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Chapter One - Aftermath
The Major would be able to make a full recovery from the injuries sustained to his right arm, retaining full function in the long term. However, he would be out of the White House for about a month while he recovered from the worst of it. For that time, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt would fill in for McKinley as Acting President.
While McKinley recuperated, he had much time for thought. Had chance sent the bullets somewhere other than his arm, McKinley could have easily died. This time for recuperation gave McKinley new purpose.
On October 22, 1901, William McKinley resumed the office and duties of the Presidency. His first move was one which was surprising, but not completely unexpected.
Consistent with his plea for his bodyguards to "go easy on [Czolgosz]", the Major issued a commutation of Czolgosz's death sentence, and Czolgosz was set to serve life in prison instead. Czolgosz, having always been of a sickly disposition, perished just under twelve years later, probably of tuberculosis.
The commutation was not without controversy. Some more conservative members of both parties felt that pardons and commutations should only be issued in cases of judicial error, not simply at the whim of the President. There wasn't much room for argument, however, given the circumstances.
CHAPTER ONE
In The Aftermath
While he sustained major injury to his right arm, the Major's life was never in serious question. Nonetheless, a panic ensued across the nation in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, a fear that anarchists were plotting to undermine the very foundations of the country. Indeed, many associates of Leon Czolgosz were arrested in the days that followed the assassination attempt, among them the influential anarchist thinker Emma Goldman, who had been thought to have heavily influenced Czolgosz's decision to make an attempt on the president's life. As Czolgosz was interrogated, it was found that neither Emma Goldman, her associates, nor any members of the "anarchist movement" had anything to do with Czolgosz's actions; Czolgosz was found to have acted on his own, and the detained anarchists were released. Czolgosz was easily found guilty of attempted murder and treason, among other charges, and sentenced to death.In The Aftermath
The Major would be able to make a full recovery from the injuries sustained to his right arm, retaining full function in the long term. However, he would be out of the White House for about a month while he recovered from the worst of it. For that time, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt would fill in for McKinley as Acting President.
While McKinley recuperated, he had much time for thought. Had chance sent the bullets somewhere other than his arm, McKinley could have easily died. This time for recuperation gave McKinley new purpose.
On October 22, 1901, William McKinley resumed the office and duties of the Presidency. His first move was one which was surprising, but not completely unexpected.
Consistent with his plea for his bodyguards to "go easy on [Czolgosz]", the Major issued a commutation of Czolgosz's death sentence, and Czolgosz was set to serve life in prison instead. Czolgosz, having always been of a sickly disposition, perished just under twelve years later, probably of tuberculosis.
The commutation was not without controversy. Some more conservative members of both parties felt that pardons and commutations should only be issued in cases of judicial error, not simply at the whim of the President. There wasn't much room for argument, however, given the circumstances.
- ersatz-york
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