Before he was President: William McKinley William McKinley,
1897-1901 In 1861 McKinley had to drop out of college due to
illness and shortage of money. He took a job at the post office
and then a job as a teacher making $25.00 a month. However, he
would go back to college after the Civil War and complete a law
degree. In June of 1861 he joined the Army. He was given a
$400.00 signing bonus (over a year’s salary for him) and $13.00
a month as a From 1869 to 1871 he was making $1,000.00 per year
as a prosecuting attorney in Canton, Ohio. According to the
Census he lived with his parents in 1870; he would move out in
1871 when he married Ida Saxton, who worked as the head teller
at her father’s bank. McKinley once borrowed $2,000.00 with a
bank loan in order to campaign for Congress. In 1892 he was
elected Governor of Ohio, where his salary was increased to
$8,000.00 per year. During a short hiatus from Congress he
served as the Chairman of the Ohio Republican Convention. He was
quoted as saying “I came to Congr