, William McKinley rented the same house in which he and Ida originally leased following their marriage, which later became known as “The Campaign House” used as the headquarters during the Front Porch Campaign. This house sat on the site that is now occupied by the Stark Library on North Market Avenue. Throughout the Front Porch Campaigns, Ida McKinley played a public role, and on most occasions, she was well enough to speak with and meet political figures. She even regularly appeared before crowds to listen to William’s campaign speeches. This continued until about two months prior to the election, when a period of recurrent and violent seizures prevented her from further continuing with her public appearances.  

In an era in which any disability was ‘othered,’ it should come as no surprise that political enemies and even the media used Ida McKinley as a tool throughout the 1896 Presidential Campaign by drawing attention to her disabilities, which the couple tried to downplay. Yet, because William McKinley was devoted to his wife and her accessibility needs, this worked in the couple’s favor, and William was lauded as a truly compassionate man. Regardless, coming to D.C. as the First Lady, Ida McKinley was watched ever more closely. Upon her arrival to the Capital City, she was determined to prove her own ability during the inaugural ceremonies. Once the couple arrived at Union Station, the incumbent First Lady walked the entire length of the station without any assistance. Likewise, she ascended every marble step of the Pension Building in D.C. for the Inaugural Ball.  

Due to her struggles with her “secret disability,” William McKinley continued to accommodate her, even if it went against traditional protocol at the White House. In fact, he insisted that she sit next to him at every meal, whether private or formal – something never done in the White House until this point – in order to protect her privacy should a seizure occur during meals.  

As First Lady of the United States, Mrs. McKinley did not permit her health to hinder her public role, as she regularly received guests at formal receptions. Although she never chose a particular cause in which to channel her energy, she publicly supported women’s suffrage – the first First Lady to ever do so. At a personal level, she supported the Crittenden House, which served as a shelter for homeless, impoverished, and unemployed women. The centers provided nutritional meals and educational training to help women get back on their feet. She was also an early supporter of the American branch of the Salvation Army and supported numerous fundraising efforts throughout the nation by donating her hand-crocheted slippers to auctions. She also sponsored musical events at the White House and is believed to have had some hand in facilitating the appointment of a woman to the American delegation at the Paris Exposition.  

Amid her many accomplishments as First Lady, the increased application of bromides took a dramatic effect in late 1899. Exceptionally thin and sedated, Ida McKinley suffered an especially serious set of seizures followed by a period of melancholy. Despite her ongoing health concerns, Ida McKinley joined her husband on a trans-continental railroad trip, assuming a public role following his inauguration for a second term. During this time, she granted her only full-length interview for a newspaper as First Lady. She also accepted the invitation to be honored at a brunch in Juarez, Mexico. Upon crossing the border to attend, she became the first incumbent First Lady in American History known to visit a foreign county. During the trip, she unfortunately suffered a small cut on her finger which quickly became infected. As a result, her body temperature spiked dramatically, and she was diagnosed with blood poisoning. For almost two weeks, William McKinley conducted his presidency from San Francisco while his wife struggled to survive. She very luckily recovered, and once her health returned, the couple returned to Canton, Ohio to enjoy the remaining weeks of the summer of 1901.  

Four months after she recovered from her near-death experience, Ida McKinley enjoyed the best health she had in over twenty years, according to her husband. She was well enough to accompany him to Buffalo, New York, where there is actually early, black and white video evidence of her on the grandstand listening to his opening remarks for the Pan-American Exposition in September 1901 -- making her the first incumbent First Lady in history to be seen on film. Although the couple visited Niagara Falls together during their trip to Buffalo in 1901, she is believed to have avoided the other excursions at the Pan-American Exposition due to the large crowds. Therefore, she was not beside her husband when he was assassinated by Leon Czologz’s bullet on September 9^th.  

Following her husband’s death, Ida McKinley returned to Canton, Ohio and for the first thirty months of her widowhood, roughly from 1901-1904, she visited his coffin daily in its holding vault until his monument was completed. Although she initially kept to herself, she later resumed many of her public activities including exercising political patronage on behalf of individuals like Ben Park, a Black waiter who attempted to prevent the assassination of her husband. She anxiously anticipated the dedication of the McKinley Monument, but unfortunately died just four months before its completion. Ida McKinley herself died on May 26, 1907, at the age of 59 and was laid to rest alongside her beloved husband and their two daughters in the McKinley Memorial Mausoleum.  

Despite the persistent reputation that Ida McKinley was wealthy, haughty, and a permanent invalid, we at the National First Ladies Library & Museum actively share her ever-evolving legacy to showcase that despite her personal health challenges, she was a resilient, politically minded, progressive, and empathetic woman who has unfortunately been painted in a negative light historically. One of the most understated aspects of her legacy is that of her political prowess and intellect - the ‘soft power’ that actively influenced William McKinley’s career. Rather than fall into familiar stereotypes, it is vital to continue exploration into the life of Ida McKinley and reimagine her legacy that is contemporarily relevant and accurate. We often say that our First Ladies of the United States are American Icons – Ida McKinley is the perfect example of this as she often used her elevated platform to uplift those who were not as privileged as she was. It is safe to say that Ida McKinley lived a fully remarkable life.