Announcement of the Assassination of President McKinley to Representatives of the United States Abroad

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Sir : It is my painful duty to announce to you the death of William McKinley, President of the United States, in the city of Buffalo, at fifteen minutes past 2 in the morning of to-day, September 14.

Laid low by the act of an assassin, the week-long struggle to save his life has been watched with keen solicitude, not alone by the people of this country, who raised him from their own ranks to the high office he filled, but by the people of all friendly nations, whose messages of sympathy and hope, while hope was possible, have been most consolatory in this time of sore trial.

Now that the end has come, I request you to be the medium of communicating the sad tidings to the Government of the honored nation you so worthily represent, and to announce that in obedience to the prescriptions of the Constitution, the office of President has devolved upon Theodore Roosevelt, Vice-President of the United States.

Accept, sir, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration.

JOHN HAY.