Replies to post #528379 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[B402]

A Change of Heart: McKinley’s Final Stance on Trade
By the end of his presidency, McKinley began to rethink his stance on high tariffs. In one of his final speeches, delivered at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901, he acknowledged that overly restrictive trade policies were unsustainable, stating:

"The period of exclusiveness is past… commercial wars are unprofitable. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the times; measures of retaliation are not."

(From your link of the bs pod.cast........The tariffs had accomplished their goal, now try reading his speech..)

[janice shell]

Good sources! From the first:

The backlash was swift. The McKinley Tariff proved deeply unpopular with working-class Americans, who saw everyday goods—from clothing to home essentials—become more expensive. In the 1890 midterm elections, voters delivered a landslide defeat to McKinley’s Republican Party, leading to one of the biggest political shifts in congressional history (Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies, 1903). The economic downturn that followed, culminating in the Panic of 1893, only intensified the criticism.

And there was no relief for years. He may have finally decided to try a new policy, but he was shot. So...

Only B4 would attempt to turn McKinley into a popular hero.