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15th American President: James
Buchanan
Family and Background
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Born in a log cabin at Cove Gap in Franklin County, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1791 to James
Buchanan, Sr. (1761-1833), and Elizabeth Speer (1767-1833).
Buchanan, second of eleven children, had six sisters and four brothers
Born to a well-to-do family, Buchanan lived in the James Buchanan Hotel as a child.
After graduating with honors on September 19, 1809, he moved to Lancaster and studied law. He
was then admitted to the bar in 1812.
As an active Freemason, he was the Master of Masonic Lodge #43 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
and a District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Rise to Presidency
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Dred Scott Case:Buchanan referred to the territorial question as "happily, a matter of but little practical
importance" since the Supreme Court was about to settle it "speedily and finally." Buchanan wished to
see the territorial question resolved by the Supreme Court. To further this, he personally lobbied his
fellow Pennsylvanian Justice Robert Cooper Grier to vote with the majority to uphold the right of owning
slave property
Bleeding Kansas: He threw the full prestige of his administration behind congressional approval of the
Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state, going as far as
offering patronage appointments and even cash bribes in exchange for votes. Buchanan managed to
pass his bill through the House, but it was blocked in the Senate by Northerners led by Stephen A.
Douglas. Buchanan and Douglas engaged in an all-out struggle for control of the party in 1859–60, with
Buchanan using his patronage powers and Douglas rallying the grass roots. Buchanan lost control of the
greatly weakened party.
Panic of 1857: Economic troubles also plagued Buchanan's administration with the outbreak of the Panic
of 1857. The government suddenly faced a shortfall of revenue, partly because of the Democrats'
successful push to lower the tariff. Buchanan's administration began issuing deficit financing for the
government, a move which flew in the face of two decades of Democratic support for hard money
policies and allowed Republicans to go to Buchanan for financial problems.
Presidential Election of 1856
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The Democratic Party nominated James
Buchanan because unlike the preceding
President Pierce and Douglas, Buchanan
was not indelibly tainted by the KansasNebraska Act that had caused uproar. The
Republicans nominated John C. Fremont
and the Know-Nothings Party chose expresident Millard Fillmore as their candidate.
Choosing the traditional approach to
campaigning, Buchanan made almost no
appearances without a word to the press
and left the fight to “Buchaneers,” his
followers. During mudslinging, Buchanan
was nicknamed “Old Foggy” and Fremont
reviled due to illegitimate birth. Although
winning less than the majority of the popular
vote, Buchanan won the election. His tally in
the Electoral College was 174 to 114 for
Fremont and Fillmore 8. The popular vote
was 1,832,955 for Buchanan to 1,339,932
for Fremont, and 871,731 for Fillmore. He
carried only four of the Northern states and
all of the Southern states and border slave
states except for Maryland.
Buchanan’s Cabinet
 With consideration of the results of
Buchanan’s decisions in his term as
President, we think that a word that
would best describe him would be
“failure.” He failed to deal with
secession and stood helplessly and
watched silently as South Carolina
seceded from the Union followed by
six other cotton states, forming the
Confederate States of America. He
had denied the legal right of the states
to secede but held that he, as a “lameduck” President, could do nothing
about it. He failed to demonstrate a
strong presidential leadership that
could have possibly saved the nation
from civil war. Buchanan also failed to
resolve the issue of slavery and had
no choice but to leave these issues to
be resolved to his successor.
Ultimately, Buchanan’s inability to
resolve issues presented to him in his
term as President makes us regard
him as a failure.
Domestic Policy Issues
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Buchanan was popular because he supported
the Ostend Manifesto, and was not willing to
abolish slavery. Democrats agreed that to the
Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska
bill.
In 1857 the Supreme Court handed down a
controversial decision.
The Dred Scott case was a test case set up by
the North to test the constitutionality of slavery.
However, it backfired: the court ruled that Dred
Scott, and all blacks were not citizens and had
no right to sue in the Supreme Court.
The Missouri Compromise was declared
unconstitutional because only a state had the
right to forbid slavery. The public in the North
was outraged by this decision and refused to
obey it. The tension was growing, and with one
spark, the war would begin.
Foreign Policy
 Could not fully pursue an activist foreign policy due to sectional crisis and threat of
civil war; virtually Buchanan’s entire foreign policy was focused on strengthening the
influence of the United States in nations to the south of it and told the Congress in
1858, “It is, beyond question, the destiny of our race to spread themselves over the
continent of North America.”
 Foreign agenda remained focused on the Caribbean; Buchanan wanted to annex
Cuba but Republican opposition interfered and doomed this plan
 America came in conflict with the British who both had plans of their own in Central
America; the British retreated after Buchanan used the Navy to enforce American
sovereignty
 Buchanan used American power to intimidate and bully smaller Central American and
Caribbean nations, earning a great deal of ill will toward coercive American
diplomacy.
 Served as a five-term
Congressman
 Served as a foreign
diplomat who twice
represented the United
States, in Russia (18321834) and in England
(1855-1856) as a two-term
Senator and as Polk's
Secretary of State.
 Defeated Millard Fillmore
and John C. Fremont in the
1856 Presidential election
 Admitted Minnesota as
32nd, Oregon as 33rd, and
Kansas as 34th states to the
Union
 Rejected the legal right of states
to secede from the Union, but was
not prepared to use the power of
the Federal Government to
forcibly hold the states in the
Union; offered a compromise but
failed and eventually led to
secession of the southern states,
which later forms the Confederate
States of America
 Lacked the courage to deal
effectively with the slavery crisis
 Denounced secession of South
Carolina following the election and
sent reinforcements to Fort
Sumter but failed to respond to
further mounting crisis
 Failed to preserve the Union and
took indecisive actions in attempt
to do so but failed horribly,
presenting to his successor
perhaps the most daunting
challenge than ever did any
president
PIRATES
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Political: Member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1815-16; Member of
U.S. House of Representatives from 1821-31; Minister to Russia from 1832-34; United
States Senator from 1834-45; Secretary of State from 1845-49; Minister to England from
1853-56; denied the legal right of states to secede but held that the Federal Government
legally could not prevent them. Democrat.
Intellectual: Harmony was Buchanan's primary goal, but his predilections helped make his
dream impossible; Buchanan supported the Compromise and condemned the Wilmot
Proviso, which would have forbidden slavery in the territories taken from Mexico.; he
denounced slavery as a political and moral evil that could not be remedied without the
"introduction of evils infinitely greater.“; Buchanan personally favored slave owners' rights
and he sympathized with the slave-expansionists who coveted Cuba. Buchanan despised
both abolitionists and free-soil Republicans, lumping the two together. He fought the
opponents of the Slave Power.
Religion: Presbyterian; inspired to do hard work and stern duty to serve the Lord. ; Most of
the Protestant churches painfully split into northern and southern division.
Arts/Culture:Unfortunately for Buchanan's aspirations, nothing the North would offer could
keep the lower South from seceding, and nothing would induce Abraham Lincoln to accept
a division of the Union. Neither James Buchanan nor a national convention could change
these facts.
PIRATES (cont)
 Technology: Lancashire Cotton Mill Famine in 1861
 Economic: Free Trade Agreement negotiated between France and Great Britain
in 1869; He ultimately accumulated a fortune of some $300,000 as a lawyer and
investor, but his most cherished possession was Wheatland, a manorial estate
near Lancaster; in the North new demands for tariffs, homesteads, a more
effective banking system, and internal improvements at federal expense had
been renewed.
 Social:Indian Mutiny in 1857 ;Indian Mutiny Suppressed in 1858; Civil War starts
in 1861; Wisconsin legislature actually passed an ordinance of nullification
against the federal law of 1850.
Post-presidential Activities
 After his term as President, Buchanan
was blamed for the Civil War. Posters
with a caption of “Judas” depicted him
with his neck in a hangman’s noose,
and to keep vandals from damaging
his portrait, it had to be removed from
the Capitol. In 1866, Buchanan
published Mr. Buchanan’s
Administration on the Eve of the
Rebellion. It is the first published
presidential memoir wherein Buchanan
defended his actions, emphasizing his
desire to avoid conflict. On June 1,
1868, Buchanan died at age 77 at his
home at Wheatland and was interred
in Woodward Hill Cemetery in
Lancaster. Buchanan had predicted
the day before he died that “history will
vindicate [his] memory.” Nevertheless,
historians continue to emphasize his
failure to deal with secession.
Quotes
 As a Federalist and a
Democrat, Buchanan
said, “I like the noise of
democracy.”
 On Buchanan's final day as
president, March 4, 1861, he
remarked to the incoming
Lincoln, "If you are as happy in
entering the White House as I
shall feel on returning to
Wheatland, you are a happy
man."
One Word: “Failure”
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 With consideration of the results of
Buchanan’s decisions in his term as
President, we think that a word that
would best describe him would be
“failure.” He failed to deal with
secession and stood helplessly and
watched silently as South Carolina
seceded from the Union followed by
six other cotton states, forming the
Confederate States of America. He
had denied the legal right of the states
to secede but held that he, as a “lameduck” President, could do nothing
about it. He failed to demonstrate a
strong presidential leadership that
could have possibly saved the nation
from civil war. Buchanan also failed to
resolve the issue of slavery and had
no choice but to leave these issues to
be resolved to his successor.
Ultimately, Buchanan’s inability to
resolve issues presented to him in his
term as President makes us regard
him as a failure.
Buchanan as President today?
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We think that Buchanan would definitely not have been a
successful President today because of his views, beliefs, and
previous decisions in his term as President. We believe that
someone who greatly supports slavery cannot possibly rule a
nation that is now completely slavery-free. It would contradict
his views and possibly cause inconsistency if he were to
change them. His decisions before as President also led
towards the splitting of the Democratic Party by enraging the
Douglas Democrats of the North, and at the time, the oncepowerful Democratic Party was the only remaining national
party and one of the last important strands in the rope that was
barely binding the Union together. With his failure to prevent
the Civil War, however it may have seemed inevitable, shows
his possible incapability of leading a country currently facing a
great economic recession, which is only one of the current
nation’s issues/problems to be solved. In addition, Buchanan
was a man who thought that too much education was
unnecessary, and once vetoed a bill passed by Congress to
create more colleges. Clearly, the percentage of educated
people today is much higher than in the 19th century. If he
thought that there were already too many educated people
back then, he would be overwhelmed with the improvement of
education now. And if he were to be President today, he could
veto all bills passed related to improving education. We, as
determined students who desire to pursue more education in
the future, would undoubtedly not agree with his views.
Bibliography
 “James Buchanan.” Tulane University. 1998. <http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/Buchan
an.html>.
 “James Buchanan.” History Central. 2004. <http://www.historycentral.com/Bio/preside
nts/buchanan.html>.
 “President: James Buchanan.” Presidential Pet Museum. 2002. <http://www.presiden
tialpetmuseum.com/presidents/15JB.htm>.
 “James Buchanan.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja
mes_Buchanan>.
 “Campaigns and Elections.” American President: An Online Reference Source. 2009.
Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. 23. Jan. 2010. <http://millercenter.org
/academic/americanpresident/buchanan/essays/biography3>.
 “Life After Presidency.” American President: An Online Reference Source. 2009.
Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. 23 Jan. 2010. <http://millercenter.org/
academic/americanpresident/buchanan/essays/biography/6>.