World Leaders in Wartime: William McKinley

At the turn of the 20th century, President William McKinley led the United States’ continued expansion abroad through war with Spain over Cuba and the Philippines. His expansion of American power and influence abroad through two subsequent wars attempted to continue shifting the global balance of power dominated for the last few centuries by European nations. This talk will examine his role as president during the age of imperialism on the eve of the First World War, and how the legacy of his actions reverberate throughout the 20th century.

Amanda M. Nagel received her Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. Her research centers on race, war, empire, Jim Crow, and citizenship in the United States between 1898 and 1926. She is currently revising a manuscript, “He thinks he is a soldier”: Race, Empire, and the United States, 1898-1926, for the University of Virginia Press, expected to appear in 2025. She recently published an essay titled “African American Soldiers in World War I” with Oxford University Press’s Research Encyclopedia of American History in February 2021. She also has authored a chapter titled, “The Integration of USMA in the Popular Press, 1870-1871,” in the forthcoming Race, Politics, and Reconstruction at Old West Point, with the University of Virginia Press in fall 2024. She is currently an Associate Professor of Military History at the Department of Military History, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The Ft. Leavenworth Series
The Ft. Leavenworth Series is an annual roster of lectures focusing on significant historical events, usually with an emphasis on military history. Each lecture is presented by faculty from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Established by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1881, the CGSC is the graduate college for U.S. Army and sister service officers. The esteemed faculty and guests of the CGSC provide unique and captivating insights into the history of military conflict from the ancient to the modern ages at the Dole Institute of Politics.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency.