And so started The Spanish American War in 1898

President McKinley called on the US Congress to declare war on Spain on this day in 1898.

McKinley tried to keep a distance from the situation in Cuba.   However, everything changed on February 17, 1898 when the USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor.

And so started The Spanish American War.   It lasted 4 months and changed Cuba forever and made a national hero out of Theodore Roosevelt. 

In 1900, the McKinley-Roosevelt ticket won the election  easily.  Nine months later, Vice President Roosevelt became president when Mr McKinley was assassinated.

Back in 2009, we discussed The Spanish American War with the late John O’Donnell Rosales, who was President of The Sons of Spanish American War Veterans, Cuba Libre Camp #172. We recorded several shows with John over the years, and he was always a wealth of information on the Spanish American War. John unfortunately passed away in 2014.

Click to listen to this December/Christmas 2009 podcast:

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