Obama administration reverts Mount McKinley to original name, Ohio Republicans freak out

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There is no reason for Mount McKinley to be named Mount McKinley. McKinley never climbed it. He never even visited Alaska. The mountain, which is the highest point in North America, was named for the soon-to-be-president by a gold prospector in 1896, despite the fact that everyone else who lived in the area called the peak Denali.

President Wilson officially recognized the new name in 1917, but Alaskans continued to refer to the peak as Denali. When the state changed the peak’s name to coincide with the creation of the Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980, but the federal government did not follow suit. As reported by the Alaska Dispatch News:

Every year, the same story plays out in Washington, D.C.: Alaska legislators sometimes file bills to change the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, and every year, someone in the Ohio congressional delegation — the home state of the 25th President William McKinley — files legislation to block a name change.

Which gives a new definition to the word “petty.”

But yesterday, in advance of his trip to Alaska to talk about climate change, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the federal government would, finally, recognize the peak as Denali, a change that she said was “a long time coming.” The change is permissible without an act of Congress due to a 1947 law that allows the Secretary of the Interior to rename landmarks through the U.S. Board on Geographical Names.

As one could imagine, when you combine the pettiness of Ohio state pride with the pettiness of Republicans’ unbridled opposition to all things Obama, you get some positively amazing press releases.

Here’s what House Speaker John Boehner had to say:

There is a reason President McKinley’s name has served atop the highest peak in North America for more than 100 years, and that is because it is a testament to his great legacy. McKinley served our country with distinction during the Civil War as a member of the Army. He made a difference for his constituents and his state as a member of the House of Representatives and as Governor of the great state of Ohio. And he led this nation to prosperity and victory in the Spanish-American War as the 25th President of the United States. I’m deeply disappointed in this decision.

Rob Portman didn’t issue a press release, instead turning to Twitter to express dismay that the administration would ignore Congress in order to reject the legacy of a proud Ohioan:

I'm disappointed with the Administration's decision to change the name of Mt. McKinley in Alaska (1/5)

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 31, 2015

Pres McKinley was a proud Ohioan, and the mountain was named after him, as a way to remember his rich legacy after his assassination (2/5)

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 31, 2015

The naming of the mountain has been a topic of discussion in Congress for many years (3/5)

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 31, 2015

This decision by the Administration is yet another example of the President going around Congress (4/5)

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 31, 2015

I urge Admin 2 work w/ me 2 find alternative ways 2 preserve McKinley's legacy somewhere else in the natl park that once bore his name (5/5)

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 31, 2015

The most mad-libbed response, however, came from Congressman Bob Gibbs, who was my representative when I was at Kenyon. As Gibbs wrote:

Denali, via Wikimedia Commons

Congress passed the law in 1917 establishing the name of Mt. McKinley, and another act of Congress is required to make any further name changes. President McKinley is a well respected American hero who deserves to be honored and I hope my colleagues will join with me in stopping this constitutional overreach. President Obama has decided to ignore an act of Congress in unilaterally renaming Mt. McKinley in order to promote his job-killing War on Energy. This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans, and I will be working with the House Committee on Natural Resources to determine what can be done to prevent this action.

By fitting “constitutional overreach,” “job-killing,” “War on [issue]” and “political stunt” into the same paragraph, Gibbs, who introduced legislation in January to prevent changes to the peak’s name, wins Republican bingo for the day. Also, given the fact that the Secretary of the Interior absolutely does have the authority to make name changes, a power granted by an act of Congress, Gibbs’s statement is as factually incorrect as it is outraged.

At the end of the day, this really shouldn’t be that big of a deal for anyone other than the people of Alaska, whose name for the mountain has been ignored by the federal government for nearly 100 years. There are plenty of other things we can name for President McKinley that would make more sense (perhaps something in Ohio, or a place he actually visited).

Alaska’s congressional delegation, and residents, are (predictably) elated with the decision.

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