First Ladies of the United States: Ida Mckinley

There was a clear dichotomy between the early and the later parts of Ida McKinley's life. During her early years, Ida gained invaluable experiences, not accessible to most women of the mid-nineteenth century. She received an excellent education, traveled the world, managed her father's bank, and assisted wounded soldiers during the Civil War—all before the age of twenty-three. Soon after marrying William McKinley, a Civil War veteran, lawyer, and future president of the United States, her life changed drastically. In a two-year span, from 1873 to 1875, Ida's two daughters and mother died. Their deaths destroyed Ida physically and mentally. She developed signs of phlebitis, presumably caused by childbirth, which left her sometimes immobile. Her health issues worsened in her thirties, when she was crippled by epilepsy. Yet Ida constantly supported her husband's political aspirations, in spite of her own health problems. Although she was labeled an “invalid,” she helped define his public image as a supportive and dedicated husband. This chapter will examine the contrasts in the life of Ida McKinley and how she handled her duties as first lady at the turn of the twentieth century. It will also explore how historians have treated her story over the past century...