THE 45th and 47th President of the United States at his Second Inauguration said: “President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal.”
So who was McKinley? The 25th President of the United States “was undecided what to do about Spanish possessions other than Cuba, he toured the country (USA) and detected an imperialist sentiment. Thus the United States annexed the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.”
[https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-mckinley/]
And this is his justification for invading Rizal’s homeland: “Hold a moment longer! Not quite yet, gentlemen! Before you go, I would like to say just a word about the Philippine business. I have been criticized a good deal about the Philippines, but don’t deserve it. The truth is I didn’t want the Philippines, and when they came to us, as a gift from the gods, I did not know what to do with them. When the Spanish War broke out Dewey was at Hongkong, and I ordered him to go to Manila and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet, and he had to; because, if defeated, he had no place to refit on that side of the globe, and if the Dons were victorious, they would likely cross the Pacific and ravage our Oregon and California coasts. And so he had to destroy the Spanish fleet, and did it! But that was as far as I thought then.
“When next I realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps, I confess I did not know what to do with them. I sought counsel from all sides-Democrats as well as Republicans-but got little help. I thought first we would take only Manila; then Luzon; then other islands, perhaps, also.
“I walked the floor of the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed to Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way-I don’t know how it was, but it came:
“(1) That we could not give them back to Spain-that would be cowardly and dishonorable;
(2) That we could not turn them over to France or Germany, our commercial rivals in the Orient-that would be bad business and discreditable;
(3) That we could not leave them to themselves-they were unfit for self-government, and they would soon have anarchy and misrule worse than Spain’s was; and
(4) That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died.
“And then I went to bed and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the War Department (our map-maker), and I told him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States (pointing to a large map on the wall of his office), and there they are and there they will stay while I am President!” [General James Rusling, “Interview with President William McKinley,” The Christian Advocate, 22 January 1903]
He said this to a group of ministers in 1900. And for him, the incumbent Chief Executive ordered: “Sec. 3. Renaming of Mount McKinley. (a) President William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, heroically led our Nation to victory in the Spanish-American War. Under his leadership, the United States enjoyed rapid economic growth and prosperity, including an expansion of territorial gains for the Nation. President McKinley championed tariffs to protect US manufacturing, boost domestic production, and drive US industrialization and global reach to new heights. He was tragically assassinated in an attack on our Nation’s values and our success, and he should be honored for his steadfast commitment to American greatness. In 1917, the country officially honored President McKinley through the naming of North America’s highest peak. Yet after nearly a century, President Obama’s administration, in 2015, stripped the McKinley name from federal nomenclature, an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice. This order honors President McKinley for giving his life for our great Nation and dutifully recognizes his historic legacy of protecting America’s interests and generating enormous wealth for all Americans.” [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-names-that-honor-american-greatness/]
Donald also told the world on 20 January 2025: “The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.” [https://abcnews.go.com/US/read-donald-trumps-inauguration-speech-transcript/story?id=117903564]
For background: “The new ‘manifest-destiny’ precept means, in point of principle, not merely the incorporation in the United States of territory contiguous to our borders, but rather the acquisition of such territory, far and near, as may be useful in enlarging our commercial advantages, and in securing to our Navy facilities desirable for the operations of a great naval power.” [Carl Schurz, Harper’s Magazine, October, 1893]
As for Barsoom: “Of the extent to which this was realized at Flagstaff (Arizona), I need only say that the planet was observed there from May 24, 1894, to April 3, 1895, during which time, to mention nothing else, 917 drawings and sketches were made of it…Were Mars like the Earth, we might well despair of detecting signs of any Martians for some time yet.” [Mars (1895) by Percival Lowell; https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mars_(Lowell)]
This is the same Commander-in-Chief who “launched the Space Force” in his first presidency. [https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/donald-j-trump/]
