The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson A renegade shot President William McKinley to death when he was shaking hands with the locals in Buffalo New York on September 6, 1901. Leon Czolgsz was the assassin. Sam Ireland was a bodyguard at the time and Leon caught his eye but before he could go in to action it was too late. Dissipate the efforts of the surgeons McKinley died of his wounds eight (8) days later. After McKinley's death Roosevelt advocated managing natural resources and supervising big business. Even though he was on only 41 years old at the time of McKinley's death he