The Triumph of William McKinley

A fresh look at President William McKinley from New York Times bestselling author and political mastermind Karl Rove--"a rousing tale told by a master storyteller whose love of politics, campaigning, and combat shines through on every page" (Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Team of Rivals).

The 1896 political environment resembles that of today: an electorate being transformed by a growing immigrant population, an uncertain economy disrupted by new technologies, growing income inequality, and basic political questions the two parties could not resolve. McKinley's winning presidential campaign addressed these challenges and reformed his party. With "a sure touch [and] professional eye" (The Washington Post), Rove tells the story of the 1896 election and shows why McKinley won, creating a governing majority that dominated American politics for the next thirty-six years.

McKinley, a Civil War hero, changed the arc of American history by running the first truly modern presidential campaign. Knowing his party needed to expand its base to win, he reached out to diverse ethnic groups, seeking the endorsement of Catholic leaders and advocating for black voting rights. Running on the slogan "The People Against the Bosses," McKinley also took on the machine men who dominated his own party. He deployed campaign tactics still used today, including targeting voters with the best available technology. Above all, he offered bold, controversial answers to the nation's most pressing problem--how to make a new, more global economy work for every American--and although this split his own party, he won the White House by sticking to his principles, defeating a champion of economic populism, William Jennings Bryan.

Rove "brings to life the drama of an electoral contest whose outcome seemed uncertain to the candidate and his handlers until the end" (The New York Times Book Review) in a "lively and...rigorous book" (The Wall Street Journal) that will delight students of American political history.

“"This substantive book by a political practitioner will appeal to and inform all readers, especially aficionados of American political history."”

"The Triumph of McKinley is the Triumph of Karl Rove. This is a rousing tale told by a master storyteller whose love of politics, campaigning, and combat shines through on every page. Both the man and his times are brought to such vivid life that I felt myself catapulted back to the turn of the last century. And it was great fun to be there!"--Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Team of Rivals
"The Triumph of William McKinley is not only readable but also engrossing, a rare relevant history of the mechanics of politics. It educates today's America about politics of another time that are important to understanding our own America and a past now almost completely lost to the public memory."-- "New York Journal of Books"
"The Triumph of William McKinley ultimately is another reminder of the valuable lessons of the past, not to mention the reality that there is nothing in the world today that hasn't happened before, no matter the pesky belief that the world revolves around us."-- "Fort Worth Star-Telegram"
"[Rove's] richly detailed, moment by moment account in The Triumph of William McKinley brings to life the drama of an electoral contest whose outcome seemed uncertain to the candidate and his handlers until the end. But there is more to this book than simply recounting the details of what was arguably the country's first modern presidential campaign. . . . The significance of Rove's book outruns this ambition. For it implicitly raises questions about the causes of electoral success and the rhythms of partisanship. . . . All that said, as Rove demonstrates, candidates and campaigns do matter. The durable electoral and policy outcomes produced by McKinley's victory over a dramatically dissimilar vision remind us how much can be at stake in a presidential election at a time of political polarization."-- "New York Times Book Review"
"A brilliant new book on the first modern presidential campaign. . . . It's a pleasure to read and piquantly relevant to today. . . . Rove delved deep into the primary sources and has produced a work that is meticulously researched . . . well written, and extremely discriminating with an eye for the telling detail. There are many fascinating, unjustly forgotten sagas from American political history revealed. . . . Rove provides a wonderful blend of narrative, scholarship, and knowing mastery of political campaign strategy. If you find politics, political intrigue, or American history compelling you will devour The Triumph of William McKinley."-- "Ralph Benko, Forbes.com"
"Having run--and won--two presidential campaigns, Karl Rove knows elections. The Triumph of William McKinley is a deeply informed and highly engaging account of one of the seminal elections in American history, the 1896 victory that ushered in more than a generation of Republican dominance. A vivid, intriguing and compellingly modern rendering of one of the most underappreciated episodes in American political history."--Charles Krauthammer, author of Things That Matter
"Impressively thorough, often exceedingly well written, nearly clinical dissection of the election of 1896.... [The Triumph of William McKinley] can teach regular readers a great deal about what it takes to become president of the United States." -- "Charleston Post & Courier"
"Rove's fascination with and understanding of how the [political] process has worked throughout our history shines through in his new book, The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters."-- "Dayton Daily News"

Karl Rove served as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2000-2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004-2007. He now writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal and is a Fox News contributor. Before he became known as "The Architect" of President Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns, Rove was president of Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that was involved in over seventy-five campaigns for Republican candidates for president, governor and senator, as well as handling non-partisan causes and non-profit groups.

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