supported the renomination of Benjamin Harrison, and served as chairman of the convention. At that convention 182 votes were cast for him for President, although he had persistently refused to have his name considered. On June 18, 1896, was nominated for President by the national convention of his party at St. Louis, receiving on the first ballot 6611⁄2 out of a total of 922 votes. Was chosen President at the ensuing November election by a plurality in the popular vote of over 600,000, and received 271 electoral votes, against 176 for William J. Bryan of Nebraska. Was again nominated for the Presidency at the National Republican Convention which met at Philadelphia in June, 1901. At the November election he was re-elected, receiving 292 electoral votes, against 155 votes for William J. Bryan. In September, 1901, he accepted an invitation to attend the PanAmerican Exposition at Buffalo. Was shot Sept. 6, 1901, by an assassin in the Music Hall at Buffalo, and died from the effects of the wound, Sept. 14. He was buried at Canton, Ohio. INAUGURAL ADDRESS. Fellow-Citizens: In obedience to the will of the people, and in their presence, by the authority vested in me by this oath, I assume the arduous and responsible duties of President of the United States, relying upon the support of my countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty God. Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps. The responsibilities of the high trust to which I have been calledalways of grave importance-are augmented by the prevailing business conditions, entailing idleness upon willing labor and loss to useful en- ́ terprises. The country is suffering from industrial disturbances from which speedy relief must be had. Our financial system needs some revision; our money is all good now, but its value must not further be threatened. It should all be put upon an enduring basis, not subject to easy attack, nor its stability to doubt or dispute. Our currency should continue under the supervision of the Government. The several forms of our paper money offer, in my judgment, a constant embarrassment to the Government and a safe balance in the Treasury. Therefore I believe it necessary to devise a system which, without diminishing the circulating medium or offering a premium for its contraction, will present a remedy for those arrangements which, temporary in their nature, might well in the years of our prosperity have been displaced by wiser |