- McKinley was president more than a century ago, until his tragic death in 1901. As such, it is probably safe to say that very few of us personally enjoyed his leadership legacy.
- Although he was president during the Spanish American War, as far as I know his tenure in office did include many enduring and wide reaching contributions to our political, social, and judicial landscape (like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, etc.).
- Alaska was not even an official U.S. territory until 1912 - eleven years after McKinley's death. The Mountain had been called Denali until 1917. Today, Alaska is not merely a territory - it is a state - and reverting to the original name is an honor to the people of that state.
- When many communities renamed existing streets, schools, airports, and other facilities after the deaths of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., were there protests from the friends and families of the previous honorees? Did the family of the real estate developer named Idlewild complain when the Jamaica Bay airport in NYC was renamed JFK? Did the Canaveral family moan when their cape was renamed Cape Kennedy? And, for that matter, did the Kennedy's complain when it was changed back to Canaveral? Did the Myrtle family complain when the street bearing that name in Detroit was re-named Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd? Perhaps, but I doubt it.
I respect the fact that Ohio is proud of Mr. McKinley (and the SEVEN other U.S. presidents born there!). However, perhaps they citizens of that state should find something a little closer to home. I hear there is a hill somewhere in the state, probably near the West Virginia border, that is crying out for a name.
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