No TV – No Supermarket Tabloids – No “Talk” Radio

July 21, 1994


(No TV – No Supermarket Tabloids – No “Talk” Radio - How nice for sister Ida and brother-in-law William)

I’ll wager that few of you know about George Saxton. Reviewing some of the details in Margaret Leech’s excellent biography/history, IN THE DAYS OF MCKINLEY, the story of the murder of George Saxton popped before my eyes just when the murders of Nicole, divorced wife of O.J. Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman were the overwhelming focus of TV, the tabloids, and even the usually more circumspect news media.

George Saxton was murdered in Canton, Ohio in October, 1898. This was nation-wide news because George Saxton was the brother of Ida Saxton McKinley, wife of President William McKinley.

George Saxton, described as a “libertine” because of several notorious affairs, rode his bicycle to visit Mrs. Eva Althouse, a widow. As Saxton approached her house, shots rang out, Saxton fell, fatally wounded. Neighbors reported seeing a tall woman, dressed in black, hiding in the shrubbery.

The Canton police soon arrested Mrs. Anita George and charged her with the murder. She had been rejected by George Saxton after their affair had ruined her marriage and reputation. Her husband had sued Saxton for alienation of affection. Saxton had even appealed to the police for protection from Anita George. The scandal had been little noticed nationally, although big news in Canton, Ohio.

In the White House Ida Saxton McKinley was cruelly shocked, but never then or afterward made any public comment, although she must have known her brother’s reputation. Her health had been poor for years. President McKinley made it known that he was not George Saxton’s avenger; that he (the President) would abstain from any interference and that justice should take its usual course.

Anita George was indicted in January, 1899 and the trial was in April. She maintained her innocence. The prosecution had built a strong case for her guilt. Margaret Leech wrote, (p. 454), “The fate of Anita George hung in suspense until nearly the end of April. For Canton it was a month of titillating entertainment. Spectators packed the courtroom to gaze at the accused, and admire the modesty of her bearing; to hear the Saxton name smeared by the defense in testimony too salty to be printed in the newspapers; ...It was generally admitted that her guilt was solidly established; but the jury, after more than twenty-four hours, found otherwise. The verdict of not guilty was cheered by the spectators and by the crowd that had assembled in the street outside. A free woman, Anita left the courtroom, and vanished forever from public view.”

Now imagine, if you can, “Time Travel” to 1994 and have the murdered man the brother of our present First Lady. Can you picture the malicious glee of a Rush Limbaugh broadcast? Or the unctuous (money-raising) sermon of a Jerry Falwell? Or the political hay being baled by the two self-serving Pats, Robertson and Buchanan?

Then, too, consider the large tabloid headlines facing you as you checked out your goods at the supermarket bar code sensor and cash register!

After the trial, Anita George disappeared from view. Can you guess at the big $$$$$$ bucks she would have been offered today by the tabloids and TV? How many intrusive TV cameras and rude interviewers would have been infesting Canton during the trial?

President and Ida McKinley were spared that kind of cruel publicity because there was no TV, no radio, few telephones. The telegraph was main system for transmitting news. The later McKinley story was, of course, tragic. President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, N.Y. by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. Czolgosz simply waited in a long line of people to be greeted by the President. When he reached the President, he shot him with a short-barreled 38 he had in his hand, covered by a handkerchief.

There is a dark “underside” to much progress. One cannot wish that there were no TV, radio, fax machines, E mail and Internet (whatever that is). But so many persons seem to have a voracious appetite for sensation and sleaze. Can we learn to discriminate the sensational and seamy from plain fact reporting?

One fears that trial by TV and tabloid will undermine the presumption of innocence and trial by jury. Will all the profits reaped by the media corporations be any compensation whatever for serious distortions of the legal justice system?

Let’s hope that my fears are groundless.