|
During the 1900 Presidential
Election Campaign, current
President William McKinley
(1897-1901),
and former two-term president
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897)
accompanied by Vice President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, attended a Republican rally in Mt.
Pulaski on Wednesday, October 24, 1900. These
American Leaders made an historic stop in Mt. Pulaski,
where 1000-1500 people congregated for this political
rally
[click here for a copy of a local newspaper's description
of the event].
They utilized the Illinois Central, stopping at various
cities and towns from Chicago to St. Louis, stopping
here along the way. John D.
Rockefeller, a wealthy and influential contributor to
the Republican campaign, accompanied
them. They
dined and slept over at the Mt. Pulaski House Hotel that
evening, before appearing the next day at the local rally. On the
previous day, Tuesday, October 23, Mt. Pulaski staged
the Democratic Rally, which was attended by many people,
also. At this time, Mt. Pulaski had a population
of over 2000 residents. Following the rally,
they walked down four blocks to the train
station and boarded the Illinois Central bound for
Springfield, and points beyond.
President
McKinley went on to win the election, only to suffer
death by an assassin's bullet,
while attending the
Pan American Exposition in Buffalo,
NY., Sept. 6, 1901. Vice President Theodore
Roosevelt
took over as the youngest person to ever serve the
United States at the age of 42. [President John F. Kennedy was the youngest president ever to be
elected at the age of 43]
|
