William McKinley was born in 1901.
William McKinley . He was elected Ohio 's governor in 1891 and 1893 , steering a moderate course between capital and labor interests . With the aid of his close adviser Mark Hanna , he secured the Republican nomination for president in 1896 , amid a deep economic depression . The United States annexed the independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898 and it became a U.S. territory .