Leon Czolgosz

Czolgosz was born in Alpena, Michigan,[3][4][5] on May 5, 1873.[lower-alpha 1] He was one of eight children[7] born to the Polish-American family of Paul Czolgosz and his wife Mary Nowak. The Czolgosz family moved to Detroit, Michigan, when Leon was 5 years old.[lower-alpha 2] When he was 10, while living in Posen, Michigan, Czolgosz's mother died six weeks after giving birth to his sister, Victoria.[9] In his mid-teens, he worked in a glass factory in Natrona, Pennsylvania.[10][11] By age 17, he found employment at the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company.[12]

After the economic crash of 1893, when the factory closed for some time and looked to reduce wages, the workers went on strike. With great economic and social turmoil around him, Czolgosz found little comfort in the Catholic Church and other immigrant institutions, and sought others who shared his concerns regarding injustice. He joined a moderate working man's socialist club, the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and eventually a more radical socialist group known as the Sila Club, where he became interested in anarchism.[13][14]

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In 1898, after witnessing a series of similar strikes, many ending in violence, and perhaps ill from a respiratory disease, Czolgosz went to live with his father, who had bought a 50-acre (20 ha) farm the year before in Warrensville, Ohio.[15][16] He did little to assist in the running of the farm and was constantly at odds with his stepmother and with his family's Roman Catholic beliefs. It was later recounted that throughout his life he had never shown any interest in friendship or romantic relationships and was bullied during his childhood by peers.[17]

He became a recluse.[18] He was impressed after hearing a speech by the anarchist Emma Goldman, whom he met for the first time during one of her lectures in Cleveland in May 1901. After the lecture, Czolgosz approached the speakers' platform and asked for reading recommendations. On the afternoon of July 12, 1901, he visited her at the home of Abraham Isaak, publisher of the newspaper Free Society, in Chicago and introduced himself as Fred Nieman (nobody),[lower-alpha 3] but Goldman was on her way to the train station. He only had enough time to explain to her about his disappointment in Cleveland's socialists, and for Goldman to introduce him to her anarchist friends who were at the train station.[20] She later wrote a piece in defense of Czolgosz,[21] which paints a portrait of him and his history much at odds with what has been recorded: "Who can tell how many times this American child has gloried in the celebration of the 4th of July, or on Decoration Day, when he faithfully honored the nation’s dead? Who knows but what he, too, was willing to 'fight for his country and die for her liberty?"

In the weeks that followed, his social awkwardness, his evasiveness, and his blunt inquiries about secret societies around Isaak and another anarchist, Emil Schilling, caused the radical Free Society newspaper to issue a warning pertaining to Czolgosz, on September 1, reading:[6]

ATTENTION! The attention of the comrades is called to another spy. He is well dressed, of medium height, rather narrow shoulders, blond and about 25 years of age. Up to the present he has made his appearance in Chicago and Cleveland. In the former place he remained but a short time, while in Cleveland he disappeared when the comrades had confirmed themselves of his identity and were on the point of exposing him. His demeanor is of the usual sort, pretending to be greatly interested in the cause, asking for names or soliciting aid for acts of contemplated violence. If this same individual makes his appearance elsewhere the comrades are warned in advance, and can act accordingly.

Czolgosz believed there was a great injustice in American society, an inequality which allowed the wealthy to enrich themselves by exploiting the poor. He concluded that the reason for this was the structure of government itself. Then he learned of a European crime which changed his life: On July 29, 1900, King Umberto I of Italy had been shot dead by anarchist Gaetano Bresci. Bresci told the press that he had decided to take matters into his own hands for the sake of the common man.[22]

New York City police lieutenant Joseph Petrosino believed that the same Italian-based anarchist group suspected of responsibility for King Umberto's death was also targeting President McKinley, but his warnings were ignored.[23]

On August 31, 1901, Czolgosz traveled to Buffalo, New York, the site of the Pan-American Exposition, where he rented a room in Nowak's Hotel at 1078 Broadway.[24]

On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed .32 caliber Iver Johnson "Safety Automatic" revolver[25][26] he had purchased four days earlier.[27] He approached McKinley, who had been standing in a receiving line inside the Temple of Music, greeting the public for ten minutes. At 4:07 P.M., Czolgosz reached the front of the line. McKinley extended his hand. Czolgosz slapped it aside and shot the President in the abdomen twice, at point blank range: the first bullet ricocheted off a coat button and lodged in McKinley's jacket; the other seriously wounded him in his stomach. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of an infection which had spread from the wound.

Members of the crowd immediately attacked Czolgosz, as McKinley slumped backward. McKinley said, "Go easy on him, boys."[28][29] The police struggled to keep the crowd off Czolgosz.[30] He was held in a cell at Buffalo's 13th Precinct house at 346 Austin Street until he was moved to police headquarters.

• 
  President McKinley greeting well-wishers at a reception in the Temple of Music minutes before he was shot September 6, 1901
• 
  A sketch of Czolgosz shooting McKinley.
• 
  Site of McKinley murder-marked by "x" in lower right.
• 
  Illustration of how Czolgosz's gun was concealed. Chicago Eagle, September 14, 1901
• 
  Handkerchief, pistol and bullets used by Czolgosz

Czolgosz brain autopsy

After McKinley's death, newly inaugurated President Theodore Roosevelt declared, "When compared with the suppression of anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance."[31]

On September 13, the day before McKinley succumbed to his wounds, Czolgosz was taken from the police headquarters, which were undergoing repairs, and transferred to the Erie County Women's Penitentiary. On September 16, he was brought to the Erie County Jail ahead of being arraigned before County Judge Emery. After the arraignment, Czolgosz was transferred to Auburn State Prison.[32]

A grand jury indicted Czolgosz on September 16 with one count of first-degree murder. Throughout his incarceration, Czolgosz spoke freely with his guards, but he refused every interaction with Robert C. Titus and Loran L. Lewis, the prominent judges-turned-attorneys assigned to defend him, and with the expert psychiatrist sent to test his sanity.[33]

The case was prosecuted by the Erie County District Attorney, Thomas Penney, and assistant D.A. Frederick Haller, whose performance was described as "flawless".[lower-alpha 4] Although Czolgosz answered that he was pleading "Guilty", presiding Judge Truman C. White overruled him and entered a "Not Guilty" plea on his behalf.[34]

Czolgosz's trial began in the state courthouse in Buffalo on September 23, 1901, only nine days after McKinley died. Prosecution testimony took two days and consisted principally of the doctors who treated McKinley and various eyewitnesses to the shooting. Lewis and his co-counsel called no witnesses, which Lewis in his closing argument attributed to Czolgosz's refusal to cooperate with them. In his 27-minute address to the jury, Lewis took pains to praise McKinley. Scott Miller, author of The President and the Assassin, notes that the closing argument was more calculated to defend the attorney's "place in the community, rather than an effort to spare his client the electric chair".[35]

Even had the jury believed the defense that Czolgosz was insane, by claiming that no sane man would have shot and killed the president in such a public and blatant manner, knowing he would be caught, there was still the legal definition of insanity to be overcome. Under New York law, Czolgosz was legally insane only if he was unable to understand what he was doing. And the jury was unconvinced of Czolgosz's insanity due to the directions given to them by White, thus convicting him in only less than a half-hour of deliberations (a jury member later said it would have been sooner but they wanted to review the evidence before conviction).[36]

Wikisource has a 1901 newspaper article related to the execution: "Buffalo Men at the Execution.: Leon Czolgosz

Czolgosz had two visits the night before his execution, one with two clergymen and another later in the night with his brother and brother-in-law. Even though Czolgosz refused Father Fudzinski and Father Hickey twice, Superintendent Collins permitted their visit and escorted them to his cell. The priests pleaded for 45-minutes for him to repent but he refused and they left. His brother and brother-in-law visited after the priests had left. His brother asked him "Who got you into this scrape?" to which Leon responded "No one. Nobody had anything to do with it but me." His brother responded saying this was unlike him and was not how he was raised. When asked by his brother if he wanted the priests to come back he responded, "No, ---- them; don't send them here again i don't want them" and "Don't you have any praying over me when I'm dead, I don't want it. I don't want none of their ---- religion." His father wrote a letter to his son the night before his execution, wishing him luck and informing him that he could no longer help him and Leon had to "pay the price for his actions."[37]

His last words were: "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father."[38] Czolgosz was electrocuted by three jolts, each of 1,800 volts, in Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901, 45 days after his victim's death. He was pronounced dead at 7:14 a.m.[39]

Czolgosz's brother, Waldek, and his brother-in-law, Frank Bandowski, were in attendance at the execution. When Waldek asked the warden for his brother's body to be taken for proper burial, he was informed that he "would never be able to take it away" and that crowds of people would mob him. Although post-trial Czolgosz and his attorneys were informed of his right to appeal the sentence, they chose not to after Czolgosz declined to appeal, and because the attorneys knew that there were no grounds for appeal; the trial had been "quick, swift, and fair."[40]

Czolgosz was autopsied by John E. Gerin;[lower-alpha 5] his brain was autopsied by Edward Anthony Spitzka. The autopsy showed his teeth were normal but in poor condition; likewise the external genitals were normal, although scars were present, the result of chancroids. The autopsy showed the deceased was in good health; a death mask was made of his face.[38] The body was buried on prison grounds following the autopsy. Prison authorities had planned to inter the body with quicklime to hasten its decomposition, but decided otherwise after testing quicklime on a sample of meat. After determining that they were not legally limited to the use of quicklime for the process, they poured sulfuric acid into Czolgosz's coffin so that his body would be completely disfigured.[41] The warden estimated that the acid caused the body to disintegrate within 12 hours.[39] His clothes and possessions were incinerated to discourage exhibitions of his life.[42]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Tragedy at Buffalo

Emma Goldman was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination, but was released, due to insufficient evidence. She later incurred a great deal of negative publicity when she published "The Tragedy at Buffalo". In the article, she compared Czolgosz to Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar, and called McKinley the "president of the money kings and trust magnates."[43] Other anarchists and radicals were unwilling to support Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement.[44]

The scene of the crime, the Temple of Music, was demolished in November 1901, along with the rest of the Exposition grounds. A stone marker in the median of Fordham Drive, a residential street in Buffalo, marks the approximate spot (42°56.321′N 78°52.416′W[45]) where the shooting occurred. Czolgosz's revolver is on display in the Pan-American Exposition exhibit at the Buffalo History Museum in Buffalo.

Lloyd Vernon Briggs, who later became the Director of the Massachusetts Department for Mental Hygiene, reviewed the Czolgosz case in 1901 on behalf of Dr. Walter Channing shortly after Czolgosz's death.[46]

Czolgosz's death was re-enacted in the silent film Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison. Czolgosz is also featured as a central character of Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins, in which his assassination of McKinley is depicted in a musical number called "The Ballad of Czolgosz". He was also portrayed in the Reaper episode "Leon" by Patton Oswalt as an escaped/captured/released/re-captured soul from Hell who could turn his arms into large guns, but had issues with his father. The 1990 film Slacker also makes a reference to Czolgosz, with a photograph on the wall.

• List of assassinations

• Carnes, Mark C. (1999). "Czolgosz, Leon F. (1873–1901), assassin of President William McKinley". In Garraty, John A.; Carnes, Mark C. (eds.). American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0500973. ISBN 0-19-520635-5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leon Czolgosz.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Leon Czolgosz

• Leon Czolgosz Signed Confession to the Assassination of President McKinley Shapell Manuscript Foundation
• Film: Execution of Czolgosz, with panorama of Auburn Prison (1901 reenactment), Library of Congress archives
• PBS biography of Czolgosz
• Leon Czolgosz - Mr. "Nobody": Original Letter
• Leon Czolgosz at Find a Grave
• Stone marker at assassination site