Sold – President William McKinley Tamps Down a Crisis Over Whether U.S. Policy Was Shifting in Favor of War in Cuba

“The only safe way is not to be interviewed, and then no ground for misrepresentation can be had. I have discovered that the only security is not to talk at all.”  
 

In 1888, as U.S. Senator, former Treasury Secretary, and brother of General Sherman, John Sherman was on the short list of likely Republican nominees for president. At the convention, one of his most vocal supporters was Congressman William McKinley; in fact, McKinley first made a national name for himself at that convention. When McKinley himself took office as President on March 4, 1897, he brought in the revered Sherman, his former presidential candidate, as Secretary of State.

The great foreign policy issue facing the United States when McKinley took office was how to handle the crisis in Cuba; and more specifically, whether to intervene to eject Spain by force. McKinley was a thoughtful and patient man, with a regard for Spanish sensibilities, and despite a strong interventionist lobby in his own party, he chose to continue President Cleveland's basic policy of watchful waiting rather than war. Late in the summer of 1897, a flash crisis flared up over Cuba and his Secretary of State’s public utterances indicating either a change in policy to one favoring war, or a policy disagreement with the President over how to handle Cuba.

After the Dingley Tariff Act was passed on July 24, the McKinleys departed for Lake Champlain and a brief summer outing. While he was away, the President’s relaxation was interrupted by reports in the press of an interview with Secretary Sherman: frustrated by what he saw as his isolation from policy-making, Sherman spoke out to a reporter, responding to his questions and saying yes, Cuba should be free; and no, Spain could not hold her. McKinley had to drop everything to calm newspaper and public fears of war, explaining away Sherman's words and tone, while also seeking to mollify a repentant Sherman, for whom he had affection and respect.

Typed Letter Signed, on Executive Mansion letterhead, two pages, Hotel Champlain, N.Y., August 18, 1897, being his very letter to Sherman doing that, starting by offering some diplomatic and personal chit chat, and ending by essentially instructing him to no longer speak with the press. “…The appointment of Mr. Hitchcock [Ethan Allen Hitchcock, later Secretary of the Interior] as Minister to Russia has been signed and will be forwarded to the State Department to-day. I am glad you and Mrs. Sherman are finding it so comfortable in Washington. I have feared the weather might be so extremely warm as to make it undesirable for you to remain there during the months of August and September. " Then the President continued, “I have noticed the newspaper articles to which you refer. You are quite right in saying that the best way is to remain quiet. The only safe way is not to be interviewed, and then no ground for misrepresentation can be had. I have discovered that the only security is not to talk at all.”  

Letters of McKinley as President with any content are very scarce, so to find one of importance to his Secretary of State on a major policy matter is unexpected to say the least.