Looking for an answer to this two part question...

[Kevin Palmer]

Who was President during the Boxer Rebellion, and what course of action did he direct that had never been done previously by any U.S. president?



First part is, William McKinley (1897-1901). (The Boxer Rebellion happened in 1900 from what I am finding).



But I am not seeing what he did that others didn't.

I am finding mention of him backing our currency with gold. But I don't think that is what I am after.



Any help would be appreciated...

 

[Gavin Allan]

Got the Treaty of Paris ratified and funded?

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

goes to war without consulting anyone nor asking Congress??

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I like the latter one,,,



Though I will take all answers and then do more digging.



Thanks..

 

[TRACket Paul]

McKinley was the first President to use the telephone for campaign purposes.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I will mark that down,,, thanks...

 

[TRACket Paul]

:supercool:

 

[Kevin Lang]

what course of action did he direct that had never been done previously by any U.S. president

Unless you use semantics, I guess that leaves out his more well-known firsts, such as:

->first president to be filmed extensively

->first to really use the phone (already mentioned, I know)

->first to use strategies used by advertisers to advance his campaign

->first to ride in a car



He advocated American Imperialism when he bought several former Spanish colonies after we beat the hell out of those European punks. :fire:



He is known for denouncing Spain over its actions in Cuba, which got the ball rolling for the S-A war...though I wouldn't say that he was the first President to condemn a foreign power in our hemisphere as the Monroe Doctrine predates him.



He is the first president to purportedly call for the "christenization" of the heathen, publicly, though that is rather apocryphal. It was told with a grain of salt in history class, and the only place on the internet which recounts it is Wiki, and even that considers it to be very dubious.



Most notable for allowing the venerable TR to become president :banana:

goes to war without consulting anyone nor asking Congress??

Which war was that? McKinley was pretty much the last person to be convinced that the Spanish-American war was necessary, and he did ask Congress (and receive approval) before sending any troops to Cuba, declaring the Cuban Blockade, or declaring war, IIRC.



Given his renown anti-war stance, I don't think he had any Executive-branch only military action that was not sanctioned openly by Congress, ala the Flying Tigers.

 

[MikeSondra Grossen]

on PBS.org...

"In the summer of 1900, as the Boxers are besieging the foreign ligation in Beijing and threatening to kill all of the foreigners they can get their hands on, McKinley has to make a historic decision. And the decision is whether or not to send US troops out of Manila and onto the mainland of Asia. Obviously, American troops had never fought in this theater before and what McKinley does is not only order the troops onto the Asian mainland to fight in China, but he does it without consulting anyone. He essentially goes to war without asking Congress anything about it. He uses his commander-in-chief powers and it becomes a very important point historic precedent, the kind of precedent that later American Presidents will use to order American troops around the world. So American troops are now on the China mainland fighting with other imperial powers. We have never been able to figure out exactly what the command structure of this was. It was so complex. But in the end, the foreign forces won simply because there were 20,000 of them, they had overwhelming power, particularly fire power, and they were absolutely brutal in the way that they used it."

 

[Bill V]

He was the first president to be nicknamed "B-Mic" by his posse.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I have to think ONE of these is right...



I will cut and paste them and figure it all out.



THANKS,,,,

 

[TRACket Paul]

what course of action did he direct.

I would put my money on his actions to establish the gold standard.

 

[Kevin Lang]

McKinley does is not only order the troops onto the Asian mainland to fight in China, but he does it without consulting anyone.

Sigh, even though this was mentioned before in the thread, I overlooked it in my statement, it seems. Brutal



Don't see what the big deal over that is, McKinley clearly didn't think the troops would be there that long, it wasn't a protracted war or anything :grin:

But in the end, the foreign forces won simply because there were 20,000 of them

As said above. That quote shows how much a difference technology makes.

I would put my money on his actions to establish the gold standard.

Nice pun, but we see how effective those actions were, about as effective as Johnson's "vow" in his infamous letter. (the "racist" one).



:back2topic:

Considering the wording of your question, I also bet it is the precedent of "war" without congressional approval, and the imperialistic questions that presented.

Especially considering that this action is directly related to the other part of the question. Boxer rebellion in the answer, boxer rebellion in the question...sounds like a winner to me.

 

[H D]

+1

Commit troops without congressional authorization



I'll withhold my opinion on the precedence it set...