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James Buchanan
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James Buchanan was the last American president born in the 18th century, and his term (1857-61) was the last before the Civil War. Buchanan came to the presidency after a distinguished public career: 10 years as a U.S. representative and another 10 as a senator, ambassadorships to both Russia and Great Britain, and service as James K. Polk's secretary of state. In the 1856 elections he whipped both former president Millard Fillmore and frontier hero John C. Fremont, no small feat. But as president Buchanan couldn't handle the bad blood between North and South; his attempts to find a legalistic solution were never effective. By the election of 1860 Buchanan was tired of the presidency and did not seek re-election. Rightly or wrongly, "Old Buck" has been tagged as one of history's least effective presidents.
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James Buchanan was born near Mercersburg, Pa., on April 23, 1791. A Dickinson graduate and a lawyer, he entered Pennsylvania politics as a Federalist. With the disappearance of the Federalist Party, he became a Jacksonian Democrat. He served with ability in the House (1821–31), as minister to St. Petersburg (1832–33), and in the Senate (1834–45), and in 1845 became Polk's secretary of state. In 1853, Pierce appointed Buchanan minister to Britain, where he participated with other American diplomats in Europe in drafting the expansionist Ostend Manifesto.
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James Buchanan had a showbusiness uncle: Joe Lieberman of King and Lieberman, a noted Jewish vaudeville partnership with the evil Larry King. According to Buchanan, when Larry King visited he would throw the local waifs a few coins so that when he knocked at the door he would be surrounded by children like adoring fans. Then Larry would scoop the coins up and beat the children senseless.
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Known for his political evenhandedness, James Buchanan entered the White House in 1857 hoping to quell the mounting rancor between North and South over slavery. But the events of his administration often had the opposite effect. Thus, the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, for which Buchanan had secretly lobbied and which denied Congress's power to ban slavery in the western territories, unleashed an unprecedented wave of anger in the North. When Buchanan supported pro-slavery forces in the Kansas Territory, that anger rose to a fever pitch. In response, the South's militance in defense of slavery waxed ever stronger, and by the end of Buchanan's term, the long-feared specter of war between the two sections was turning into a reality.
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James Buchanan seemed eager to simply get out of the White House before the real disaster ensued. Though Buchanan vocally supported the Union cause, many branded him an appeaser of the South and lover of slavery. Finally, the former president decided to write a book telling his side of the story. It saw print in 1866, one year after the war ended, and the public largely ignored the book. Buchanan's book blames the Civil War on the Republican Party and the abolitionists. After the book's publication, Buchanan all but vanished from public life.
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The 15th President of the United States, James Buchanan was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1791. Growing up, Buchanan received a private education, and in 1809, he graduate from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Three years later he passed the bar and established his legal practice in Lancaster. The same year, 1812, saw the outbreak of war between the United States and Great Britain, and Buchanan wasted no time is enlisting, serving in the Baltimore area. In 1814, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and performed well enough to be elected to Congress in 1820, sitting in five consecutive Congresses, from 1821 until 1831. From 1832-1834, Buchanan acted as Minister to Russia for the Jackson administration.
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James Buchanan