William McKinley was president of the United States during the period of overseas expansion that grew out of the war with Spain in 1898. The United States took possession of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines following the war and was faced with how to control its new territories’ resources and people. A popular speaker as a campaigner, McKinley wrote presidential messages and delivered addresses that proved significant in persuading Americans to adopt this expanded world role at the end of the nineteenth century. At a time when radio did not yet exist, the president had to make his case through the prose that his constituents read in their newspapers or in pamphlet form.