William Brown McKinley was born on September 5, 1856, near Petersburg, Illinois.
After attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two years, in around 1875 McKinley worked as a drug-store clerk in Springfield. He soon returned to Champaign to become a banker, specializing in farm mortgages.[1] He entered politics in 1902, being elected a trustee of the University of Illinois. McKinley ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1904, winning his first of four consecutive terms. He lost re-election to the House in 1912.[2] His re-election loss coincided with his service as national campaign manager for incumbent President William H. Taft, who also lost in 1912.[3]
Voters in 1914 returned McKinley to the U.S. House,[4] where he served from 1915 until 1921. In 1920, McKinley was elected to the U.S. Senate, taking office in 1921. In 1926, he ran for re-election and lost to Frank L. Smith (who ultimately was denied the seat by the Senate on the grounds of fraud and corruption in his campaign).[5]