James+Buchanan

James Buchanan (Democrat, took office 1857-1861)
by Simon Rogers
 * 15th President of the United States**
 * Born April 23, 1791**
 * Died June 1, 1868**

Before the Presidency
With a substantial political career prior to the White House, James Buchanan won his party's nomination for the election of 1856 and defeated Republican John C. Fre'mont and the American Party's nominee, former president Millard Fillmore. His record includes:
 * Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1815-1816)
 * U.S. House of Representatives (1821-1831)
 * Appointed by Andrew Jackson to be the Minister to Russia (1832)
 * U.S. Senator (1834-1835)
 * Secretary of State Under James K. Polk (1845)
 * President Franklin Pierce's Minister to England (1853-1856)

During the Presidency
During his presidency, Buchanan had to deal with the major issue of rising tensions between the Northern (anti-slavery) and Southern (pro-slavery) regions of the U.S. He was personally against slavery, but **interpreted the Constitution the way it was written** by the Founding Fathers and allowed slavery to operate within the South. With this decision, Buchanan was **viewed as a supporter of the pro-slavery** South and an **enemy of the anti-slavery** North. Important events of his term:
 * **Financial Panic and Depression (1857)**
 * Distressed manufacturers, workers, and farmers became convinced that the panic was the result of **defective policies** made by **southern-controlled Democratic administrations**, the whole event would help **strengthen the Republican Party** and antislavery. Buchanan took no action to remedy the situation, even for the hard hit Northern and Western United States.
 * **The //Dred Scott// Decision**
 * **Dred Scott** was a slave living in Illinois and Wisconsin (free states), his owner died in 1846 and Scott sued the owner's widow for freedom claiming that living in free territory had made him free, the widow's brother **John Sanford** claimed ownership of Scott and in the **1857 Supreme Court Decision** for **//Dred Scott v. Sandford//**, they ruled that Scott **couldn't have sued** in the first place because he wasn't a citizen, he was **property** . As a result of this decision, Buchanan (though he personally opposed to slavery) strengthened his views that slavery was legal based on the Constitution.
 * **Slavery and Kansas**
 * For years, there had been conflicts in **popularly-sovereign Kansas** over whether or not slavery should be permitted in the new state. Siding with the //Dred Scott// decision, Buchanan tried to resolve the controversy by **supporting the admission of Kansas as a pro-slavery state** . In a constitutional convention, pro-slavery delegates framed a constitution legalizing slavery (the **Lecomption Constitution** ) but after promptly being submitted to the voters, it was **rejected** by more than 10,000 votes. Buchanan continued to fight for the admission of Kansas as a slave state, but his proposals died against the power of anti-slavery supporters and Kansas entered the Union in **1861 as a free state** . He was seen as trying to force slavery upon a state that didn't want it.
 * **John Brown's Raid**
 * An **antislavery zealot and abolitionist** responsible for the prior Pottawatomie Massacre of pro-slavery settlers in Kansas, **John Brown** still sought to oppose the "evil" institution of slavery in the South. In the **fall of 1859**, Brown and a group of 18 followers staged an attack and seizure of a **United States arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia** in an attempt to inspire a **slave uprising** . However, the events didn't go as he planned (no slaves were willing to join his uprising) and eventually 10 of his men were killed and Brown and the rest were **captured by United States troops** commanded by **Robert E. Lee** . As a result, Brown and 6 of his followers were **executed** by hanging. This event convinced **southerners that they could not be safe** in the Union and that abolitionists and the Republican Party posed a great threat to them.
 * **Southern Secession**
 * After the **election of 1860** and the victory of **Republican Abraham Lincoln**, the Southern states responded to the departure of their pro-slavery ally in the White House with secession from the Union. **South Carolina** was the first to do so, followed by 6 other states. Buchanan was **opposed to the action** and stated that no state had the right to secede from the Union, but didn't feel that the federal government could do anything to a state that did so. After the South refused to compromise, Buchanan sent the ship //Star of the West// with reinforcements and supplies to **Fort Sumter** but it turned back after being fired on by Confederate guns. Still unwilling to take immediate action against the Confederacy, Buchanan **remained inactive** until he relieved his position to Abraham Lincoln.

Legacy
James Buchanan is often associated with being the last pre-Civil War president. He took office during a time of great turmoil between the North and the South, but his actions during his term seemed to favor slavery and were ineffective in lowering the conflict. As a result, the debate over slavery only grew fiercer and the nation propelled itself into a Civil War very soon after he left office. Buchanan was one of the most important presidents to take office because of his stand on slavery as being legal according to the Constitution (a view many southerners argued for) and the eventual result of his inability to calm tensions between the North and South that would result in the pivotal Civil War that would later bring a decisive end to slavery in the United States.

Other Information
James Buchanan served in the U.S. military during the War of 1812 and was not only the first president to be born in Pennsylvania, but the only unmarried president of the United States. This is often though to be because Buchanan was a homosexual (the only homosexual president of the U.S.?), even though the woman he was engaged to also passed away before their marriage.

Sources:
 * Image of President Buchanan- []
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 * Brinkley, Alan. __American History- A Survey__. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.