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Even in the 1890s the pressure on the President was enormous.
One August evening at the White House in 1911,
Major Archibald Butt, who was then aide de camp to President William Taft, heard this story about McKinley [4a]:
... the Chicagoan [H. H. Kohlsaat] is full of reminiscences of the McKinley Administration
and reported some of them to me. As we stood on the South Portico looking toward the monument
he recalled how often he had stood there with McKinley. He spoke of one night in particular...
"We [McKinley and Kohlsaat] sat down, and he told me that they were trying to force him
into declaring war with Spain. As he said this, he broke down and wept as I have never
seen anyone weep in my life. His whole body was shaken with convulsive sobs. He ceased
after a while, and later, when he had dried his eyes, he said he felt that he should
go in to see his guests again. He asked me when we got into the light if his eyes were
red, and I told him they were, but if he blew his nose very hard just as he entered,
the redness of his eyes would be attributed to that cause. He did so, and
I never heard any of the guests, with whom I mingled freely, comment on the fact that the
President had been crying."
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