Presidential Biographies | McKinley Administrations - Family Life

Family Life

McKinley married Ida Saxton, the daughter of a wealthy Canton, Ohio, businessman, on January 25, 1871. Less than a year later, their first child, Katherine, was born. Ida McKinley was pregnant with a second child two years later when she learned that her mother had died. Ida McKinley went into premature labor, delivering a sickly baby who died within the year. A few months later, the couple also buried their only surviving child, Katherine, who had contracted typhoid fever. Ida McKinley herself developed epilepsy and soon became dependent on her husband. McKinley was very devoted to his fragile wife—even as president he carefully tended to her needs.