William McKinley

About William McKinley

William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. His presidency is defined by significant expansionist foreign policy, including leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War, which resulted in the acquisition of territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. McKinley was also central to debates over American imperialism and the establishment of the gold standard, securing his position as the 136th most historically important figure according to MIT's Pantheon project.

Despite this high historical ranking, McKinley's modern internet attention shows a notable overrepresentation relative to his historical stature. He garnered 2.9 million Wikipedia views in 2025. When compared to Queen Victoria, who ranks significantly higher at #309 importance but receives 6.8 million views, McKinley's 2.9 million views put him in an 'overattention' bracket of +5x when measured against his historical rank. This suggests a contemporary online interest that disproportionately exceeds the measure of his global cultural impact in history.

Interestingly, the trend for McKinley's attention is volatile: while his annualized views show a strong year-over-year increase of +42.2%, his quarterly momentum dropped sharply by -56% between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, indicating a recent dip in active online engagement following an earlier surge.