--- description: President Barack Obama announced Sunday that he would rename Mount McKinley title: Here's How Mount McKinley Gained and Lost Its Name image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5b67366c9b3246d/698861afab6d7777d46a5f6e/mount-mckinley.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's How Denali Became Mount McKinley in the First Place  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2015 3:08 PM CUT  Mt. McKinley on May 15, 2014 in Denali National Park, Alaska. Mt. McKinley on May 15, 2014 in Denali National Park, Alaska.Lance King—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2015 3:08 PM CUT President Barack Obama [announced](http://time.com/4016799/mt-mckinley-denali-obama-alaska-ohio/ "undefined") Sunday that he would restore the original Native American name to the tallest peak in North America: Mount McKinley will once again be Denali. Ohio lawmakers vowed to battle the decision, arguing that the name change would dishonor one of the state’s most famous personages, former U.S. President William McKinley, from whom the mountain derived its name. “This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans,” [said](http://time.com/4016799/mt-mckinley-denali-obama-alaska-ohio/ "undefined") state lawmaker Bob Gibbs. The idea of changing the mountain’s name is not a new one—in the 1970s, for example, Alaska’s state government made a serious effort to persuade the federal government to do what Obama has just done. As [explained](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,947952,00.html "undefined") by a TIME story about that legal battle, the name “McKinley” was itself the product of a surprisingly personal political spat: --- > “” --- At the time, Ohio Congressman Ralph S. Regula was the one to respond with outrage, [writing to TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,919135-3,00.html "undefined") to dispute the idea that Alaskans wanted the switch, and to question the relevance of whether McKinley had visited the mountain or not. “It would be interesting to see if other Alaskan landmarks—Mount Foraker, Jefferson Peak, Fillmore Peak, Mount Cleveland, Grant Peak, Lincoln Island, Wilson Creek or Point Hayes—were visited by people for whom they were named,” he wrote. “All information I find indicates they were not.” ### See Breathtaking Views of the National Parks From Space  Yosemite National Park, Aug. 18, 2015 Jesse Allen—NASA  Colorado National Monument, Apr. 2, 2012 Jesse Allen—NASA  Redwood National Park, Feb. 6, 2003 Jesse Allen—NASA  Hot Springs National Park, Jun. 13, 2013 Jesse Allen—NASA  White Sands National Monument, Jun. 27, 2009 Jesse Allen—NASA  Shenandoah National Park, Oct. 13, 2010 Jesse Allen—NASA  Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, May 15, 2015 Jesse Allen—NASA  Big Bend National Park, May 10, 2002 Jesse Allen—NASA  Joshua Tree National Park, May 28, 2003 Jesse Allen—NASA  Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Sept. 19, 2002 Jesse Allen—NASA ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016954/mount-mckinley-denali-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016954/mount-mckinley-denali-obama/"},"headline":"Here's How Denali Became Mount McKinley in the First Place","datePublished":"2015-08-31T15:08:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:51.392Z","description":"\"McKinley never got near it.\"","url":"https://time.com/4016954/mount-mckinley-denali-obama/","keywords":["politics","History"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5b67366c9b3246d/698861afab6d7777d46a5f6e/mount-mckinley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5b67366c9b3246d/698861afab6d7777d46a5f6e/mount-mckinley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mount McKinley","caption":"Mount McKinley","creditText":"Lance King—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016954/mount-mckinley-denali-obama/","name":"Here's How Denali Became Mount McKinley in the First Place"}}]}] ```