Presidential History
Buffalo is filled with presidential history, ranging from tragic to triumphant.
William McKinley, for example, was assassinated at Buffalo's glorious Pan-American Exposition of 1901. A simple, somber marker lies on Fordham Avenue, the site of the fateful shot. McKinley was followed by Theodore Roosevelt, who took the oath of office on Sept. 14 1901, in a mansion at 641 Delaware Ave. Known as the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, this building is now a museum with high-tech interactive exhibits.
Grover Cleveland, the country's 22nd and 24th president, served as both sheriff of Erie County and mayor of Buffalo. Millard Fillmore, who lived in the nearby village of East Aurora, served as the first president of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and founded the University at Buffalo. President Fillmore is one of many famous Buffalonians buried in Buffalo's historic Forest Lawn.
Downtown's Lafayette and Niagara Squares hosted rousing presidential visits from Abraham Lincoln to John F. Kennedy.
