| McKinley was a devout Methodist,
from a family of devout Methodists. The Methodist church, the largest
denomination in the United States during his career, demanded total abstinence
from the consumption of alcoholic beverages by its members. McKinley
agreed with this position, and as a young politician in Stark County, Ohio,
advocated total abstinence in speeches around his adopted hometown of Canton. His first public office was prosecuting attorney.
Margaret Leech reports, In the Days of McKinley (New York: Harper
and Row, 1959) that the young prosecutor's most noticeable achievement
was the pursuit of the illicit sale of liquor. This background led
the supporters of prohibition to hope that as President McKinley would support their cause. |
