Beginning in 1844, Buchanan became a regular contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He was nominated and won the1856 presidential election. As President, Buchanan intervened to assure theSupreme Court's majority ruling in the pro-slavery decision in theDred Scott v. Sandford case. He acceded to Southern attempts to engineer theKansas Territory's entry into the Union as aslave state under theLecompton Constitution, and angered not only Republicans, but also Northern Democrats. Buchanan honored his pledge to serve only one term and supported his Vice PresidentJohn C. Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the1860 presidential election. He failed to reconcile the fractured Democratic Party amid the grudge againstStephen A. Douglas, leading to the election of Republican and former CongressmanAbraham Lincoln.
Buchanan's leadership during hislame duck period, before the American Civil War, has been widely criticized. He simultaneously angered the North by not stopping secession and the South by not yielding to their demands. Buchanan supported theCorwin Amendment in an effort to reconcile the country. He made an unsuccessful attempt to reinforceFort Sumter, but otherwise refrained from preparing the military. His failure to forestall the American Civil War has been described as incompetence, and he spent his last years defending his reputation. Historians and scholarsrank him as among the worst presidents in American history.
James Buchanan Jr. was born into aScotch-Irish family on April 23, 1791, in a log cabin on a farm calledStony Batter, nearCove Gap in theAllegheny Mountains of southernPennsylvania.[4] He was the second of eleven children with six sisters and four brothers, and the eldest son of James Buchanan Sr. and Elizabeth Speer.[5] James Buchanan Sr., was anUlster-Scot from just outsideRamelton, a small town inCounty Donegal in the north-west ofUlster, the northernprovince inIreland, who emigrated to the newly formedUnited States in 1783.[6][7] He belonged to theClan Buchanan, whose members had emigrated in large numbers from theScottish Highlands toUlster during thePlantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century and, later, largely because of poverty and persecution bythe Crown due to theirPresbyterian faith, had further emigrated in large numbers to America from the early eighteenth century onwards. Shortly after Buchanan's birth, the family relocated to a farm nearMercersburg, Pennsylvania, and later settled in the town in 1794. His father became the area's wealthiest resident, working as a merchant, farmer, and real estate investor. Buchanan attributed his early education primarily to his mother, whereas his father had a greater influence on his character. His mother had discussed politics with him as a child and had an interest in poetry, quotingJohn Milton andWilliam Shakespeare to Buchanan.[5]
Buchanan attended the Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg and thenDickinson College inCarlisle, Pennsylvania.[8] In 1808, he was nearly expelled for disorderly conduct; he and his fellow students had attracted negative attention for drinking in local taverns, disturbing the peace at night and committing acts of vandalism,[9] but he pleaded for a second chance and ultimately graduated with honors in 1809.[10] Later that year, Buchanan moved to the state capital atLancaster, to train as a lawyer for two and a half years with the well-known James Hopkins. Following the fashion of the time, he studied theUnited States Code and theConstitution of the United States as well as legal authorities such asWilliam Blackstone during his education.[9]
Early law practice and Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In 1812, Buchanan passed the bar exam and remained in Lancaster after being admitted to the bar, even whenHarrisburg became the new capital of Pennsylvania. He quickly established himself as a prominent legal representative in the city. His income rapidly rose after he established his practice, and by 1821 he was earning over $11,000 per year (equivalent to $260,000 in 2024).[9] At this time, Buchanan became aFreemason, and served as the Worshipful Master ofMasonic Lodge No. 43 in Lancaster and as a District DeputyGrand Master of theGrand Lodge of Pennsylvania.[11]
He also served as chairman of the Lancaster chapter of theFederalist Party. Like his father, Buchanan supported their political program, which provided federal funds for building projects and import duties as well as the re-establishment of a central bank after theFirst Bank of the United States' license expired in 1811. He became a strong critic ofDemocratic-Republican PresidentJames Madison during theWar of 1812.[12] While not serving in a militia during the War of 1812, during the British occupation he joined a group of young men who stole horses for theUnited States Army in theBaltimore area.[13] Buchanan was the last president involved in theWar of 1812.[14]
In 1814, he was elected for the Federalists to thePennsylvania House of Representatives,[15] becoming the youngest member, and held this seat until 1816. Since the sessions in thePennsylvania General Assembly lasted only three months, Buchanan continued practicing law at a profit by charging higher fees, and his service helped him acquire more clients.[16] In 1815, he defended District JudgeWalter Franklin in animpeachment trial before thePennsylvania Senate, over alleged judicial misconduct. Impeachments were more common at the time because the line between abuse of office and a wrong legal decision was determined by the ruling parties' preferences and the popularity of the judge's decision. Buchanan persuaded the senators that only judicial crimes and clear violations of the law justified impeachment.[12]
In the congressional elections of 1820, Buchanan ran for a seat in theHouse of Representatives. Shortly after his election victory, his father died in a carriage accident.[17] As a young Representative, Buchanan was one of the most prominent leaders of the "Amalgamator party" faction of Pennsylvanian politics, named that because it was made up of both Democratic-Republicans and former Federalists, which transitioned from theFirst Party System to theEra of Good Feelings. During this era, the Democratic-Republicans became the most influential party. Buchanan's Federalist convictions were weak, and he switched parties after opposing a nativist Federalist bill.[18] During the1824 presidential election, Buchanan initially supportedHenry Clay, but switched to Andrew Jackson (with Clay as a second choice) when it became clear that the Pennsylvanian public overwhelmingly preferred Jackson.[19] After Jackson lost the 1824 election, he joined his faction, but Jackson had contempt for Buchanan due to his misinterpretation of his efforts to mediate between the Clay and Jackson camps.[18]
In Washington, Buchanan became an avid defender ofstates' rights, and was close with many southern Congressmen, viewing some New England Congressmen as dangerousradicals. Buchanan's close proximity to his constituency allowed him to establish a Democratic coalition in Pennsylvania, consisting of former Federalist farmers, Philadelphia artisans, and Ulster-Scots-Americans. In the 1828 presidential election, he secured Pennsylvania, while Democratic-Republican party split into the "Jacksonian Democrats" andNational Republican Party. The Jacksonians won an easy victory in the parallel congressional election.[20]
Buchanan gained most attention during an impeachment trial where he acted as prosecutor for federal district judgeJames H. Peck; however, the Senate rejected Buchanan's plea and acquitted Peck by a majority vote. He was appointed to theAgriculture Committee in his first year, and he eventually became chairman of theJudiciary Committee. In 1831, Buchanan declined a nomination for the22nd United States Congress from his constituency consisting ofDauphin,Lebanon, and Lancaster counties. He still had political ambitions and some Pennsylvania Democrats put him forward as a candidate for the vice presidency in the1832 election.[21]
After Jackson was re-elected in 1832, he offered Buchanan the position ofUnited States Ambassador to Russia. Buchanan was reluctant to leave the country, viewing the distantSt. Petersburg as a kind of political exile, but ultimately agreed. That was Jackson's intent, as he considered Buchanan an "incompetent busybody" and untrustworthy.[18] His work focused on concluding a trade and shipping treaty with Russia. While Buchanan was successful with the former, negotiating an agreement on free merchant shipping with Foreign MinisterKarl Nesselrode proved difficult.[22] He had denounced TsarNicholas I as a despot merely a year prior during his tenure in Congress; many Americans had reacted negatively to Russia's response to the1830 Polish uprising.[23]
Buchanan returned home and lost the election in theState Legislature for a full six-year term in the23rd Congress, but was appointed by the Pennsylvania state legislature to succeedWilliam Wilkins in the U.S. Senate. Wilkins, in turn, replaced Buchanan as the ambassador to Russia. The Jacksonian Buchanan, who was re-elected in 1836 and 1842, opposed the re-chartering of theSecond Bank of the United States and sought to expunge a congressional censure of Jackson stemming from theBank War.[24] Buchanan served in the Senate until March 1845 and was twice confirmed in office.[25] To unite Pennsylvania Democrats at the State Convention, he was chosen as their candidate for theDemocratic National Convention. Buchanan maintained a strict adherence to thePennsylvania State Legislature's guidelines and sometimes voted against positions in Congress which he promoted in his own speeches, despite open ambitions for the White House.[26]
Buchanan also opposed agag rule sponsored byJohn C. Calhoun that would have suppressed anti-slavery petitions. He joined the majority in blocking the rule, with most senators of the belief that it would have the reverse effect of strengthening theabolitionists.[32] He said, "We have just as little right to interfere with slavery in the South, as we have to touch the right of petition."[25] Buchanan thought that the issue ofslavery was the domain of the states, and he faulted abolitionists for exciting passions over the issue. In the lead-up to the1844 Democratic National Convention, Buchanan positioned himself as a potential alternative to former PresidentMartin Van Buren, but the nomination went toJames K. Polk, who won theelection.[26]
Buchanan (second from the left) in Polk's cabinet, 1849
Buchanan was offered the position ofSecretary of State in the Polk administration or, as the alternative, a seat on theSupreme Court, to compensate him for his support in the election campaign but also in order to eliminate him as an internal party rival. He accepted the State Department post and served for the duration of Polk's single term in office. During his tenure, the United States recorded its largest territorial gain in history through theOregon Treaty and theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which included territory that is now Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.[33] In negotiations with Britain over Oregon, Buchanan initially favored the49th parallel as the boundary of Oregon Territory, while Polk called for a more northerly boundary line. When Northern Democrats rallied around the popular sloganFifty-Four Forty or Fight ("54°40′ or war") in the 1844 election campaign, Buchanan adopted this position, but later followed Polk's direction, leading to the Oregon Compromise of 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the boundary in thePacific Northwest.[34]
In regards to Mexico, Buchanan maintained a dubious view that its attack on American troops on the other side of theRio Grande in April 1846 constituted a border violation and a legitimate reason for war. During theMexican-American War, Buchanan initially advised against claiming territory south of the Rio Grande, fearing war with Britain and France. However, as the war came to an end, Buchanan changed his mind and argued for the annexation of further territory, arguing that Mexico was to blame for the war and that the compensation negotiated for the American losses was too low. Buchanan sought the nomination at the1848 Democratic National Convention, as Polk had promised to serve only one term, but he only won the support of the Pennsylvania and Virginia delegations, so SenatorLewis Cass of Michigan was nominated.[35]
Bust of James Buchanan byHenry Dexter at the National Portrait Gallery
With the1848 election of WhigZachary Taylor, Buchanan returned to private life. Buchanan was getting older and still dressed in the old-fashioned style of his adolescence, earning him the nickname "Old Public Functionary" from the press. Slavery opponents in the North mocked him as a relic of prehistoric man because of his moral values.[36] He boughtWheatland on the outskirts of Lancaster and entertained various visitors while monitoring political events.[37] During this period, Buchanan became the center of a family network consisting of 22 nieces, nephews and their descendants, seven of whom were orphans. He found public service jobs for some through patronage, and for those in his favor, he took on the role of surrogate father. He formed the strongest emotional bond with his nieceHarriet Lane, who later became First Lady for Buchanan in the White House.[36]
In 1852, he was named president of the Board of Trustees ofFranklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, and he served in this capacity until 1866.[38] Buchanan did not completely leave politics. He intended to publish a collection of speeches and an autobiography, but his political comeback was thwarted by the 1852 presidential election. Buchanan traveled to Washington to discuss Pennsylvania Democratic Party politics, which were divided into two camps led bySimon Cameron andGeorge Dallas.[39] He quietly campaigned for the 1852 Democratic presidential nomination. In light of theCompromise of 1850, which had led to the admission of California into the Union as a free state and a stricterFugitive Slave Act, Buchanan now rejected theMissouri Compromise and welcomed Congress' rejection of theWilmot Proviso, which prohibited slavery in all territories gained in the Mexican-American War. Buchanan criticizedabolitionism as a fanatical attitude and believed that slavery should be decided by state legislatures, not Congress. He disliked abolitionist Northerners due to his party affiliation, and became known as a "doughface" due to his sympathy toward the South. Buchanan emerged as a promising candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, alongside Lewis Cass,Stephen A. Douglas, andWilliam L. Marcy; however, the Pennsylvania convention did not vote unanimously in his favor, with over 30 delegates protesting against him.[40] At the1852 Democratic National Convention, he won the support of many southern delegates but failed to win the two-thirds support needed for the presidential nomination, which went toFranklin Pierce. Buchanan declined to serve as the vice presidential nominee, and the convention instead nominated his close friend,William R. King.[41]
Pierce won the election in1852, and six months later, Buchanan accepted the position ofUnited States Minister to the United Kingdom, a position that represented a step backward in his career and that he had twice previously rejected.[41] Buchanan sailed for England in the summer of 1853, and he remained abroad for the next three years. In 1850, the United States and the United Kingdom signed theClayton–Bulwer Treaty, which committed both countries to joint control of any future canal that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America. Buchanan met repeatedly withLord Clarendon, the British foreign minister, in hopes of pressuring the British to withdraw from Central America. He was able to reduce British influence inHonduras andNicaragua while also raising the kingdom's awareness of American interests in the region.[42] He also focused on the potential annexation ofCuba, which had long interested him.[43]
At Pierce's prompting, Buchanan met inOstend, Belgium, with U.S. Ambassador to SpainPierre Soulé and U.S. Ambassador to FranceJohn Mason, to work out a plan for the acquisition of Cuba. A memorandum draft resulted, called theOstend Manifesto, which proposed the purchase of Cuba from Spain, then in the midst of revolution and near bankruptcy. The document declared the island "as necessary to the North 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".[44] The manifesto was met with a divided response and was never acted upon. It weakened the Pierce administration and reduced support for Manifest Destiny.[44][45] In 1855, as Buchanan's desire to return home grew, Pierce asked him to hold the fort inLondon in light of the relocation of a British fleet to theCaribbean.[42]
Buchanan's service abroad allowed him to conveniently avoid the debate over theKansas–Nebraska Act then roiling the country in the slavery dispute.[46] While he did not overtly seek the presidency, he assented to the movement on his behalf.[47] While still in England, he campaigned by praisingJohn Joseph Hughes, who wasArchbishop of New York, to a Catholic archbishop. The latter campaigned for Buchanan among high-rankingCatholics as soon as he heard about it.[46] When Buchanan arrived home at the end of April 1856, he led on the first ballot, supported by powerful SenatorsJohn Slidell,Jesse Bright, andThomas F. Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader appealing to the North and South. The1856 Democratic National Convention met in June 1856, producing a platform that reflected Buchanan's views, including support for theFugitive Slave Law, which required the return of escaped slaves. The platform also called for an end to anti-slavery agitation and U.S. "ascendancy in theGulf of Mexico".[48] President Pierce hoped for re-nomination, while SenatorStephen A. Douglas also loomed as a strong candidate. He won the nomination after seventeen ballots after Douglas' resignation. He was joined on the ticket byJohn C. Breckinridge of Kentucky in order to maintain regional proportional representation, placating supporters of Pierce and Douglas, also allies of Breckinridge.[49]
Buchanan faced two candidates in the general election: former Whig PresidentMillard Fillmore ran as the candidate for the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant American Party (or "Know-Nothing"), whileJohn C. Frémont ran as theRepublican nominee. The contrast between Buchanan and Frémont was particularly stark, with opposing caricaturists drawing the Democratic candidate as a fussy old man in drag.[50] Buchanan did not actively campaign, but he wrote letters and pledged to uphold the Democratic platform. In the election, he carried every slave state except for Maryland, as well as five slavery-free states, including his home state of Pennsylvania.[49] He won 45 percent of the popular vote and decisively won the electoral vote, taking 174 of 296 votes. His election made him the first president from Pennsylvania. In a combative victory speech, Buchanan denounced Republicans, calling them a "dangerous" and "geographical" party that had unfairly attacked the South.[50] He also declared, "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, North or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative government."[51] He set about this initially by feigning a sectional balance in his cabinet appointments.[52]
Buchanan was inaugurated on March 4, 1857, taking the oath of office fromChief JusticeRoger B. Taney. In his lengthy inaugural address, Buchanan committed himself to serving only one term. He abhorred the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories, saying that Congress should play no role in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories.[53] He proposed a solution based on theKansas–Nebraska Act, which stated that the principle ofpopular sovereignty was decisive, and Congress had no say in the matter. Buchanan recommended that a federal slave code be enacted to protect the rights of slaveowners in federal territories. He alluded to a then-pending Supreme Court case,Dred Scott v. Sandford, which he said would permanently settle the issue of slavery. Dred Scott was a slave who was temporarily taken from a slave state to a free territory by his owner,John F. A. Sanford. After Scott returned to the slave state, he filed a petition for his freedom based on his time in the free territory.[53]
Associate JusticeRobert C. Grier leaked the decision in theDred Scott case early to Buchanan. In his inaugural address, Buchanan declared that the issue of slavery in the territories would be "speedily and finally settled" by the Supreme Court.[54] According to historianPaul Finkelman:
Buchananalready knew what the Court was going to decide. In a major breach of Court etiquette, Justice Grier, who, like Buchanan, was from Pennsylvania, had kept the President-elect fully informed about the progress of the case and the internal debates within the Court. When Buchanan urged the nation to support the decision, he already knew what Taney would say. Republican suspicions of impropriety turned out to be fully justified.[55]
Historians agree that the court decision was a major disaster because it dramatically inflamed tensions, leading to the Civil War.[56][57][58] In 2022, historianDavid W. Blight argued that the year 1857 was, "the great pivot on the road to disunion ... largely because of the Dred Scott case, which stoked the fear, distrust and conspiratorial hatred already common in both the North and the South to new levels of intensity."[59]
As his inauguration approached, Buchanan sought to establish an obedient, harmonious cabinet to avoid the in-fighting that had plaguedAndrew Jackson's administration.[60] The cabinet's composition had to do justice to the proportional representation within the party and between the regions of the country. Buchanan first worked on this task in Wheatland until he traveled to the capital in January 1857. There, like many other guests at theNational Hotel, he contracted severedysentery, from which he did not fully recover until several months later. Dozens of those who fell ill died, including Buchanan's nephew and private secretary Eskridge Lane.[52]
The cabinet selection was disastrous, with four Southern ministers being large-scale slaveholders who later became loyal to theConfederate States of America.[61] Secretary of the TreasuryHowell Cobb was considered the greatest political talent in the Cabinet,[62] while the three department heads from the northern states were all considered to bedoughfaces.[63] His objective was to dominate the cabinet, and he chose men who would agree with his views.[64] Buchanan had a troubled relationship with his vice president from the beginning, when he did not receive him during his inaugural visit but referred him to his niece and First Lady, which Breckinridge never forgave him for and saw as disrespectful.[65] He left out the influentialStephen A. Douglas, who had made Buchanan's nomination possible by resigning at the National Convention the previous year, when filling the post.[66] Concentrating on foreign policy, he appointed the agingLewis Cass as Secretary of State. Buchanan's appointment of Southerners and their allies alienated many in the North, and his failure to appoint any followers of Douglas divided the party.[52] Outside of the cabinet, he left in place many of Pierce's appointments but removed a disproportionate number of Northerners who had ties to Democratic opponents Pierce or Douglas.[65]
The case ofDred Scott v. Sandford, to which Buchanan referred in his inaugural address, dated back to 1846. Scott sued for his release inMissouri, claiming he lived in service to the proprietor inIllinois andWisconsin Territory. The case reached the Supreme Court and gained national attention by 1856. Buchanan consulted with JusticeJohn Catron in January 1857, inquiring about the outcome of the case and suggesting that a broader decision, beyond the specifics of the case, would be more prudent.[69] Buchanan hoped that a broad decision protecting slavery in the territories could lay the issue to rest, allowing him to focus on other issues.[70]
Catron replied on February 10, saying that the Supreme Court's Southern majority would decide against Scott, but would likely have to publish the decision on narrow grounds unless Buchanan could convince his fellow Pennsylvanian, JusticeRobert Cooper Grier, to join the majority of the court.[71] Buchanan then wrote to Grier and prevailed upon him, providing the majority leverage to issue a broad-ranging decision sufficient to render theMissouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.[72][73]
Two days after Buchanan was sworn in as president, Chief Justice Taney delivered theDred Scott decision, which denied the petitioner's request to be freed from slavery. The ruling broadly asserted that Congress had noconstitutional power to exclude slavery in the territories.[74] According to this decision, slaves were forever the property of their owners without rights, and no African American could ever be a full citizen of the United States, even if he or she had full civil rights in a state.[75] Buchanan's letters were not made public at the time, but he was seen conversing quietly with the Chief Justice during his inauguration. When the decision was issued, Republicans began spreading the word that Taney had informed Buchanan of the impending outcome. Rather than destroying the Republican platform as Buchanan had hoped, the decision infuriated Northerners, who condemned it.[76]
ThePanic of 1857 began in the summer of that year, when the New York branch ofOhio Life Insurance and Trust Company announced its insolvency.[77] The crisis spread rapidly, and by the fall, 1,400 state banks and 5,000 businesses had gone bankrupt. Unemployment and hunger became common in northern cities, but the agricultural south was more resilient. Buchanan agreed with the southerners who attributed the economic collapse to over-speculation.[78]
Buchanan acted in accordance withJacksonian Democracy principles, which restricted paper money issuance, and froze federal funds for public works projects, causing resentment among some of the population due to his refusal to implement aneconomic stimulus program.[79] While the government was "without the power to extend relief",[78] 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 use of federal or state bonds as security for bank note issues. The economy recovered in several years, though many Americans suffered as a result of the panic.[80] Buchanan had hoped to reduce the deficit, but by the time he left office the federal budget grew by 15%.[78]
In the spring of 1857, theLatter-day Saints and their leaderBrigham Young had been challenging federal representatives inUtah Territory, causing harassment and violence against non-Mormons. Young harassed federal officers and discouraged outsiders from settling in theSalt Lake City area. In September 1857, theUtah Territorial Militia, associated with the Latter-day Saints, perpetrated theMountain Meadows massacre, in which local militia attacked a wagon train and killed 125 settlers. Buchanan was offended by the militarism andpolygamous behavior of Young.[81] With reports of violence against non-Mormons, Buchanan authorized a military expedition into Utah Territory in late March 1857 to replace Young as governor. The force consisted of 2,500 men, includingAlfred Cumming and his staff, and was commanded by GeneralWilliam S. Harney. Complicating matters, Young's notice of his replacement was not delivered because the Pierce administration had annulled the Utah mail contract, and Young portrayed the approaching forces as an unauthorized overthrow.[82][74]
Buchanan's personnel decision incited resistance from the Mormons around Young, as Harney was known for his volatility and brutality. In August 1857,Albert S. Johnston replaced him for organizational reasons.[83] Young reacted to the military action by mustering a two-week expedition, destroying wagon trains, oxen, and other Army property. Buchanan then dispatchedThomas L. Kane as a private agent to negotiate peace. The mission was successful, a peaceful agreement to replace Governor Young with Cumming was reached, and theUtah War ended. The President granted amnesty to inhabitants affirming loyalty to the government, and placed the federal troops at a peaceable distance for the balance of his administration.[84]
Buchanan did not comment on the conflict again until his State of the Union Address in December 1857, leaving open the question of whether it was a rebellion in Utah. One of Buchanan's last official acts in March 1861 was to reduce the size of Utah Territory in favor ofNevada,Colorado, andNebraska.[85] While the Latter-day Saints had frequently defied federal authority, some historians consider Buchanan's action was an inappropriate response to uncorroborated reports.[74]
Buchanan was the first recipient of an officialtelegram transmitted across the Atlantic. Following the dispatch of test and configuration telegrams, on August 16, 1858Queen Victoria sent a 98-word message to Buchanan at his summer residence in theBedford Springs Hotel inPennsylvania, expressing hope that the newly laid cable would prove "an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem". Queen Victoria's message took 16 hours to send.[86][87]
Buchanan responded: "It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world."[88]
The balance of free and slave states and territories in 1858, after the admission ofMinnesota
TheKansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created theKansas Territory and allowed the settlers there to decide whether to allow slavery. This resulted in violence between "Free-Soil" (antislavery) and pro-slavery settlers, which developed into the "Bleeding Kansas" period. The antislavery settlers, with the help of Northern abolitionists, organized their own territorial government inTopeka. The more numerous proslavery settlers, many from the neighboring slave state Missouri, established a government inLecompton, giving the Territory two different governments for a time, with two distinct constitutions, each claiming legitimacy. The admission of Kansas as a state required a constitution be submitted to Congress with the approval of a majority of its residents. Under President Pierce, a series of violent confrontations escalated over who had the right to vote in Kansas. The situation drew national attention, and some in Georgia and Mississippi advocatedsecession should Kansas be admitted as a free state. Buchanan chose to endorse the pro-slavery Lecompton government.[89]
Buchanan appointedRobert J. Walker to replaceJohn W. Geary as Territorial Governor, and there ensued conflicting referendums from Topeka and Lecompton, where election fraud occurred. In October 1857, the Lecompton government framed the pro-slaveryLecompton Constitution that agreed to a referendum limited solely to the slavery question. However, the vote against slavery, as provided by the Lecompton Convention, would still permit existing slaves, and all their issue, to be enslaved, so there was no referendum that permitted the majority anti-slavery residents to prohibit slavery in Kansas. As a result, anti-slavery residents boycotted the referendum since it did not provide a meaningful choice.[90]
Despite the protests of Walker and two former Kansas governors, Buchanan decided to accept the Lecompton Constitution. In a December 1857 meeting withStephen A. 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 message that attacked the "revolutionary government" in Topeka, conflating them with the Mormons in Utah. Buchanan made every effort to secure congressional approval, 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 bill in the House.[91]
Buchanan never forgave Douglas, as the Northern Democrats' rejection was the deciding factor in the House's decision, and he removed all Douglas supporters from his patronage in Illinois and Washington, D.C., installing pro-administration Democrats, including postmasters.[92][93] Rather than accepting defeat, Buchanan backed the 1858English Bill, which offered Kansas immediate statehood and vast public lands in exchange for accepting the Lecompton Constitution. In August 1858, Kansans by referendum strongly rejected the Lecompton Constitution.[91] The territory received an abolitionist constitution, which was bitterly opposed in Congress by representatives and senators from the southern states until Kansas was admitted to the Union in January 1861.[92]
The dispute over Kansas became the battlefront for control of the Democratic Party. On one side were Buchanan, the majority of Southern Democrats, and the "doughfaces". On the other side were Douglas and the majority of northern Democrats, as well as a few Southerners. Douglas' faction continued to support the doctrine of popular sovereignty, while Buchanan insisted that Democrats respect theDred Scott decision and its repudiation of federal interference with slavery in the territories.[94]
Douglas' 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 famousdebates 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 competition with both the Republicans and the Douglas Democrats. This could easily have thrown the election to the Republicans, and showed the depth of Buchanan's animosity toward Douglas.[95] In the end, Douglas Democrats won the legislative election and Douglas was re-elected to the Senate. In that year's elections, Douglas forces took control throughout the North, except in Buchanan's home state of Pennsylvania. Buchanan's support was otherwise reduced to a narrow base of southerners.[96][97]
The division between northern and southern Democrats allowed the Republicans to win a plurality of the House in the1858 elections, and allowed them to block most of Buchanan's agenda. Buchanan, in turn, added to the hostility with his veto of six substantial pieces of Republican legislation.[98] Among these measures were theHomestead Act, which would have given 160 acres of public land to settlers who remained on the land for five years, and theMorrill Act, which would have granted public lands to establishland-grant colleges. Buchanan argued that these acts were unconstitutional. In the western and northwestern United States, where the Homestead Act was very popular, even many Democrats condemned the president's policies, while many Americans who considered education an important asset resented Buchanan's veto of agricultural colleges.[99]
Buchanan took office with an ambitious foreign policy, designed to establish U.S.hegemony over Central America at the expense of Great Britain.[100] Buchanan sought to revitalizeManifest Destiny and to enforce theMonroe Doctrine, which had been under attack from the Spanish, French, and especially the British in the 1850s.[101] He hoped to re-negotiate theClayton–Bulwer Treaty to counterEuropean imperialism in the Western Hemisphere, which he thought limited U.S. influence in the region. He also sought to establish American protectorates over the Mexican states ofChihuahua andSonora to secure American citizens and investments, and most importantly, he hoped to achieve his long-term goal of acquiring Cuba. However, Buchanan's ambitions in Cuba and Mexico were largely blocked by the House of Representatives. After long negotiations with the British, he convinced them to cede theBay Islands toHonduras and theMosquito Coast toNicaragua.[102]
In 1858, Buchanan ordered theParaguay expedition to punishParaguay for firing on theUSS Water Witch, ordering 2,500 marines and 19 warships there. This costly expedition took months to reachAsunción, which successfully resulted in a Paraguayan apology and payment of an indemnity.[102] The chiefs ofRaiatea andTahaa in the South Pacific, refusing to accept the rule of KingTamatoa V, unsuccessfully petitioned the United States to accept the islands under aprotectorate in June 1858.[103] Buchanan also considered buying Alaska from theRussian Empire, as whaling in the waters there had become of great economic importance to the United States. Buchanan fueled this by spreading the rumor to the Russian ambassadorEduard de Stoeckl in December 1857 that a large amount of Mormons intended to emigrate to Russian Alaska. In the winter of 1859, an initial purchase offer of $5,000,000 (equivalent to $174,980,000 in 2024) was made. Although the project ultimately failed due to the reservations of Foreign MinisterAlexander Gorchakov, the talks formed the basis for the later negotiations to purchase Alaska.[104]
Buchanan sought trade agreements with theQing dynasty and Japan. In China, his envoyWilliam Bradford Reed succeeded in having the United States included as a party to theTreaty of Tianjin. In May 1860, Buchanan received a Japanese delegation consisting of several princes who carried the Harris Treaty negotiated by Townsend Harris for mutual ratification.[105] Buchanan was offered a herd ofelephants by KingRama IV ofSiam, though the letter arrived after Buchanan's departure from office and Buchanan's successor Abraham Lincoln declined the offer stating that the U.S. had an unsuitable climate.[106] Other presidential pets included a pair of bald eagles and a Newfoundland dog.[107]
In March 1860, the House impaneled theCovode Committee to investigate the Buchanan administration's patronage system for alleged impeachable offenses, such as bribery and extortion of representatives. Buchanan supporters accused the committee, consisting of three Republicans and two Democrats, of being blatantly partisan, and claimed its chairman, Republican Rep.John Covode, was acting on a personal grudge stemming from a disputed land grant designed to benefit Covode's railroad company.[108] The Democratic committee members, as well as Democratic witnesses, were enthusiastic in their condemnation of Buchanan.[109][110]
The committee was unable to establish grounds for impeaching Buchanan; however, the majority report issued on June 17 alleged corruption and abuse of power among members of his cabinet. The committee gathered evidence that Buchanan had tried to bribe members of Congress in his favor through intermediaries in the spring of 1858 in connection with the pro-slaveryLecompton Constitution of Kansas, and threatened their relatives with losing their posts if they did not vote in favor of the Lecompton Constitution.[110] Witnesses also testified that the federal government used public funds to strengthen the intra-party faction of Douglas' opponents in Illinois.[111] The Democrats pointed out that evidence was scarce, but did not refute the allegations; one of the Democratic members, Rep.James Robinson, stated that he agreed with the Republicans, though he did not sign it.[110]
The public was shocked by the extent of the bribery, which affected all levels and agencies of government.[112] Buchanan claimed to have "passed triumphantly through this ordeal" with complete vindication. Republican operatives distributed thousands of copies of the Covode Committee report throughout the nation as campaign material in that year's presidential election.[113][114]
As he had promised in his inaugural address, Buchanan did not seek re-election. He went so far as to tell his ultimate successor, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man."[115]
At the1860 Democratic National Convention inCharleston, the party split over the issue of slavery in the territories, damaging Buchanan's reputation as the main person responsible for this issue. Though Douglas led after every ballot, he was unable to win the two-thirds majority required. The convention adjourned after 53 ballots, and re-convened in Baltimore in June. After Douglas finally won the nomination, several Southerners refused to accept the outcome, and nominated Vice President Breckinridge as their own candidate. Douglas and Breckinridge agreed on most issues except the protection of slavery. Buchanan, holding a grudge against Douglas, failed to reconcile the party, and tepidly supported Breckinridge. With the splintering of the Democratic Party, Republican nomineeAbraham Lincoln won a four-way election that also includedJohn Bell of theConstitutional Union Party. Lincoln's support in the North was enough to give him an Electoral College majority. Buchanan became the last Democrat to win a presidential election untilGrover Cleveland in 1884.[116]
As early as October, the army'sCommanding General,Winfield Scott, an opponent of Buchanan, warned him that Lincoln's election would likely cause at least seven states to secede from the union. He recommended that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property, although he also warned that few reinforcements were available. Since 1857, Congress had failed to heed calls for a stronger militia and allowed the army to fall into deplorable condition.[117] Buchanan distrusted Scott and ignored his recommendations.[118] After Lincoln's election, Buchanan directed Secretary of WarJohn B. Floyd to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms, and men as were available. However, Floyd persuaded him to revoke the order.[117]
With Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling point, putting the burden on Buchanan to address it in his final speech to Congress on December 10. In his message, which was anticipated by both factions, Buchanan denied the right of states to secede but maintained the federal government was without power 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 not "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 Union."[119][120] Buchanan's only suggestion to solve the crisis was "an explanatory amendment" affirming the constitutionality of slavery in the states, the fugitive slave laws, andpopular sovereignty in the territories.[119] His address was sharply criticized both by the North, for its refusal to stop secession, and the South, for denying its right to secede.[121] Five days after the address was delivered, Treasury SecretaryHowell Cobb resigned, as his views had become irreconcilable with the President's.[122] Even as the formation of the Confederacy by the secessionist states became increasingly apparent in the winter of 1860, the president continued to surround himself with Southerners and ignore the Republicans.[123]
Status of the states, 1861
States that seceded before April 15, 1861
States that seceded after April 15, 1861
Union states that permitted slavery
Union states that banned slavery
Territories
South Carolina, long the most radical Southern state,seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860. However, Unionist sentiment remained strong among many in the South, and Buchanan sought to appeal to the Southern moderates who might prevent secession in other states. He met with South Carolinian commissioners in an attempt to resolve the situation atFort Sumter, which federal forces remained in control of despite its location in Charleston, South Carolina.[124] Buchanan saw Congress, not himself, as responsible for finding a solution to the secession crisis. As a compromise for the southern states, Buchanan envisioned the adoption of amendments to the United States Constitution that would guarantee the right to slavery in the southern states and territories and strengthen the right of slave owners to reclaim escaped slaves as property in the northern states.[123]
He refused to dismiss Interior SecretaryJacob Thompson after the latter was chosen as Mississippi's agent to discuss secession, and he refused to fire Secretary of War John B. Floyd despite an embezzlement scandal. Floyd ended up resigning, but not before sending numerous firearms to Southern states, where they eventually fell into the hands of the Confederacy. Despite Floyd's resignation, Buchanan continued to seek the advice of counselors from the Deep South, includingJefferson Davis andWilliam Henry Trescot.[124] Buchanan's friendRose O'Neal Greenhow took advantage of the proximity to the president and spied for the Confederacy, which had already established a sophisticated network for gathering information from its eventual opponent before its formation.[123]
Efforts were made in vain by Sen.John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, Rep.Thomas Corwin of Ohio, and former presidentJohn Tyler to negotiate a compromise to stop secession, with Buchanan's support. Failed attempts were also made by a group of governors meeting in New York. Buchanan secretly asked President-elect Lincoln to call for a national referendum on the issue of slavery, but Lincoln declined.[125] In December 1860, when the second session of the36th Congress was convened, The Committee of Thirty-Three was established by the House of Representatives to prevent further states from seceding. They proposed theCorwin Amendment, which would bar Congress from interfering with slavery in states. Despite opposition from Republicans, it passed both houses of Congress and was proposed to states for ratification, but it was never ratified by the requisite number of states.[126]
Despite the efforts of Buchanan and others, six moreslave states seceded by the end of January 1861. Buchanan replaced the departed Southern cabinet members withJohn Adams Dix,Edwin M. Stanton, andJoseph Holt, all of whom were committed to preserving the Union. When Buchanan considered surrenderingFort Sumter, the new cabinet members threatened to resign, and Buchanan relented. On January 5, Buchanan decided to reinforce Fort Sumter, sending theStar of the West with 250 men and supplies. However, he failed to ask MajorRobert Anderson to provide covering fire for the ship, and it was forced to return North without delivering troops or supplies. Buchanan chose not to respond to this act of war, and instead sought to find a compromise to avoid secession. He received a March 3 message from Anderson, that supplies were running low, but the response became Lincoln's to make, as the latter succeeded to the presidency the next day.[127]
After leaving office, Buchanan retired to private life in Wheatland, where he spent most of his time in his study, reading books and writing letters. The Civil War erupted within two months of Buchanan's retirement. He supported the Union and the war effort, writing to former colleagues that, "the assault upon Sumter was the commencement of war by the Confederate states, and no alternative was left but to prosecute it with vigor on our part."[130] Buchanan supported Lincoln's introduction of universal conscription in the northern states but was an opponent of hisEmancipation Proclamation. Although he recognized constitutional violations in some of the president's executive orders, he never criticized them in public.[131] He also wrote a letter to his fellow Pennsylvania Democrats in Harrisburg, urging them and all young men to enlist in the Union army and "join the many thousands of brave & patriotic volunteers who are already in the field."[130]
Buchanan was dedicated to defending his actions prior to the Civil War, which was referred to by some as "Buchanan's War".[130] He received hate mail and threatening letters daily, and stores in Lancaster displayed Buchanan's likeness with the eyes inked red, a noose drawn around 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 former cabinet members, five of whom had been given jobs in the Lincoln administration, refused to defend Buchanan publicly.[132]
Buchanan became distraught by the vitriolic attacks levied against him, and fell sick and depressed. In October 1862, he defended himself in an exchange of letters withWinfield Scott, published in theNational Intelligencer.[133] He soon began writing his fullest public defense, in the form of his memoirMr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion, which was published in 1866, one year after the Civil War ended. Buchanan attributed secession to the "malign influence" of Republicans and theabolitionist movement. He discussed his foreign policy successes and expressed satisfaction with his decisions, even during the secession crisis. He blamed Robert Anderson, Winfield Scott, and Congress for the unresolved issue.[131] Two years after the publication of the memoir, Buchanan caught acold in May 1868, which quickly worsened due to his advanced age. He died on June 1, 1868, ofrespiratory failure at the age of 77 at his home atWheatland. He was interred inWoodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster.[131]
Buchanan was often considered by anti-slavery northerners a "doughface", a northerner with pro-southern principles.[134] Buchanan's sympathies for the Southern states went beyond political expediency for his path to the White House. He identified with cultural and social values that he found reflected in the honor code and lifestyle of the planter class and with which he increasingly came into contact in his retirement community beginning in 1834.[135] Shortly after his election, he said that the "great object" of his administration was "to arrest, if possible, the agitation of the Slavery question in the North and to destroy sectional parties".[134] Although Buchanan was personally opposed to slavery,[24] he believed that the abolitionists were preventing the solution to the slavery problem. He stated, "Before [the abolitionists] commenced this agitation, a very large and growing party existed in several of the slave states in favor of the gradual abolition of slavery; and now not a voice is heard there in support of such a measure. The abolitionists have postponed the emancipation of the slaves in three or four states for at least half a century."[136] In deference to the intentions of the typical slaveholder, he was willing to provide the benefit 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-interest of the master have combined to produce this humane result."[137]
Buchanan thought restraint was the essence of good self-government. He believed the constitution comprised "... restraints, imposed not by arbitrary authority, but by the people upon themselves and their representatives. ... In an enlarged view, the people's interests may seem identical, but to the eye of local and sectional prejudice, they always appear to be conflicting ... and the jealousies that will perpetually arise can be repressed only by the mutual forbearance which pervades the constitution."[138] 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 have with our sister states. Their rights will be held sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their own question; and there let it remain."[136]
James Buchanan's home, Wheatland
One of the prominent issues of the day wastariffs.[139] Buchanan was conflicted byfree trade as well asprohibitive tariffs, since either would benefit one section of the country 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."[140]
Buchanan was also torn between his desire to expand the country for the general welfare of the nation, and to guarantee the rights of the people settling particular areas. On territorial expansion, he said, "What, sir? Prevent the people from crossing theRocky Mountains? You might just as well command theNiagara not to flow. We must fulfill our destiny."[141] On the resulting spread of slavery, through unconditional expansion, he stated: "I feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the present limits of the Union over a new slave-holding territory." For instance, he hoped the acquisition of Texas would "be the means of limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery."[141]
Buchanan suffered fromesotropia. In addition, one eye wasshort-sighted and the otherfar-sighted. To cover this, he bent his head forward and leaned it to one side during social interactions.[142] This led to ridicule, whichHenry Clay, among others, used ruthlessly during a congressional debate.[143]
In 1818, Buchanan met Anne Caroline Coleman at a grand ball inLancaster, and the two began courting. Anne was the daughter of the wealthy iron manufacturerRobert Coleman; Robert, like Buchanan's father, was fromCounty Donegal inUlster. Anne was also the sister-in-law of Philadelphia judgeJoseph Hemphill, one of Buchanan's colleagues. By 1819, the two were engaged, but spent little time together. Buchanan was busy with his law firm and political projects during thePanic of 1819, which took him away from Coleman for weeks at a time. Rumors abounded, as some suggested that he was involved with other (unidentified) women.[144] Letters from Coleman revealed she was aware of several rumors, and she accused him of only being interested in her money. She broke off the engagement, and soon afterward, on December 9, 1819, inexplicably died of "hysterical convulsions" resulting from an overdose oflaudanum, at the age of 23. It was never established if the drug was taken by instruction, by accident, or by intent.[131][145] Buchanan wrote to her father for permission to attend the funeral, which was refused.[146] At the time of her funeral, he said that, "I feel happiness has fled from me forever."[147] Afterwards, Buchanan claimed that he remained unmarried out of devotion to his only love, who had died young.[131]
In 1833 and the 1840s, he spoke of plans to marry, but these came to nothing and may merely have been due to his ambitions for a seat in the federal Senate or the White House. In the latter case, the aspirant was 19-year-old Anna Payne, the niece of former First LadyDolley Madison.[131] During his presidency, an orphaned niece,Harriet Lane, whom he had adopted, served as official White House hostess.[148] There was an unfounded rumor that he had an affair with President Polk's widow,Sarah Childress Polk.[149]
Buchanan had a close relationship withWilliam Rufus King, which became a popular target of gossip. King, like Buchanan, never married.[150] King was an Alabama politician who briefly served as vice president underFranklin Pierce. Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington boardinghouse and attended social functions together from 1834 until 1844. Such a living arrangement was then common, though Buchanan once referred to the relationship as a "communion".[149]Andrew Jackson mockingly called them "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy", the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man.[151][152] Buchanan's Postmaster General,Aaron V. Brown, also referred to King as "Aunt Fancy", as well as Buchanan's "better half", and "wife".[153][154][155] King died of tuberculosis shortly after Pierce's inauguration, four years before Buchanan became president. Buchanan described him as "among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known".[149] Biographer Jean H. Baker opines that both men's nieces may have destroyed correspondence between the two men. However, she believes that their surviving letters illustrate only "the affection of a special friendship".[156]
Buchanan's lifelong bachelorhood after Anne Coleman's death has drawn interest and speculation.[156] Some conjecture that Anne's death merely served to deflect questions about Buchanan's sexuality and bachelorhood.[147] Jean Baker suggests that Buchanan wascelibate, if notasexual.[157] Several writers have surmised that he washomosexual, includingJames W. Loewen,[158]Robert P. Watson, andShelley Ross.[159][160] Loewen indicated that Buchanan, late in life, wrote a letter acknowledging that he might marry a woman who could accept his "lack of ardent or romantic affection".[161][162]
Though Buchanan predicted that "history will vindicate my memory,"[163] historians have criticized Buchanan for his unwillingness or inability to act in the face of secession.Historical rankings of presidents of the United States without exception place Buchanan among the least successful presidents.[164] When scholars are surveyed, he ranks at or near the bottom in terms of vision/agenda-setting,[165] domestic leadership, foreign policy leadership,[166] moral authority,[167] and positive historical significance of their legacy.[168][better source needed] According to surveys taken by American scholars and political scientists between 1948 and 1982, Buchanan ranks every time among the worst presidents of the United States, alongsideWarren G. Harding, Millard Fillmore, andRichard Nixon.[169]
Buchanan biographer Philip S. Klein focused in 1962, during theCivil Rights movement, upon challenges Buchanan faced:
Buchanan assumed leadership ... when an unprecedented wave of angry 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 North and South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might have gained for him a place among the great presidents, were quickly overshadowed by the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering Abraham Lincoln.[170]
Biographer Jean Baker is less charitable to Buchanan, saying in 2004 he was not indecisive or inactive. She wrote:
Buchanan's failing during the crisis over the Union was not inactivity, but rather his partiality for the South, a favoritism that bordered on disloyalty in an officer pledged to defend all the United States. He was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistakenideologue whose principles held no room for compromise. His experience in government had only rendered him too self-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.[171]
Other historians, such as Robert May, argued that his politics were "anything but pro-slavery".[172][173][174] Nevertheless, a very negative view is to be found inMichael Birkner's works about Buchanan.[175][176] ForLori Cox Han, he ranks among scholars "as either the worst president in [American] history or as part of a lowest ranking failure category".[177]
A bronze and granitememorial near the southeast corner of Washington, D.C.'sMeridian Hill Park was designed by architect William Gorden Beecher and sculpted by Maryland artistHans Schuler. It was commissioned in 1916 but not approved by the U.S. Congress until 1918, and not completed and unveiled until June 26, 1930. The memorial features a statue of Buchanan, bookended by male and female classical figures representing law and diplomacy, with engraved text reading: "The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the law," a quote from a member of Buchanan's cabinet,Jeremiah S. Black.[178]
Buchanan memorial, Washington, D.C.
An earlier monument was constructed in 1907–1908 and dedicated in 1911, on the site of Buchanan's birthplace inStony Batter, Pennsylvania. Part of the original 18.5-acre (75,000 m2) memorial site is a 250-ton pyramid structure that stands on the site of the original cabin where Buchanan was born. The monument was designed to show the original weathered surface of the native rubble and mortar.[179]
^abcNicole Etcheson, "General Jackson Is Dead: James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, and Kansas Policy", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 88–90.
^Klein, Philip Shriver; Hoogenboom, Ari (1980).A History of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press. pp. 135–136.ISBN978-0-271-01934-5.
^"Letter from James Buchanan to Reuel William" (U.S. Senator Buchanan discusses David Porter and the 1838 gubernatorial election in Pennsylvania). Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College, Archives & Special Collections, retrieved online December 30, 2022.
^William G. Shade, "In the Midst of a Great Revolution”: The Northern Response to the Secession Crisis, inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 186–188.
^Daniel W. Crofts, "Joseph Holt, James Buchanan, and the Secession Crisis" inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 211.
^Paul Finkelman, "James Buchanan, Dred Scott, and the Whisper of Conspiracy" inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013), pp. 28–32
^Michael A. Morrison, "President James Buchanan, Executive Leadership and the Crisis of the Democracy" inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 151
^William P. MacKinnon, "Prelude to Armageddon: James Buchanan, Brigham Young, and a President’s Initiation to Bloodshed", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 52–59.
^William P. MacKinnon, "Prelude to Armageddon: James Buchanan, Brigham Young, and a President’s Initiation to Bloodshed", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 59–62.
^William P. MacKinnon, "Prelude to Armageddon: James Buchanan, Brigham Young, and a President’s Initiation to Bloodshed", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 75–78
^"Manipulation of the Atlantic Telegraph Line. From August 10th to the 1st of September inclusive".Report of the Joint Committee Appointed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company, to Inquire Into the Construction of Submarine Telegraph Cables: Together with the Minutes of Evidence and Appendix. Eyre and Spottiswoode: Eyre. 1861. pp. 230–232. RetrievedMarch 1, 2018.
^Jesse Ames Spencer (1866)."Chapter IX. 1857–1858. Opening of Buchanan's Administration"(Digitised eBook).'THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE' and 'THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY' (full wording). Vol. 3. Johnson, Fry. p. 542. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2023.History of the United States: from the earliest period to the administration of President Johnson
^abNicole Etcheson, "General Jackson Is Dead: James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, and Kansas Policy", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 103
^John M. Belohlavek, "In Defense of Doughface Diplomacy: A Reevaluation of Foreign Policy of James Buchanan", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013), pp. 112–114.
^John M. Belohlavek, "In Defense of Doughface Diplomacy: A Reevaluation of Foreign Policy of James Buchanan", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013), pp. 124–126.
^John M. Belohlavek, "In Defense of Doughface Diplomacy: A Reevaluation of Foreign Policy of James Buchanan", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013), pp. 126–128.
^Michael A. Morrison, "President James Buchanan: Executive Leadership and the Crisis of the Democracy", inJames Buchanan and the Coming of the Civil War, ed. by John W. Quist and Michael J. Birkner, (2013) pp 152–153.
^Loewen, James (2009).Lies Across America. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. pp. 342–45.
^"Buchanan's Birthplace State Park".Pennsylvania State Parks. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived fromthe original on May 6, 2011. RetrievedMarch 28, 2009.
^Barney, William L. (1997). "Review of The Origins of the American Civil War".The Journal of Southern History.63 (4):880–882.doi:10.2307/2211745.JSTOR2211745.
^James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s: A Panel Discussion (Pennsylvania State University ed.). Gettysburg: Pennsylvania State University. 1991.
^May, Robert E. (2013).Slavery, race and conquest in the tropics: Lincoln, Douglas, and the future of Latin America. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-13252-7.
^Birkner, Michael J., ed. (1996).James Buchanan and the political crisis of the 1850s. Selinsgrove, Pa.: Susquehanna Univ. Press [u.a.]ISBN978-0-945636-89-2.
^Crouthamel, James L (July 1996). "Birkner, ed., 'James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s' (Book Review)".New York History.77 (3): 350.ProQuest1297186054.
^Han, Lori Cox, ed. (2018).Hatred of America's presidents: personal attacks on the White House from Washington to Trump. Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado: ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. p. 107.ISBN978-1-4408-5436-1.
Flude, Anthony G. (March 2012). "Manuscript XXIII: A Raiatean Petition for American Protection".The Journal of Pacific History.47 (1). Canberra: Australian National University:111–121.doi:10.1080/00223344.2011.632982.OCLC785915823.S2CID159847026.
Klein, Philip S. (1962).President James Buchanan: A Biography (1995 ed.). American Political Biography Press.ISBN978-0-945707-11-0.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Klein, Philip Shriver; Hoogenboom, Ari (1980).A History of Pennsylvania. Penn State University Press.ISBN978-0-271-01934-5.
Strauss, Robert (2016).Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents. Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN978-1-4930-2484-1.
Tucker, Spencer C. (2009).The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-85109-952-8.
Watson, Robert P. (2012).Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal, 1789–1900. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.ISBN978-1-4422-1836-9.
Balcerski, Thomas J. (2019).Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-091460-8. Review:Cleves, Rachel Hope (2021). "Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King by Thomas J. Balcerski, and: The Worlds of James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens: Place, Personality, and Politics in the Civil War Era ed. by Michael J. Birkner, Randall M. Miller and John W. Quist (review)".The Journal of the Civil War Era.11 (1):108–111.doi:10.1353/cwe.2021.0008.Project MUSE783011.
Binder, Frederick Moore (September 1992). "James Buchanan: Jacksonian Expansionist".The Historian.55 (1):69–84.doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1992.tb00886.x.
Binder, Frederick Moore (1994).James Buchanan and the American Empire. Susquehanna University Press.ISBN978-0-945636-64-9.
Birkner, Michael J., ed. (1996).James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s. Susquehanna University Press.ISBN978-0-945636-89-2.
Birkner, Michael J., et al., eds.The Worlds of James Buchanan andThaddeus Stevens: Place, Personality, and Politics in the Civil War Era (Louisiana State University Press, 2019)
Horrocks, Thomas A.President James Buchanan and the Crisis of National Leadership (Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publisher's, Inc., 2011.
Meerse, David E. (1995). "Buchanan, the Patronage, and the Lecompton Constitution: A Case Study".Civil War History.41 (4):291–312.doi:10.1353/cwh.1995.0017.S2CID143955378.
Rosenberger, Homer T. (1957). "Inauguration of President Buchanan a Century Ago".Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 57/59:96–122.JSTOR40067189.
1. The Democratic Party split in1860, producing two presidential candidates. Douglas was nominated by Northern Democrats; Breckinridge was nominated by Southern Democrats.
