Page:Men of Mark in America vol 2.djvu/196

152 resisted successfully for weeks the popular demand for war against Spain. And long before that time he had adhered to a consistent policy of his own, and had won many to its support. On the three great questions before the country—tariff, finance, and expansion, he brought his party to his view. He was a bimetallist, believing that gold and silver should both be used as a currency; and as long as there was any hope of success he tried to bring about bimetallism by international action. He advocated an international canal; he maintained the Monroe doctrine; he urged the peaceful annexation of Hawaii; he sought by diplomacy to emancipate from medieval misrule neighboring islands; and at last, when war came, he refused to recall our troops from any soil where the American flag had been raised, until the principles of American liberty were assured under the practical protectorate of the American nation.

For these reasons President McKinley must be regarded as a great statesman of the pure American type whose excellences were essential while his defects were incidental. He readily changed his methods, but never his ends. No American statesman conformed his public life to a higher ethical standard; not many have recognized an ethical standard so uniformly high.

As an executive, his administration was a series of remarkable achievements. It was attended not only by great military and administrative success, but by an abounding prosperity. It put out the last embers of sectional bitterness. It was marked by appointments of high character and of especial fitness, to places of great trust. The tone of the public official, the efficiency of the civil service, the integrity and fidelity of all departments and branches of the executive government were never higher than during his administration.

His characteristic virtues were courtesy and politeness, patience and forbearance, and masterful self-control under very trying circumstances. The moral side of his character was very pronounced. He was by nature a rightminded man. There was no guile in him. There never was the suggestion of an inclination to accomplish even a good result by improper means. His inherent impulse was to do good for its own sake; to serve his country, to better the condition of its people, to help those who labor, to lighten toil, to promote human happiness. He sympathized with the burdens of his fellowmen; and he saw always their best side. When unable to grant a