September 4, 1901: Yesterday President McKinley and his wife Ida, had attended the Stark County Fair in Canton, not far from where the president was born. This morning he and his entourage left Canton for Buffalo at 10:00 a.m. The train was a special express with no stops and was scheduled to arrive at 4:55 p.m. in Buffalo. It was expected that the president would spend a few days here then depart for Cleveland on Saturday. In Cleveland he would take part in a national encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, then return to Canton for a few days before returning to Washington.

On the train with the president were of course the First Lady as well as their doctor, several stenographers to record notes and meetings while on their trip. Also on board was the Secretary to the President, George B. Cortelyou. George had misgivings about the president’s safety at the Exposition, especially Thursday’s meet-and-greet.

Before leaving Canton George sent a telegram to the Buffalo police asking they review their security plans for the president while at the Exposition. Extra security had already been added including special uniformed and plains-clothes policemen, two additional Secret Service agents were brought up from Washington and added to the normal presidential detail. George Cortelyou had good reason to be concerned.

When the president and his staff stepped off the train in Dunkirk, New York, twenty-eight year old  Leon Czolgosz was waiting for him. He had read all the details of the president’s arrival, exactly where and when. A few days ago he had purchased a 32 caliber revolver and today would be the first time he would have a chance at using it. But thanks to the efforts of George Cortelyou, the Secret Service, and the Buffalo police department, Leon Czolgosz was pushed back away from the president while as he and his wife climbed into the carriage that would take him and Exposition and then on to John Milburn’s house where they planned on staying.

John Milburn had hoped to entertain the first family with a lavish party inviting all of Buffalo’s dignitaries to entertain the president, but was warned that the First Lady was prone to seizures if she became too excited. He decided to scale back the gala and just make it a private dinner party. The dinner party would seem like nothing in a few days and in the weeks to come. Dignitaries from around the country would be arriving including Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to check on the president. Assured that he was fine, the vice-president departed for a planned family vacation.

In less than 48 hours the President of the United States would be shot while greeting visitors at the Temple of Music. Secretary Cortelyou would be standing just behind the president when the first of two shots rang out. Not sure what had just happened, the president stepped back. “I’m okay.” A trickle of blood could be seen staining his white vest. While aides held him, he reached for Cortelyou and whispered, “My wife… be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her. Oh, be careful.”

 

Tuesday, September 3, 1901

Leon Czolgosz, who had arrived in Buffalo the previous Saturday, had already made the decision. He would later tell authorities that he hadn’t, if he hadn’t already decided to shoot the President of the United States, he wouldn’t have purchased the gun he would use to do just that.

Leon had a whiskey sitting at his usual spot in the John Nowak’s saloon and boarding house. The establishment was known as a Raineslaw hotel, one that could legally serve liquor on Sundays which was what had partly attracted Leon to the place, that and the fact it was in a Polish neighborhood. He liked hearing Polish being spoken. It reminded him of his mother in their kitchen.

Leon nursed his drink and read the paper. He read about how the city would be decorated for the president’s arrive tomorrow afternoon. John G. Milburn, president of the exposition along with the mayor and a few other dignitaries would meet the president not at Union Station, but just past the station at Porter Avenue in Dunkirk. The paper said the streets will be handsomely decorated.

Leon set the paper down finished his drink and walked towards the front door. The bar tender said “See you later Fred?” Leon muttered something under his breath that the bar tender couldn’t hear. When he registered for his room, he gave the name Fred Nieman. It was just one of the lies that Leon had grown accustomed to telling.

After leaving the bar, Leon walked the five miles up to the new Walbridge’s Hardware Store on Main St. Here he purchased a new 32 caliber Iver Johnson revolver. Oddly, this same make would later be used to attempted to kill Franklin Roosevelt, and by Sirhan Sirhan to kill Robert F. Kennedy. But in Leon’s mind, he only wanted to shoot one person: President William McKinley tomorrow afternoon when he gets off the train.