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 The historic change, coming at the beginning of a three-day
presidential trip to Alaska, is a sign of how hard the White House
will push during Obama's remaining 16 months as president to ensure
his fight to address climate change is part of his legacy.
Renaming the mountain, which has an elevation of more than 20,000
feet (6,100 meters), makes headlines for his climate quest while
also creating goodwill in a state that has not been broadly
supportive to the Democratic president.
Obama is slated to tour a receding glacier and meet people in remote
Arctic communities whose way of life is affected by rising ocean
levels, creating images designed to build support for regulations to
curb carbon emissions.
 The peak was named Mount McKinley in 1896 after a gold prospector
exploring the region heard that Ohioan William McKinley, a champion
of the gold standard, had won the Republican nomination for
president.
But Alaska natives had long before called the mountain Denali,
meaning "the High One." In 1975, the state of Alaska officially
designated the mountain as Denali, and has since been pressing the
federal government to do the same.
Alaskans had been blocked in Congress by Ohio politicians, who
wanted to stick with McKinley as a lasting tribute to the 25th U.S.
president, who served from 1897 until his assassination in 1901.
Under Obama's action, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will use her
legal authority to end the long debate and rename the mountain.
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The move elicited praise from Alaska Governor Bill Walker, a
Republican turned independent, and Republican elected officials, who
more typically are critical of an administration they see as hostile
to the oil and gas interests of their state.
"I'd like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this
significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the
Athabascan people of Alaska," said Republican Senator Lisa
Murkowski, who led the fight for the Denali name in Congress.
But Ohio Senator Rob Portman said he was disappointed in what he
called "yet another example of the president going around Congress."
He urged the White House to find another way to honor McKinley in
Denali National Park.
(Additional reporting by Steve Quinn in Juneau, Alaska; Editing by
Peter Cooney, Robert Birsel)
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