The Childhood of William McKinley

Edward L. Stratemeyer (1862-1930) was an American publisher and writer of children's fiction. He was one of the most prolific writers in the world, and a founder of the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, where he hired journalists to write stories based on his ideas. Stratemeyer created many well-known fictional book series for juveniles, including The Rover Boys, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew series.Excerpt: "The life of William McKinley affords a shining example to all American boys of what honesty, perseverance, and a strict attention to duty can accomplish. The twenty-fifth President of our Nation was born in a humble home, of humble parentage, and had to make his own way in life at an early age. When little more than a boy he taught school for a living, and at the age of eighteen he became a private in the army. He served through the whole of the great Civil War, and so faithful was he and so heroic that he became first a commissary sergeant, next a lieutenant, then a captain, and, finally, left the army a full-fledged major, twenty-two years old."