James Buchcaan Jake Again and How He Became President

15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861

This article is well-nigh the president of the Us. For other people with the same name, see James Buchanan (disambiguation).

James Buchanan
Photograph by Mathew Brady, 1850–1868
15th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861
Vice President	John C. Breckinridge
Preceded past	Franklin Pierce
Succeeded by	Abraham Lincoln
20th United States Government minister to the United Kingdom
In office August 23, 1853 – March xv, 1856
President	Franklin Pierce
Preceded by	Joseph Reed Ingersoll
Succeeded by	George Yard. Dallas
17th United States Secretary of State
In part March 10, 1845 – March vii, 1849
President	James Yard. Polk Zachary Taylor
Preceded past	John C. Calhoun
Succeeded by	John One thousand. Clayton
United states Senator from Pennsylvania
In office December 6, 1834 – March five, 1845
Preceded past	William Wilkins
Succeeded past	Simon Cameron
fifth United States Minister to Russia
In function June 11, 1832 – August v, 1833
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	John Randolph
Succeeded by	William Wilkins
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
In office March v, 1829 – March three, 1831
Preceded by	Philip P. Barbour
Succeeded by	Warren R. Davis
Member of the U.Southward. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
In office March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1831
Preceded by	Jacob Hibshman (tertiary district) James S. Mitchell (fourth district)
Succeeded by	Daniel H. Miller (tertiary district) William Hiester (4th district)
Constituency	tertiary district (1821–1823) 4th commune (1823–1831)
Fellow member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Lancaster Canton
In office 1814–1816
Preceded by	Emanuel Reigart, Joel Lightner, Jacob Grosh, John Graff, Henry Hambright, Robert Maxwell
Succeeded by	Joel Lightner, Hugh Martin, John Forrey, Henry Hambright, Jasper Slaymaker, Jacob Grosh[1]
Personal details
Born	(1791-04-23)April 23, 1791 Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	June 1, 1868(1868-06-01) (aged 77) Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place	Woodward Hill Cemetery
Political party	Federalist (1814–1824) Democratic-Republican (1824–1828) Democratic (1828–1868)
Relatives	Harriet Lane (niece) James Buchanan Henry (nephew)
Education	Dickinson College (BA)
Occupation	Political leader lawyer
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Pennsylvania Militia
Years of service	1814[2]
Rank	Private
Unit	Henry Shippen's Company, 1st Brigade, 4th Division
Battles/wars	State of war of 1812 Defence of Baltimore

James Buchanan Jr. ( byoo-KAN-ən;^[iii] Apr 23, 1791 – June one, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served every bit the 15th president of the U.s. from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He was an abet for states' rights, particularly regarding slavery, and minimized the role of the federal government preceding the Civil War.

Buchanan was a prominent lawyer in Pennsylvania and won his beginning election to the state'southward Business firm of Representatives equally a Federalist. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1820 and retained that post for five terms, aligning with Andrew Jackson's Autonomous Party. Buchanan served every bit Jackson's minister to Russia in 1832. He won election in 1834 equally a U.Due south. senator from Pennsylvania and continued in that position for 11 years. He was appointed to serve as President James Grand. Polk's secretary of state in 1845, and eight years later was named as President Franklin Pierce's government minister to the Uk.

Beginning in 1844, Buchanan became a regular contender for the Democratic party's presidential nomination. He was finally nominated in 1856, defeating incumbent Franklin Pierce and Senator Stephen A. Douglas at the Democratic National Convention. He benefited from the fact that he had been out of the country, as ambassador in London, and had non been involved in slavery issues. Buchanan and running mate John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky carried every slave state except Maryland, defeating anti-slavery Republican John C. Frémont and Know-Nothing former president Millard Fillmore to win the 1856 presidential ballot.

Equally President, Buchanan intervened to assure the Supreme Court'due south bulk ruling in the pro-slavery conclusion in the Dred Scott case. He acceded to Southern attempts to engineer Kansas' entry into the Union equally a slave land under the Lecompton Constitution, and angered not merely Republicans but besides Northern Democrats. Buchanan honored his pledge to serve only one term, and supported Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the 1860 presidential ballot. He failed to reconcile the fractured Autonomous party amid the grudge against Stephen Douglas, leading to the ballot of Republican and one-time Congressman Abraham Lincoln.

Buchanan's leadership during his lame duck catamenia, before the American Civil State of war, has been widely criticized. He simultaneously angered the North by not stopping secession, and the South by non yielding to their demands. He supported the ineffective Corwin Amendment in an endeavour to reconcile the land. He made an unsuccessful attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter, simply otherwise refrained from preparing the military. His failure to forestall the Civil War has been described as incompetency, and he spent his last years defending his reputation. In his personal life, Buchanan never married, the but U.South. president to remain a lifelong bachelor, leading some to question his sexual orientation. Buchanan died of respiratory failure in 1868, and was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he had lived for nearly lx years. Historians and scholars consistently rank Buchanan as one of the worst presidents in American history.

Early life [edit]

James Buchanan Jr. was built-in Apr 23, 1791, in a log motel in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, to James Buchanan Sr. (1761–1821) and Elizabeth Speer (1767–1833).^[iv] His parents were both of Ulster Scot descent, and his begetter emigrated from Ramelton, Ireland in 1783. Before long after Buchanan's birth, the family moved to a subcontract virtually Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1794 the family unit moved into the town. His father became the wealthiest resident there, working every bit a merchant, farmer, and real estate investor.^[4]

Buchanan attended the Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg, and and so Dickinson Higher in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.^[5] He was near expelled for bad behavior, but pleaded for a second chance and ultimately graduated with honors in 1809.^[6] Subsequently that twelvemonth he moved to the state majuscule at Lancaster. James Hopkins, a leading lawyer there, accustomed Buchanan as an apprentice, and in 1812 he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. Many other lawyers moved to Harrisburg when it became the state capital letter in 1812, only Buchanan fabricated Lancaster his lifelong home. His income rapidly rose later on he established his practise, and by 1821 he was earning over $eleven,000 per year (equivalent to $220,000 in 2021). He handled various types of cases, including a much-publicized impeachment trial, where he successfully defended Pennsylvania Judge Walter Franklin.^[7]

Buchanan began his political career equally a member of the Federalist Party, and was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1814 and 1815.^[8] The legislature met for only three months a twelvemonth, but Buchanan'due south service helped him larn more than clients.^[9] Politically, he supported federally-funded internal improvements, a high tariff, and a national banking company. He became a stiff critic of Autonomous-Republican President James Madison during the War of 1812.^[10]

He was a Freemason, and served as the Master of Masonic Lodge No. 43 in Lancaster, and as a Commune Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Society of Pennsylvania.^[11]

War machine service [edit]

When the British invaded neighboring Maryland in 1814, he served in the defense of Baltimore as a private in Henry Shippen'due south Company, 1st Brigade, 4th Division, Pennsylvania Militia, a unit of yagers.^[12] Buchanan is the just president with armed forces feel who was not an officer.^[13] He is also the last president who served in the War of 1812.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Congressional career [edit]

U.S. House service [edit]

In 1820 Buchanan was elected to the U.Due south. Firm of Representatives, though the Federalist Political party was waning. During his tenure in Congress, he became a supporter of Andrew Jackson and an avid defender of states' rights. After the 1824 presidential election, he helped organize Jackson'south followers into the Democratic Party, and he became a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat. In Washington, he was close with many southern Congressmen, and viewed some New England Congressmen as dangerous radicals. He was appointed to the Agriculture Commission in his starting time year, and he somewhen became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He declined re-nomination to a 6th term, and briefly returned to private life.^[14]

Minister to Russia [edit]

After Jackson was re-elected in 1832, he offered Buchanan the position of United States Ambassador to Russian federation. Buchanan was reluctant to leave the country but ultimately agreed. He served as ambassador for 18 months, during which time he learned French, the merchandise language of diplomacy in the nineteenth century. He helped negotiate commercial and maritime treaties with the Russian Empire.^[15]

U.Southward. Senate service [edit]

Buchanan returned dwelling house and was elected by the Pennsylvania state legislature to succeed William Wilkins in the U.S. Senate. Wilkins in plow replaced Buchanan as the ambassador to Russia. The Jacksonian Buchanan, who was re-elected in 1836 and 1842, opposed the re-chartering of the Second Banking company of the United States and sought to expunge a congressional censure of Jackson stemming from the Bank State of war.^[16]

Buchanan as well opposed a gag rule sponsored past John C. Calhoun that would have suppressed anti-slavery petitions. He joined the majority in blocking the rule, with most senators of the belief that information technology would have the reverse event of strengthening the abolitionists.^[17] He said, "We have just every bit little correct to interfere with slavery in the South, as we have to touch the correct of petition."^[18] Buchanan thought that the issue of slavery was the domain of the states, and he faulted abolitionists for exciting passions over the issue.^[19]

His support of states' rights was matched by his support for Manifest Destiny, and he opposed the Webster–Ashburton Treaty for its "give up" of lands to the United Kingdom. Buchanan likewise argued for the annexation of both Texas and the Oregon Land. In the pb-up to the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Buchanan positioned himself as a potential alternative to former President Martin Van Buren, but the nomination went to James K. Polk, who won the election.^[19]

Diplomatic career [edit]

Secretary of State [edit]

Buchanan (second from the left) in Polk's cabinet, 1849

Buchanan was offered the position of Secretary of State in the Polk administration, as well as the alternative of serving on the Supreme Court. He accepted the State Department post and served for the duration of Polk's single term in function. He and Polk about doubled the territory of the United States through the Oregon Treaty and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which included territory that is now Texas, California, Nevada, New United mexican states, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.^[20] In negotiations with Uk over Oregon, Buchanan at start preferred a compromise, but later advocated for looting of the entire territory. Eventually, he agreed to a sectionalisation at the 49th parallel. Later on the outbreak of the Mexican–American War, he brash Polk against taking territory south of the Rio Grande River and New Mexico. Nevertheless, as the war came to an end, Buchanan argued for the annexation of further territory, and Polk began to doubtable that he was angling to go president. Buchanan did quietly seek the nomination at the 1848 Autonomous National Convention, as Polk had promised to serve only one term, but Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan was nominated.^[21]

Administrator to the United Kingdom [edit]

Bosom of James Buchanan past Henry Dexter at the National Portrait Gallery

With the 1848 ballot of Whig Zachary Taylor, Buchanan returned to private life. He bought the business firm of Wheatland on the outskirts of Lancaster and entertained various visitors, while monitoring political events.^[22] In 1852, he was named president of the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall Higher in Lancaster, and he served in this chapters until 1866.^[23] He quietly campaigned for the 1852 Democratic presidential nomination, writing a public letter of the alphabet that deplored the Wilmot Proviso, which proposed to ban slavery in new territories. He became known as a "doughface" due to his sympathy towards the S. At the 1852 Democratic National Convention, he won the support of many southern delegates but failed to win the 2-thirds support needed for the presidential nomination, which went to Franklin Pierce. Buchanan declined to serve as the vice presidential nominee, and the convention instead nominated his close friend, William King. Pierce won the 1852 ballot, and Buchanan accepted the position of United States Minister to the United Kingdom.^[24]

Buchanan sailed for England in the summer of 1853, and he remained away for the next three years. In 1850, the U.s. and Neat Britain had signed the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which committed both countries to joint control of any future culvert that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America. Buchanan met repeatedly with Lord Clarendon, the British foreign government minister, in hopes of pressuring the British to withdraw from Cardinal America. He also focussed on the potential annexation of Cuba, which had long interested him.^[25] At Pierce's prompting, Buchanan met in Confirm, Kingdom of belgium with U.Due south. Ambassador to Kingdom of spain Pierre Soulé and U.Due south. Ambassador to France John Bricklayer. A memorandum typhoon resulted, called the Ostend Manifesto, which proposed the purchase of Cuba from Kingdom of spain, and then in the midst of revolution and nigh bankruptcy. The document declared the island "every bit necessary to the Northward American republic as any of its present ... family of states". Against Buchanan's recommendation, the final draft of the manifesto suggested that "wresting it from Spain", if Spain refused to sell, would be justified "by every law, human and Divine".^[26] The manifesto, more often than not considered a blunder, was never acted upon, and weakened the Pierce administration and reduced support for Manifest Destiny.^{[26] [27]}

Presidential election of 1856 [edit]

1856 Map of electoral votes

Buchanan's service away allowed him to conveniently avoid the debate over the Kansas–Nebraska Act so roiling the land in the slavery dispute.^[28] While he did not overtly seek the presidency, he assented to the movement on his behalf.^[29] The 1856 Autonomous National Convention met in June 1856, producing a platform that reflected his views, including back up for the Avoiding Slave Law, which required the return of escaped slaves. The platform too chosen for an end to anti-slavery agitation, and U.South. "clout in the Gulf of Mexico".^[30] President Pierce hoped for re-nomination, while Senator Stephen A. Douglas also loomed every bit a strong candidate. Buchanan led on the showtime election, support by powerful Senators John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and Thomas F. Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader appealing to the Northward and South. He won the nomination afterward seventeen ballots. He was joined on the ticket by John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, placating supporters of Pierce and Douglas, besides allies of Breckinridge.^[31]

Buchanan faced two candidates in the full general election: former Whig President Millard Fillmore ran equally the American Political party (or "Know-Nothing") candidate, while John C. Frémont ran equally the Republican nominee. Buchanan did not actively campaign, but he wrote letters and pledged to uphold the Democratic platform. In the election, he carried every slave country except for Maryland, every bit well every bit 5 slavery-complimentary states, including his dwelling house country of Pennsylvania.^[31] He won 45 percent of the pop vote and decisively won the electoral vote, taking 174 of 296 votes. His ballot made him the first president from Pennsylvania. In a antagonistic victory speech, Buchanan denounced Republicans, calling them a "dangerous" and "geographical" party that had unfairly attacked the Due south.^[32] He also alleged, "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, Due north or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative authorities."^[33] He fix about this initially past feigning a sectional residue in his cabinet appointments.^[34]

Presidency (1857–1861) [edit]

Inauguration [edit]

Buchanan was inaugurated on March four, 1857, taking the oath of office from Master Justice Roger B. Taney. In his inaugural accost, Buchanan committed himself to serving only one term, as his predecessor had done. He expressed an abhorrence for the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories, while saying that Congress should play no part in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories.^[35] He also declared his back up for popular sovereignty. Buchanan recommended that a federal slave lawmaking exist enacted to protect the rights of slave-owners in federal territories. He alluded to a and then-pending Supreme Courtroom instance, Dred Scott five. Sandford, which he said would permanently settle the issue of slavery. Dred Scott was a slave who was temporarily taken from a slave country to a costless territory by his owner, John Sanford (the court misspelled his proper name). After Scott returned to the slave state, he filed a petition for his liberty based on his fourth dimension in the costless territory. The Dred Scott decision, rendered subsequently Buchanan's spoken communication, denied Scott'south petition in favor of his owner.^[35]

Personnel [edit]

Cabinet and administration [edit]

The Buchanan Chiffonier
Function	Proper noun	Term
President	James Buchanan	1857–1861
Vice President	John C. Breckinridge	1857–1861
Secretary of State	Lewis Cass	1857–1860
Jeremiah Southward. Black	1860–1861
Secretary of the Treasury	Howell Cobb	1857–1860
	Philip Francis Thomas	1860–1860
John Adams Dix	1861
Secretarial assistant of War	John B. Floyd	1857–1860
Joseph Holt	1861
Attorney General	Jeremiah Southward. Black	1857–1860
Edwin Stanton	1860–1861
Postmaster General	Aaron 5. Brown	1857–1859
	Joseph Holt	1859–1860
Horatio King	1861
Secretary of the Navy	Isaac Toucey	1857–1861
Secretary of the Interior	Jacob Thompson	1857–1861

As his inauguration approached, Buchanan sought to establish an obedient, harmonious chiffonier, to avert the in-fighting that had plagued Andrew Jackson's administration.^[36] He chose 4 Southerners and three Northerners, the latter of whom were all considered to be doughfaces (Southern sympathizers).^[37] His objective was to dominate the cabinet, and he chose men who would agree with his views.^[38] Concentrating on strange policy, he appointed the aging Lewis Cass as Secretary of Land. Buchanan'south appointment of Southerners and their allies alienated many in the Due north, and his failure to appoint any followers of Stephen A. Douglas divided the party.^[34] Exterior of the chiffonier, he left in place many of Pierce'due south appointments, but removed a disproportionate number of Northerners who had ties to Democrat opponents Pierce or Douglas. In that vein, he shortly alienated their ally, and his vice president, Breckinridge; the latter therefore played little part in the administration.^[39]

Judicial appointments [edit]

Buchanan appointed ane Justice, Nathan Clifford, to the Supreme Court of the U.s.a..^[40] He appointed seven other federal judges to U.s.a. district courts. He also appointed two judges to the U.s. Courtroom of Claims.^[41]

Intervention in the Dred Scott case [edit]

Ii days afterwards Buchanan's inauguration, Chief Justice Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, denying the enslaved petitioner'due south request for freedom. The ruling broadly asserted that Congress had no constitutional power to exclude slavery in the territories.^[42] Prior to his inauguration, Buchanan had written to Justice John Catron in January 1857, inquired about the outcome of the case, and suggested that a broader decision, beyond the specifics of the case, would exist more prudent.^[43] Buchanan hoped that a broad decision protecting slavery in the territories could lay the issue to residue, assuasive him to focus on other bug.^[44]

Catron, who was from Tennessee, replied on February 10, proverb that the Supreme Court's Southern bulk would make up one's mind against Scott, but would likely have to publish the conclusion on narrow grounds unless Buchanan could convince his swain Pennsylvanian, Justice Robert Cooper Grier, to join the majority of the court.^[45] Buchanan then wrote to Grier and prevailed upon him, providing the majority leverage to effect a broad-ranging determination, sufficient to return the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.^{[46] [47]} Buchanan's letters were not then public; he was, however, seen at his inauguration in whispered conversation with the Chief Justice. When the decision was issued, Republicans began spreading word that Taney had revealed to Buchanan the forthcoming issue. Rather than destroying the Republican platform every bit Buchanan had hoped, the decision outraged Northerners who denounced it.^[48]

Panic of 1857 [edit]

The Panic of 1857 began in the summer of that year, ushered in by the collapse of 1,400 state banks and 5,000 businesses. While the South escaped largely unscathed, numerous northern cities experienced desperate increases in unemployment. Buchanan agreed with the southerners who attributed the economic plummet to overspeculation.^[49]

Reflecting his Jacksonian background, Buchanan'south response was "reform non relief". While the authorities was "without the power to extend relief,"^[49] it would continue to pay its debts in specie, and while it would not curtail public works, none would be added. In hopes of reducing paper money supplies and inflation, he urged the states to restrict the banks to a credit level of $3 to $1 of specie and discouraged the utilize of federal or state bonds as security for bank note problems. The economy recovered in several years, though many Americans suffered as a result of the panic.^[l] Buchanan had hoped to reduce the deficit, merely past the time he left function the federal deficit stood at $17 meg.^[49]

Utah State of war [edit]

The Utah territory, settled in preceding decades past the Latter-day Saints and their leader Brigham Immature, had grown increasingly hostile to federal intervention. Young harassed federal officers and discouraged outsiders from settling in the Salt Lake City surface area. In September 1857, the Utah Territorial Militia, associated with the Latter-24-hour interval Saints, perpetrated the Mount Meadows massacre against Arkansans headed for California. Buchanan was offended by the militarism and polygamous beliefs of Immature.^[51]

Believing the Latter-day Saints to be in open up rebellion, Buchanan in July 1857 sent Alfred Cumming, accompanied past the Army, to supersede Young every bit governor. While the Latter-mean solar day Saints had often defied federal dominance, some historians consider Buchanan's action was an inappropriate response to uncorroborated reports.^[42] Complicating matters, Young'south find of his replacement was not delivered considering the Pierce administration had annulled the Utah mail contract.^[42] Immature reacted to the armed forces action by mustering a two-week expedition, destroying wagon trains, oxen, and other Regular army property. Buchanan then dispatched Thomas L. Kane every bit a private amanuensis to negotiate peace. The mission succeeded, the new governor took office, and the Utah War ended. The President granted amnesty to inhabitants affirming loyalty to the government, and placed the federal troops at a peaceable altitude for the balance of his administration.^[52]

Haemorrhage Kansas [edit]

The balance of complimentary and slave states and territories in 1858, after the admission of Minnesota

The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kansas Territory and allowed the settlers there to decide whether to let slavery. This resulted in violence between "Complimentary-Soil" (antislavery) and pro-slavery settlers, which developed into the "Haemorrhage Kansas" period. The antislavery settlers, with the aid of Northern abolitionists, organized a government in Topeka. The more numerous proslavery settlers, many from the neighboring slave state Missouri, established a government in Lecompton, giving the Territory ii dissimilar governments for a fourth dimension, with two singled-out constitutions, each claiming legitimacy.

The admission of Kansas equally a country required a constitution exist submitted to Congress with the blessing of a majority of its residents. Under President Pierce, a series of vehement confrontations escalated over who had the right to vote in Kansas. The situation drew national attending, and some in Georgia and Mississippi advocated secession should Kansas be admitted as a free state. Buchanan chose to endorse the pro-slavery Lecompton authorities.^[53]

Buchanan appointed Robert J. Walker to replace John W. Geary as Territorial Governor, with the expectation he would assist the proslavery faction in gaining approving of a new constitution.^[54] Nevertheless, Walker wavered on the slavery question, and there ensued conflicting referendums from Topeka and Lecompton, where election fraud occurred. In Oct 1857, the Lecompton government framed the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution and sent it to Buchanan without a referendum. Buchanan reluctantly rejected it, and he dispatched federal agents to arrange a compromise. The Lecompton government agreed to a referendum limited solely to the slavery question.^[55]

Despite the protests of Walker and ii sometime Kansas governors, Buchanan decided to accept the Lecompton Constitution. In a December 1857 meeting with Stephen Douglas, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories, Buchanan demanded that all Democrats support the administration's position of admitting Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. On February 2, he transmitted the Lecompton Constitution to Congress. He also transmitted a bulletin that attacked the "revolutionary government" in Topeka, conflating them with the Mormons in Utah. Buchanan made every try to secure congressional blessing, offering favors, patronage appointments, and even cash for votes. The Lecompton Constitution won the approval of the Senate in March, but a combination of Know-Nothings, Republicans, and northern Democrats defeated the neb in the House. Rather than accepting defeat, Buchanan backed the 1858 English language Beak, which offered Kansans firsthand statehood and vast public lands in commutation for accepting the Lecompton Constitution. In August 1858, Kansans by referendum strongly rejected the Lecompton Constitution.^[56]

The dispute over Kansas became the battlefront for control of the Autonomous Political party. On one side were Buchanan, well-nigh Southern Democrats, and the "doughfaces". On the other side were Douglas and about northern Democrats plus a few Southerners. Douglas'southward faction continued to support the doctrine of pop sovereignty, while Buchanan insisted that Democrats respect the Dred Scott decision and its repudiation of federal interference with slavery in the territories.^[57] The struggle concluded but with Buchanan's presidency. In the interim he used his patronage powers to remove Douglas sympathizers in Illinois and Washington, D.C., and installed pro-administration Democrats, including postmasters.^[58]

1858 mid-term elections [edit]

Douglas's Senate term was coming to an end in 1859, with the Illinois legislature, elected in 1858, determining whether Douglas would win re-election. The Senate seat was the primary issue of the legislative election, marked by the famous debates between Douglas and his Republican opponent for the seat, Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan, working through federal patronage appointees in Illinois, ran candidates for the legislature in contest with both the Republicans and the Douglas Democrats. This could easily accept thrown the ballot to the Republicans, and showed the depth of Buchanan'south animosity toward Douglas.^[59] In the end, Douglas Democrats won the legislative election and Douglas was re-elected to the Senate. In that twelvemonth's elections, Douglas forces took control throughout the North, except in Buchanan's home state of Pennsylvania. Buchanan'south support was otherwise reduced to a narrow base of operations of southerners.^{[54] [sixty]}

The division between northern and southern Democrats allowed the Republicans to win a plurality of the House in the 1858 elections, and allowed them to block most of Buchanan'due south agenda. Buchanan, in turn, added to the hostility with his veto of six substantial pieces of Republican legislation.^[61] Among these measures were the Homestead Human action, which would have given 160 acres of public land to settlers who remained on the land for five years, and the Morrill Act, which would accept granted public lands to establish land-grant colleges. Buchanan argued that these acts were unconstitutional.^[62]

Foreign policy [edit]

Buchanan took office with an aggressive strange policy, designed to establish U.S. hegemony over Central America at the expense of Great Britain.^[63] He hoped to re-negotiate the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which he thought limited U.S. influence in the region. He also sought to plant American protectorates over the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, and virtually chiefly, he hoped to achieve his long-term goal of acquiring Cuba. After long negotiations with the British, he convinced them to sacrifice the Bay Islands to Republic of honduras and the Musquito Coast to Nicaragua. However, Buchanan's ambitions in Cuba and Mexico were largely blocked past the Business firm of Representatives.^[64]

Buchanan besides considered buying Alaska from the Russian Empire, as a colony for Mormon settlers, but he and the Russians were unable to agree upon a price. In Communist china, the assistants won trade concessions in the Treaty of Tientsin.^[65] In 1858, Buchanan ordered the Paraguay expedition to punish Paraguay for firing on the USSWater Witch, and the expedition resulted in a Paraguayan apology and payment of an indemnity.^[64] The chiefs of Raiatea and Tahaa in the S Pacific, refusing to accept the rule of Rex Tamatoa V, unsuccessfully petitioned the United states of america to accept the islands under a protectorate in June 1858.^[66]

Buchanan was offered a herd of elephants by Male monarch Rama Four of Siam, though the letter arrived after Buchanan'south deviation from office. As Buchanan's successor, Lincoln declined the Rex's offer, citing the unsuitable climate.^[67] Other presidential pets included a pair of bald eagles and a Newfoundland dog.^[68]

Covode Commission [edit]

In March 1860, the House impaneled the Covode Committee to investigate the administration for alleged impeachable offenses, such as bribery and extortion of representatives. The committee, 3 Republicans and two Democrats, was accused past Buchanan's supporters of being nakedly partisan; they charged its chairman, Republican Rep. John Covode, with acting on a personal grudge from a disputed land grant designed to do good Covode'southward railroad company.^[69] The Democratic commission members, as well as Democratic witnesses, were enthusiastic in their condemnation of Buchanan.^{[lxx] [71]}

The committee was unable to plant grounds for impeaching Buchanan; withal, the majority report issued on June 17 alleged corruption and corruption of power among members of his cabinet. The report also included accusations from Republicans that Buchanan had attempted to ransom members of Congress, in connection with the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of Kansas. The Democrats pointed out that show was scarce, but did non refute the allegations; i of the Democratic members, Rep. James Robinson, stated that he agreed with the Republicans, though he did not sign it.^[71]

Buchanan claimed to have "passed triumphantly through this ordeal" with consummate vindication. Republican operatives distributed thousands of copies of the Covode Committee report throughout the nation as entrada fabric in that twelvemonth'due south presidential election.^{[72] [73]}

Ballot of 1860 [edit]

As he had promised in his countdown address, Buchanan did not seek re-election. He went and then far every bit to tell his ultimate successor, "If yous are as happy in inbound the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland [his domicile], y'all are a happy man."^[74]

The 1860 Autonomous National Convention convened in April of that year and, though Douglas led after every election, he was unable to win the ii-thirds majority required. The convention adjourned after 53 ballots, and re-convened in Baltimore in June. Later on Douglas finally won the nomination, several Southerners refused to accept the consequence, and nominated Vice President Breckinridge as their own candidate. Douglas and Breckinridge agreed on most bug except the protection of slavery. Buchanan, nursing a grudge against Douglas, failed to reconcile the party, and tepidly supported Breckinridge. With the splintering of the Autonomous Party, Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln won a four-manner election that also included John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln's support in the North was enough to requite him an Electoral Higher bulk. Buchanan became the last Democrat to win a presidential election until Grover Cleveland in 1884.^[75]

Equally early as October, the ground forces'south Commanding General, Winfield Scott, an opponent of Buchanan, warned him that Lincoln'south ballot would likely cause at to the lowest degree seven states to secede from the wedlock. He recommended that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal belongings, although he also warned that few reinforcements were available. Since 1857 Congress had failed to heed calls for a stronger militia and immune the army to autumn into sorry condition.^[76] Buchanan distrusted Scott and ignored his recommendations.^[77] After Lincoln'south election, Buchanan directed State of war Secretary Floyd to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms, and men as were available; nevertheless, Floyd persuaded him to revoke the order.^[76]

Secession [edit]

With Lincoln'due south victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling signal, putting the burden on Buchanan to address it in his last speech to Congress on December 10. In his bulletin, which was anticipated by both factions, Buchanan denied the right of states to secede only maintained the federal regime was without ability to prevent them. He placed the blame for the crisis solely on "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States," and suggested that if they did non "repeal their unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments ... the injured States, after having first used all peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress, would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Matrimony."^{[78] [79]} Buchanan'due south only suggestion to solve the crunch was "an explanatory amendment" affirming the constitutionality of slavery in usa, the fugitive slave laws, and popular sovereignty in the territories.^[78] His address was sharply criticized both by the N, for its refusal to stop secession, and the South, for denying its correct to secede.^[eighty] Five days later the address was delivered, Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb resigned, as his views had get irreconcilable with the President'south.^[81]

Status of the states, 1861

  States that seceded before April 15, 1861

  States that seceded after April xv, 1861

  Union states that permitted slavery

  Union states that banned slavery

  Territories

South Carolina, long the almost radical Southern state, seceded from the Spousal relationship on December 20, 1860. However, Unionist sentiment remained potent amidst many in the Southward, and Buchanan sought to appeal to the Southern moderates who might prevent secession in other states. He proposed passage of constitutional amendments protecting slavery in the states and territories. He likewise met with Due south Carolinian commissioners in an attempt to resolve the situation at Fort Sumter, which federal forces remained in control of despite its location in Charleston, South Carolina. He refused to dismiss Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson later the latter was chosen as Mississippi's agent to talk over secession, and he refused to burn down Secretary of State of war John B. Floyd despite an embezzlement scandal. Floyd ended up resigning, but non before sending numerous firearms to Southern states, where they eventually fell into the hands of the Confederacy. Despite Floyd'southward resignation, Buchanan continued to seek the communication of counselors from the Deep South, including Jefferson Davis and William Henry Trescot.^[82]

Efforts were fabricated in vain by Sen. John J. Crittenden, Rep. Thomas Corwin, and former president John Tyler to negotiate a compromise to finish secession, with Buchanan's support. Failed attempts were also fabricated by a group of governors coming together in New York. Buchanan secretly asked President-elect Lincoln to call for a national plebiscite on the consequence of slavery, but Lincoln declined.^[83]

Despite the efforts of Buchanan and others, six more slave states seceded by the cease of January 1861. Buchanan replaced the departed Southern chiffonier members with John Adams Dix, Edwin M. Stanton, and Joseph Holt, all of whom were committed to preserving the Wedlock. When Buchanan considered surrendering Fort Sumter, the new cabinet members threatened to resign, and Buchanan relented. On January five, Buchanan decided to reinforce Fort Sumter, sending the Star of the W with 250 men and supplies. However, he failed to ask Major Robert Anderson to provide covering fire for the transport, and it was forced to return North without delivering troops or supplies. Buchanan chose non to reply to this act of war, and instead sought to find a compromise to avoid secession. He received a March 3 bulletin from Anderson, that supplies were running low, but the response became Lincoln'due south to brand, as the latter succeeded to the presidency the next solar day.^[84]

Proposed constitutional subpoena [edit]

On March 2, 1861, Congress approved an amendment to the U.s.a. Constitution that would shield "domestic institutions" of us, including slavery, from the ramble amendment process and from abolition or interference past Congress. The proposed subpoena was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. Commonly known as the Corwin Subpoena, it was never ratified by the requisite number of states.

States admitted to the Matrimony [edit]

Three new states were admitted to the Spousal relationship while Buchanan was in function:

• Minnesota – May xi, 1858^[85]
• Oregon – February 14, 1859^[86]
• Kansas – Jan 29, 1861

Mail service-presidency (1861–1868) [edit]

Buchanan in his later years. c. mid-1860s

The Civil War erupted within two months of Buchanan'due south retirement. He supported the Matrimony, writing to old colleagues that, "the set on upon Sumter was the commencement of war past the Confederate states, and no alternative was left but to prosecute it with vigor on our part."^[87] He as well wrote a letter to his swain Pennsylvania Democrats, urging them to "bring together the many thousands of brave & patriotic volunteers who are already in the field."^[87]

Buchanan was dedicated to defending his actions prior to the Civil War, which was referred to by some as "Buchanan'due south State of war".^[87] He received threatening letters daily, and stores displayed Buchanan'due south likeness with the eyes inked red, a noose fatigued effectually his neck and the word "TRAITOR" written across his forehead. The Senate proposed a resolution of condemnation which ultimately failed, and newspapers accused him of colluding with the Confederacy. His onetime chiffonier members, five of whom had been given jobs in the Lincoln assistants, refused to defend Buchanan publicly.^[88]

Buchanan became distraught by the vitriolic attacks levied confronting him, and roughshod sick and depressed. In Oct 1862, he defended himself in an exchange of messages with Winfield Scott, published in the National Intelligencer.^[89] He shortly began writing his fullest public defense, in the course of his memoir Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion, which was published in 1866.^[90]

Soon after the publication of the memoir, Buchanan caught a cold in May 1868, which apace worsened due to his advanced age. He died on June 1, 1868, of respiratory failure at the age of 77 at his home at Wheatland. He was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster.^[90]

Political views [edit]

Buchanan was frequently considered by anti-slavery northerners a "doughface", a northerner with pro-southern principles.^[91] Soon after his election, he said that the "keen object" of his assistants was "to arrest, if possible, the agitation of the Slavery question in the Due north and to destroy exclusive parties".^[91] Although Buchanan was personally opposed to slavery,^[16] he believed that the abolitionists were preventing the solution to the slavery problem. He stated, "Before [the abolitionists] commenced this agitation, a very big and growing party existed in several of the slave states in favor of the gradual abolitionism of slavery; and now not a vocalism is heard in that location in back up of such a measure. The abolitionists have postponed the emancipation of the slaves in iii or four states for at least half a century."^[92] In deference to the intentions of the typical slaveholder, he was willing to provide the do good of the doubt. In his third annual message to Congress, the president claimed that the slaves were "treated with kindness and humanity. ... Both the philanthropy and the self-involvement of the main take combined to produce this humane upshot."^[93]

Buchanan thought restraint was the essence of good self-government. He believed the constitution comprised "... restraints, imposed non by arbitrary say-so, but by the people upon themselves and their representatives. ... In an enlarged view, the people'southward interests may seem identical, just to the eye of local and sectional prejudice, they ever appear to be conflicting ... and the jealousies that volition perpetually arise can be repressed but by the mutual forbearance which pervades the constitution."^[94] Regarding slavery and the Constitution, he stated: "Although in Pennsylvania we are all opposed to slavery in the abstract, we can never violate the constitutional compact we take with our sister states. Their rights volition exist held sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their ain question; and in that location let it remain."^[92]

James Buchanan'due south Firm, Wheatland.

I of the prominent problems of the day was tariffs.^[95] Buchanan was conflicted past costless trade as well as prohibitive tariffs, since either would benefit ane section of the land to the detriment of the other. As a senator from Pennsylvania, he said: "I am viewed as the strongest advocate of protection in other states, whilst I am denounced as its enemy in Pennsylvania."^[96]

Buchanan was also torn between his desire to expand the state for the general welfare of the nation, and to guarantee the rights of the people settling detail areas. On territorial expansion, he said, "What, sir? Prevent the people from crossing the Rocky Mountains? You might just every bit well command the Niagara non to menses. We must fulfill our destiny."^[97] On the resulting spread of slavery, through unconditional expansion, he stated: "I feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the nowadays limits of the Union over a new slave-belongings territory." For instance, he hoped the acquisition of Texas would "be the means of limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery."^[97]

Romantic life [edit]

In 1818, Buchanan met Anne Caroline Coleman at a g ball in Lancaster, and the two began courtship. Anne was the daughter of wealthy atomic number 26 manufacturer Robert Coleman. She was likewise the sister-in-police of Philadelphia judge Joseph Hemphill, one of Buchanan's colleagues. By 1819, the two were engaged, but spent lilliputian time together. Buchanan was busy with his police force firm and political projects during the Panic of 1819, which took him away from Coleman for weeks at a fourth dimension. Rumors abounded, every bit some suggested that he was marrying her just for money; others said he was involved with other (unidentified) women. Messages from Coleman revealed she was aware of several rumors.^[98] She bankrupt off the appointment, and soon later, on Dec nine, 1819, suddenly died.^[99] Buchanan wrote to her father for permission to attend the funeral, which was refused.^[100]

After Coleman'due south expiry, Buchanan never courted some other woman. At the time of her funeral, he said that, "I feel happiness has fled from me forever."^[101] During his presidency, an orphaned niece, Harriet Lane, whom he had adopted, served as official White House hostess.^[102] There was an unfounded rumor that he had an affair with President Polk's widow, Sarah Childress Polk.^[103]

Buchanan's lifelong bachelorhood subsequently Anne Coleman'south death has fatigued involvement and speculation.^[104] Some theorize that Anne'southward death simply served to deflect questions virtually Buchanan'southward sexuality and bachelorhood.^[101] Several writers take surmised that he was homosexual, including James Due west. Loewen,^[105] Robert P. Watson, and Shelley Ross.^{[106] [107]} Ane of his biographers, Jean Baker, suggests that Buchanan was chaste, if not asexual.^[108]

Buchanan had a close relationship with William Rufus Male monarch, which became a pop target of gossip. King was an Alabama politician who briefly served as vice president under Franklin Pierce. Buchanan and Male monarch lived together in a Washington boardinghouse and attended social functions together from 1834 until 1844. Such a living arrangement was then common, though Rex once referred to the relationship as a "communion".^[103] Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy" and Buchanan's Postmaster Full general Aaron 5. Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "ameliorate one-half", "wife", and "Aunt Fancy".^{[109] [110] [111]} Loewen indicated that Buchanan belatedly in life wrote a alphabetic character acknowledging that he might marry a woman who could accept his "lack of ardent or romantic amore".^{[112] [113]} Catherine Thompson, the wife of cabinet fellow member Jacob Thompson, after noted that "there was something unhealthy in the president'due south attitude."^[103] King died of tuberculosis soon afterwards Pierce'due south inauguration, four years before Buchanan became president. Buchanan described him as "among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known".^[103] Biographer Bakery opines that both men's nieces may have destroyed correspondence between the two men. Withal, she believes that their surviving messages illustrate only "the affection of a special friendship".^[104]

Legacy [edit]

Historical reputation [edit]

Though Buchanan predicted that "history will vindicate my memory,"^[114] historians have criticized Buchanan for his unwillingness or inability to deed in the confront of secession. Historical rankings of presidents of the United States without exception place Buchanan amongst the least successful presidents. When scholars are surveyed, he ranks at or near the bottom in terms of vision/agenda-setting, domestic leadership, foreign policy leadership, moral authorisation, and positive historical significance of their legacy.^[115]

Buchanan biographer Philip Klein focuses upon challenges Buchanan faced:

Buchanan assumed leadership ... when an unprecedented wave of aroused passion was sweeping over the nation. That he held the hostile sections in check during these revolutionary times was in itself a remarkable achievement. His weaknesses in the stormy years of his presidency were magnified by enraged partisans of the Northward and South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might accept gained for him a place among the great presidents, were quickly overshadowed past the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering Abraham Lincoln.^[116]

Biographer Jean Baker is less charitable to Buchanan, saying in 2004:

Americans take conveniently misled themselves about the presidency of James Buchanan, preferring to allocate him as indecisive and inactive ... In fact Buchanan's failing during the crisis over the Union was non inactivity, just rather his partiality for the South, a favoritism that bordered on disloyalty in an officeholder pledged to defend all the Usa. He was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had merely rendered him too cocky-confident to consider other views. In his betrayal of the national trust, Buchanan came closer to committing treason than any other president in American history.^[117]

Memorials [edit]

A bronze and granite memorial near the southeast corner of Washington, D.C.'due south Tiptop Hill Park was designed by architect William Gorden Beecher and sculpted by Maryland artist Hans Schuler. It was commissioned in 1916 but not approved past the U.South. Congress until 1918, and non completed and unveiled until June 26, 1930. The memorial features a statue of Buchanan, bookended past male and female classical figures representing constabulary and diplomacy, with engraved text reading: "The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the police force," a quote from a member of Buchanan'south cabinet, Jeremiah S. Blackness.^[118]

Buchanan memorial, Washington, D.C.

An earlier monument was constructed in 1907–08 and dedicated in 1911, on the site of Buchanan'due south birthplace in Stony Batter, Pennsylvania. Part of the original 18.5-acre (75,000 mⁱⁱ) memorial site is a 250-ton pyramid structure that stands on the site of the original cabin where Buchanan was built-in. The monument was designed to show the original weathered surface of the native rubble and mortar.^[119]

Iii counties are named in his award, in Iowa, Missouri, and Virginia. Some other in Texas was christened in 1858 but renamed Stephens County, after the newly elected Vice President of the Confederate States of America, Alexander Stephens, in 1861.^[120] The city of Buchanan, Michigan, was likewise named after him.^[121] Several other communities are named after him: the unincorporated customs of Buchanan, Indiana, the city of Buchanan, Georgia, the town of Buchanan, Wisconsin, and the townships of Buchanan Township, Michigan, and Buchanan, Missouri.

James Buchanan High School is a small, rural high school located on the outskirts of his childhood hometown, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.

Popular culture depictions [edit]

Buchanan and his legacy are central to the flick Raising Buchanan (2019). He is portrayed by René Auberjonois.^[122]

Come across likewise [edit]

• Historical rankings of presidents of the United states of america
• Listing of presidents of the U.s.a.
• List of presidents of the U.s.a. past previous experience
• Presidents of the U.s. on U.S. postage stamps
• List of federal political sex scandals in the United States

References [edit]

1. ^ Ellis, Franklin; Evans, Samuel (1883). History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Vol. one. Philadelphia: Everts & Peck. p. 214.
2. ^ Curtis, George Ticknor (1883). Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the U.s.. Vol. one. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. x. ISBN978-1-62376-821-8.
3. ^ Olausson, Lena; Sangster, Catherine (2006). Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation. Oxford University Press. p. 56. ISBN0-xix-280710-2.
4. ^ ^{a b} Baker 2004, pp. 9–12.
5. ^ Baker 2004, pp. 12.
6. ^ Klein 1962, pp. 9–12.
7. ^ Bakery 2004, pp. xiii–sixteen.
8. ^ Curtis 1883, p. 22.
9. ^ Baker 2004, p. xviii.
10. ^ Baker 2004, pp. 17–18.
11. ^ Klein 1962, p. 27.
12. ^ Montgomery, Thomas Lynch (1907). Pennsylvania Athenaeum: 6th Series. Vol. VII. Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Company. p. 906.
13. ^ O'Brien, Marco. "Armed forces trivia facts". Military.com. Military Advantage, a division of Monster Worldwide. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Only one President (James Buchanan) served as an enlisted person in the military and did not keep to become an officer.
14. ^ Baker 2004, pp. 23–xxx.
15. ^ Bakery 2004, pp. xxx–31.
16. ^ ^{a b} Baker 2004, p. thirty.
17. ^ Secretary of the United States Senate. "Gag dominion". Us Senate. Retrieved Jan 9, 2022.
18. ^ Baker 2004, p. 32.
19. ^ ^{a b} Baker 2004, pp. 30–38.
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26. ^ ^{a b} McPherson 1988, p. 110.
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68. ^ "Height 10 Strangest Presidential Pets". PetMD . Retrieved March 22, 2019.
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71. ^ ^{a b} Grossman 2003, p. 78.
72. ^ Bakery 2004, pp. 114–118.
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76. ^ ^{a b} Klein 1962, pp. 356–358.
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78. ^ ^{a b} Buchanan (1860)
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80. ^ Klein 1962, p. 363.
81. ^ "The Resignation of Secretary Cobb. The Correspondence". The New York Times. Dec 14, 1860. (subscription required)
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85. ^ "Today in History: May 11". Library of Congress. Retrieved January ix, 2022.
86. ^ "Oregon". A+E Networks Corp. Retrieved February xvi, 2017.
87. ^ ^{a b c} Birkner, Michael (September 20, 2005). "Buchanan'south Civil State of war". Archived from the original on October xix, 2011. Retrieved Dec 22, 2013.
88. ^ Klein 1962, pp. 408–413.
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91. ^ ^{a b} Stampp 1990, p. 48.
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93. ^ "Tertiary Annual Message (Dec xix, 1859)". The Miller Center at the University of Virginia. Archived from the original on Jan 6, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
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97. ^ ^{a b} Klein 1962, p. 147.
98. ^ Boertlein, John (2010). Presidential Confidential: Sex activity, Scandal, Murder and Mayhem in the Oval Role. Cincinnati, Ohio: Clerisy Press. p. 101. ISBN978-1-57860-361-9.
99. ^ Klein 1955.
100. ^ Sandburg, Carl (1939). Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. Vol. one. New York Urban center: Harcourt, Brace & Visitor. p. 22. ISBN978-i-299-11525-five.
101. ^ ^{a b} Dunn, Charles (1999). The Red Thread of Scandal: Morality and the American Presidency . Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. ISBN978-0-8476-9606-2.
102. ^ "Harriet Lane". The White House. Retrieved May eleven, 2013.
103. ^ ^{a b c d} Watson 2012, p. 247
104. ^ ^{a b} Bakery 2004, pp. 25–26.
105. ^ Loewen, James W. (1999). Lies across America: What our Historic Sites get Incorrect. New York City: The New Press. ISBN978-0-684-87067-0.
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113. ^ Loewen, James (2009). Lies Across America. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. pp. 342–45.
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118. ^ Strauss 2016, p. 213.
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120. ^ Beatty 2001, p. 310.
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122. ^ "Raising Buchanan on IMDB". IMDb. April 12, 2019.

Works cited [edit]

• Bakery, Jean H. (2004). James Buchanan. Times Books. ISBN978-0-8050-6946-four.
• Beatty, Michael A. (2001). County Proper name Origins of the Us. McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-1025-5.
• Chadwick, Bruce (2008). 1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert East. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to Encounter. Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN978-1-4022-0941-3.
• Curtis, George Ticknor (1883). Life of James Buchanan: Fifteenth President of the United states of america. Vol. 2. Harper & Brothers. ISBN978-i-4047-5444-7.
• Flude, Anthony M. (March 2012). "Manuscript XXIII: A Raiatean Petition for American Protection". The Journal of Pacific History. Canberra: Australian National University. 47 (ane): 111–121. doi:ten.1080/00223344.2011.632982. OCLC 785915823. S2CID 159847026.
• Grossman, Mark (2003). Political Abuse in America: An Encyclopedia of Scandals, Power, and Greed . ABC-CLIO. ISBN978-i-57607-060-4.
• Hall, Timothy 50. (2001). Supreme Court justices: a biographical lexicon. Infobase Publishing. ISBN978-0-8153-1176-viii.
• Klein, Philip Shriver (Dec 1955). "The Lost Honey of a Bachelor President". American Heritage Magazine. 7 (one). Retrieved November 29, 2012.
• Klein, Philip S. (1962). President James Buchanan: A Biography (1995 ed.). American Political Biography Press. ISBN978-0-945707-11-0.
• Jurinski, James John (2012). Tax Reform: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN978-1-59884-322-4.
• McPherson, James Chiliad. (1988). Battle Weep of Freedom: The Civil State of war Era. Oxford Academy Press. ISBN978-0-19-974390-ii.
• Potter, David Morris (1976). The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 . Harper & Row. ISBN978-0-06-090524-8. Pulitzer prize.
• Ross, Shelley (1988). Autumn from Grace: Sex, Scandal, and Abuse in American Politics from 1702 to the Nowadays . Ballantine Books. ISBN978-0-345-35381-8.
• Smith, Elbert (1975). The Presidency of James Buchanan . University Press of Kansas. ISBN978-0-7006-0132-5.
• Stampp, Kenneth K. (1990). America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink. Oxford Academy Press. ISBN978-0-19-507481-ix.
• Strauss, Robert (2016). Worst. President. E'er.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN978-i-4930-2484-1.
• Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2009). The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History: A Political, Social, and Military machine History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN978-1-85109-952-8.
• Watson, Robert P. (2012). Diplomacy of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal, 1789–1900. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN978-1-4422-1836-nine.

Farther reading [edit]

Secondary sources [edit]

• Balcerski, Thomas J. Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King Oxford University Press, 2019. online review
• Balcerski, Thomas J. "Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston." in A Companion to Beginning Ladies (2016): 197–213.
• Binder, Frederick Moore (1992). "James Buchanan: Jacksonian Expansionist". Historian. 55 (one): 69–84. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1992.tb00886.ten. ISSN 0018-2370.
• Binder, Frederick Moore (1994). James Buchanan and the American Empire. Susquehanna University Press. ISBN978-0-945636-64-nine.
• Birkner, Michael J., ed. (1996). James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s. Susquehanna Academy Printing. ISBN978-0-945636-89-2.
• Birkner, Michael J., et al. eds. The Worlds of James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens: Place, Personality, and Politics in the Ceremonious War Era (Louisiana State University Press, 2019)
• Meerse, David (1995). "Buchanan, the Patronage, and the Lecompton Constitution: a Case Study". Ceremonious War History. 41 (four): 291–312. doi:10.1353/cwh.1995.0017. ISSN 0009-8078.
• Nevins, Allan (1950). The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857–1859. Scribner. ISBN978-0-684-10415-vii.
• Nichols, Roy Franklin; The Democratic Machine, 1850–1854 (1923), detailed narrative; online
• Quist, John W.; Birkner, Michael J., eds. (2013). James Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil State of war. Academy Press of Florida. ISBN978-0-8130-4426-2.
• Rhodes, James Ford (1906). History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Finish of the Roosevelt Assistants. Vol. 2. Macmillan.
• Rosenberger, Homer T. "Inauguration of President Buchanan a Century Ago." Records of the Columbia Historical Society 57 (1957): 96-122 online.
• Silbey, Joel H. (2014). A Companion to the Antebellum Presidents 1837–1861. Wiley. pp. 397–464. ISBN978-1-118-60929-3.
• Updike, John (2013) [1974]. Buchanan Dying: A Play. Random Business firm Publishing Grouping. ISBN978-0-8129-8491-0. , fictional.
• Wells, Damon. "Douglas and Goliath." in Stephen Douglas (Academy of Texas Press, 1971) pp. 12–54. on Douglas and Buchanan. online

Main sources [edit]

• Buchanan, James. Fourth Annual Bulletin to Congress. Archived September 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (December 3, 1860).
• Buchanan, James. Mr Buchanan's Assistants on the Eve of the Rebellion (1866)
• National Intelligencer (1859)

External links [edit]

• White House biography
• United States Congress. "James Buchanan (id: B001005)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• James Buchanan: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• The James Buchanan papers, spanning the entirety of his legal, political and diplomatic career, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
• Academy of Virginia article: Buchanan biography
• Wheatland
• James Buchanan at Tulane University
• Essay on James Buchanan and shorter essays on each fellow member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Buchanan's Birthplace Country Park, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
• "Life Portrait of James Buchanan", from C-Bridge'southward American Presidents: Life Portraits, June 21, 1999

Principal sources

• Works past James Buchanan at Project Gutenberg
• Works by James Buchanan at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Works by or about James Buchanan at Internet Archive
• James Buchanan Ill with Dysentery Earlier Inauguration: Original Messages Shapell Manuscript Foundation
• Mr. Buchanans Assistants on the Eve of the Rebellion. President Buchanans memoirs.
• Inaugural Address
• Quaternary Annual Bulletin to Congress, December 3, 1860

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Buchanan

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