James Buchanan Jr. April 23, 1791 - June 1, 1868) was an American politician who served as the 15th President of the United States (1857-61), serving immediately before the American Civil War. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the 17th Foreign Affairs Minister of the United States and has served in the Senate and House of Representatives before becoming president.
Buchanan was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, to parents of Ulster Scots. He became a prominent lawyer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and won the election to the Pennsylvania Representative Council as a Federalist. In 1820, Buchanan won the election to the House of Representatives of the United States, eventually becoming in tune with Democratic Party Andrew Jackson. After serving as Minister Jackson to Russia, Buchanan won the election as senator from Pennsylvania. In 1845, he accepted the appointment as Secretary of State President James K. Polk. During Buchanan's tenure as Secretary of State, the United States grew rapidly with the conclusion of the Oregon Treaty and victory in the Mexican-American War. From 1853 to 1856 during Franklin Pierce's presidency, Buchanan served as US ambassador to the United Kingdom. As the main candidate for his party's presidential nomination throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Buchanan eventually won his party's nomination in 1856, defeating Pierce and Senator Stephen A. Douglas in 1856 of the Democratic National Convention. Buchanan and his partner, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, defeated the Republic of John C. Frà © Å © mont and Know-Nothing Millard Fillmore to win the 1856 election.
Shortly after his election, Buchanan lobbied the Supreme Court to issue a broad ruling at Dred Scott v. Sandford , which he fully supports as president. He allied with the South in an attempt to gain Kansas's recognition to the Union as a slave state under the Lecompton Constitution. In the process, he alienates both the Republican and the Northern Democratic abolitionists, who largely support the principle of popular sovereignty in determining the slaveholding status of a new state. He is often called "doughface," a Northerner with Southern sympathy, and he fights with Douglas, leader of the people's sovereignty faction, to control the Democratic Party. In the midst of an increasingly widespread crisis, Panic of 1857 hit the country. Buchanan pointed out in his 1857 inauguration speech that he would not seek a second term, and he kept his promise and did not run for re-election in the 1860 presidential election. After his party split, mostly along geographical lines, Buchanan supported Breckinridge Vice President Douglas, which won the support of most of the North Democrats. Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln, who runs the platform of keeping slavery from all western regions, defeated Democratic and Union John Bell contenders to win the election. In response, the seven southern states declared their separation from the Union, which eventually led to the American Civil War. Buchanan's view is that secession is illegal, but going to war to stop him is also illegal, and he is not facing new politics militarily. Buchanan supported the United States during the Civil War and publicly defended himself against allegations that he was responsible for the war. He died in 1868 at the age of 77 years. He is the only president who remains a lifelong bachelor.
Buchanan aspires to be a president who will rank in history with George Washington. Historians blame him for his failure to overcome the problem of slavery and the separation of the southern states, bringing this nation to the brink of civil war. His inability to deal with pro-slavery and anti-slavery, deeply divided by the unifying principle on the brink of the Civil War, has led to his consistent rank by historians as one of the worst presidents in American history. Historians who participated in the 2006 survey voted for his failure to deal with secession as the worst mistake the presidency ever made. In 2018, he is the latest Democrat to be elected to replace a Democratic president who does not die at the office.
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James Buchanan Jr. was born in a wooden hut in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania (now Buchanan's Birthplace State Park), in Franklin County, on April 23, 1791, to James Buchanan, Sr. (1761-1821), a businessman, trader, and farmer, and Elizabeth Speer, an educated woman (1767-1833). Her parents were Ulster Scot's descendants, her father emigrated from Milford, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1783. One of eleven siblings, Buchanan was the eldest child in the family to survive in childhood. Shortly after Buchanan's birth, the family moved to a farm near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1794 the family moved to Mercersburg itself. Buchanan's father became the richest man in town, having achieved success as a trader, farmer, and real estate investor.
Buchanan attended the village academy (Old Stone Academy) and, starting in 1807, Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Although he was almost driven out at one point due to bad manners, he begged a second chance and then graduated with honors on September 19, 1809. Later that year, he moved to Lancaster, who, at the time, was the capital of Pennsylvania. James Hopkins, Lancaster's most famous lawyer, accepted Buchanan as a student, and in 1812 Buchanan was accepted at the Pennsylvania bar after an oral test. Although many other lawyers moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania after becoming the capital of Pennsylvania in 1812, Lancaster would remain the home town of Buchanan for the rest of his life. Buchanan's income grew rapidly after it established its own practice and in 1821 it generated over $ 11,000 per year (equivalent to $ 202,235 in 2017). Buchanan handles various types of cases, including a high profile impeachment trial in which she managed to defend Pennsylvania Judge Walter Franklin.
Buchanan began her political career at Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1814-1816) as a member of the Federalist Party. The legislature only meets for three months of the year, and Buchanan's fame as a legislator helps her get clients to practice law. Like his father, Buchanan believes in federal government-funded internal improvements, high tariffs, and national banks. He emerged as a strong critic of the leadership of Democratic President-Republican James Madison during the War of 1812. When Britain invaded neighboring Maryland in 1814, he served in the Baltimore defense after registering as a private at Henry Shippen Company, 1st Brigade. , 4th Division, Pennsylvania Militia, yager unit or light dragoons. Buchanan is the only president with military experience who does not, at some point, serve as an officer.
The active Freemason, he is the Master of Masonique Lodge no. 43 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Grand Master District Deputy from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
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Political career
Congress and Minister Services to Russia
By 1820, the Federalist Party had largely collapsed across the country, and Buchanan ran for the US House of Representatives as a "Republican-Federalist." During his tenure in Congress, Buchanan became a supporter of Andrew Jackson and the defender of state rights. After the 1824 presidential election, Buchanan helped organize Jackson's followers into the Democratic Party, and Buchanan became a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat. In Washington, he became personally close to many of the southern congressmen, including William R. King of Alabama. Instead, Buchanan tends to see many members of the New England Congress as a dangerous radical. Appointed to the Agriculture Committee in his first year, Buchanan eventually became Chairman of the US House Committee in Justice. After becoming chair of the committee, Buchanan led the impeachment process of Judge James H. Peck of the United States District Court for the District of Missouri, arguing that Peck had abused his position. Peck is released by the Senate. Buchanan rejected a re-nomination for a sixth term, briefly returning to private life.
After Jackson was re-elected in 1832, the president offered Buchanan the position of the US Ambassador to Russia. Buchanan was reluctant to leave the country, but ultimately approved the appointment. He served as ambassador for eighteen months, during which time he studied French (diplomacy lingua franca) in the nineteenth century) and helped negotiate trade and maritime agreements with the Russian Empire.
Senate services
Back in the United States, Buchanan was elected by the state legislature to succeed William Wilkins, who had replaced Buchanan as ambassador to Russia. Buchanan will win re-election in 1836 and 1842. A faithful faithful of loyalists and devotees of Buchanan, Buchanan opposes recording of the Second Bank of the United States and seeks to eliminate the congressional condemnation of Jackson from the World Bank War. Buchanan also opposed the rules of the gag, stating, "We have little right to interfere with slavery in the South, because we have to touch the petition rights." Buchanan thinks that the problem of slavery is the domain of the states, and he blames those who do abolitionis because of the exciting desire for this problem. His support for the rights of the state was matched by his support for Manifest Destiny, and he opposed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty to "surrender" his land to England. Buchanan also debated the annexation of Texas and the entire Oregon State. Toward the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Buchanan positioned itself as a potential alternative for former President Martin Van Buren, but his candidacy went to James K. Polk.
Secretary of State
Polk shared many of Buchanan's foreign policy views, and Buchanan was offered the position of the Secretary of State in the administration of Polk. Although he considered the possibility of serving in the Supreme Court, Buchanan accepted the position and served as Secretary of State throughout Polk's office term in office. During that time, Polk and Buchanan almost doubled the territorial territory of the United States through the Oregon Agreement and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In negotiations with Britain in Oregon, Buchanan initially suggested a compromise, but then advocated the annexation of the entire territory. Finally, Buchanan approves the division in the 49th parallel. After the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, Buchanan advised Polk to take the Southern Region of the Rio Grande River and New Mexico. However, when the war ended, Buchanan argued for further annexation of the territory, disrupting Polk, who suspected that Buchanan was primarily concerned with finally becoming president. Buchanan secretly sought nominations at the 1848 National Democratic Convention (Polk had promised to serve only one term), but the nominees went to Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan.
Ambassador to the United Kingdom
With the end of Polk's reign and the 1848 victory of Zachary Taylor, the Whig candidate for president, Buchanan returned to private life. He bought a Wheatland home on the outskirts of Lancaster, entertained various visitors, and continued to follow political events. In 1852, Buchanan was appointed president of the Supervisory Board of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, and he served in this capacity until 1866, despite false reports that he was dismissed. He secretly campaigned for the nomination of the Democratic presidential nominee in 1852, writing a public letter deploring Wilmot Proviso as divisive and fanatical. Buchanan is known as the "doughface" because of his sympathy for the South. In 1852 the Democratic National Convention, Buchanan won the support of many southern delegates but failed to win the necessary two-thirds support for the presidential nomination, which was forwarded to Franklin Pierce. Buchanan refused to be a vice presidential candidate, and the convention instead nominated Buchanan's close friend William King. Pierce won the 1852 election, and Buchanan accepted the position of US Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Buchanan sailed to England in the summer of 1853, and he remained overseas for the next three years. In 1850, the United States and Great Britain signed the Clayton-Bulwer Agreement, which binds the two countries to control the future canal that will connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Central America. Buchanan met repeatedly with Lord Clarendon, the British foreign minister, in the hope of pressuring England to withdraw from Central America. He also continues to focus on Cuban potential annexation, which has long occupied him. At Pierce's urging, Buchanan, US Ambassador to Spain Pierre Soulà © Å ©, and US Ambassador to France John Mason met in Ostend, Belgium, and drafted a memorandum known as the Ostend Manifesto. The document proposed a purchase from Spain in Cuba, then in the midst of the revolution and was nearly bankrupt, declaring the island "as necessary for the North American republic as one of... the families of his states." Against Buchanan's recommendation, the final draft of the manifesto suggests that "taking it from Spain" if Spain refused to sell would be justified "by every law, human and divine." The manifesto, generally considered a blunder as a whole, has never been followed up, but weakens Pierce's administration and support for Manifest Destiny.
Presidential Election 1856
Buchanan's overseas service easily places her abroad while the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act shakes the country. Although Buchanan did not seek the presidency publicly, he deliberately chose not to dampen the movement on his behalf, something that was in his power on many occasions. 1856 The Democratic National Convention met in June 1856, writing a platform largely reflective of Buchanan's views, including support for the Law of Escape Slavery, ending anti-slavery agitation, and "US power in the Gulf of Mexico." President Pierce is hoping for a re-nomination, while Senator Stephen A. Douglas also looms as a strong candidate. Buchanan led the first vote, spurred on by support from powerful Senator John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and Thomas F. Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and the South. Buchanan won the nomination after seventeen ballot papers, and joined on tickets by John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky.
Buchanan faces not one but two candidates in the general election: former President Whig Millard Fillmore ran as an American (or "Know-Nothing") candidate, while John C. Franz ran as a Republican candidate. Sticking to the conventions of the times, Buchanan himself did not campaign, but he wrote letters and promised to uphold the Democratic platform. In the election, Buchanan brought every slave country except Maryland, as well as five free countries, including his state in Pennsylvania. He won 45 percent of the popular vote and, most importantly, won the election vote, taking 174 electoral votes compared to 114 votes for the selection of Frön mont and 8 votes for Fillmore voters. The selection of Buchanan made him the first, and so far only, president of Pennsylvania. He will also be the last person born in the 18th century to serve as president. In his victory speech, Buchanan criticized the Republican Party, calling Republicans "dangerous" and "geopranical" parties that unfairly attack the South. The elected president, Buchanan, will also state, "My government's aim is to destroy the parties, North or South, and to restore harmony to Unity under national and conservative government." He arranged this initially by maintaining the balance of the passage in his appointment and persuading people to accept constitutional law when the Supreme Court interpreted it. The court is considering the legality of restriction of slavery in the region and two judges have signaled to Buchanan their findings. Inauguration
Buchanan was inaugurated on March 4, 1857, taking the oath of office of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. In his inaugural address, Buchanan is committed to serving only one term, although Pierce has made the same commitment. Buchanan also deplored the growing division of slavery and status in the regions. Stating that Congress should not play a role in determining the state of slavery in states or territories, Buchanan debates the people's sovereignty. Furthermore, Buchanan argues that the federal slave code should protect the rights of slave owners in any federal territory. He mentioned the pending Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford , which he claims will permanently solve the problem of slavery. In fact, Buchanan already knows the outcome of the case, and even plays a role in her disposition.
Personnel
Cabinet and administration
As his inauguration approached, Buchanan attempted to form a harmonious cabinet, as he hoped to avoid a dispute that had plagued high-ranking Andrew Jackson. Buchanan chose four southerners and three northerners, the last of which was all considered a dough. Buchanan tried to be a clear cabinet leader, and chose those who agreed with his views. Anticipating that his government would concentrate on foreign policy and that Buchanan himself would direct most foreign policy, he appointed an aging Lewis Cass as Secretary of State. Buchanan's appointment of southerners and southern sympathizers alienated many in the north, and his failure to appoint Stephen Douglas's followers divided the party. Outside the cabinet, Buchanan leaves many Pierce appointments, but removes a number of northerners who have a relationship with Pierce or Douglas. Buchanan quickly alienated his vice president, Breckinridge, and the latter played a small part in Buchanan's government.
Legal promise
Buchanan appointed one Judge to the United States Supreme Court, Nathan Clifford. Buchanan only appoints seven other Article III federal judges, all to the US district court. He also appointed two Article I judges to the Claims Court of the United States.
Dred Scott's Case
Two days after Buchanan's inauguration, Chief Judge Taney passed the decision of Dred Scott, asserting that Congress lacked the constitutional power to exclude slavery in the region. Prior to his inauguration, Buchanan had written to Judge John Catron in January 1857, inquiring about the outcome of the case and suggesting that a wider decision would be wiser. Catron, who is from Tennessee, replied on Feb. 10 that the southern majority of the Supreme Court would decide against Scott, but would most likely have to publish the decision on a narrow basis if there was no support from the northern judge in court - unless Buchanan could convince fellow Pennsylvanian, Judge Robert Cooper Grier, to join the majority. Buchanan hopes that the wider Supreme Court's decision to protect slavery in the regions could lay the problem for rest once and for all, allowing the state to focus on other issues, including possible annexation of Cuba and the acquisition of more Mexican territory. So Buchanan wrote to Grier and succeeded in defeating him, allowing the influence of the majority to issue a broad decision that goes beyond the specific circumstances of Scott's case to declare Missouri Compromise in 1820 unconstitutional. Correspondence is not public at the time; However, at his inauguration, Buchanan was seen whispering a conversation with Chief Judge Roger B. Taney. When the decision came two days later, Republicans began to spread the news that Taney had revealed to Buchanan the upcoming results. Buchanan hopes that Dred Scott's decision will destroy the Republican platform, but angry northerners condemn the decision.
Panic year 1857
Panic of 1857 began in the summer of that year, escorted by the successive collapse of fourteen hundred state banks and five thousand businesses. While the South escaped largely unscathed, the northern towns experienced a drastic increase in unemployment. Buchanan agrees with southerners linking the economic collapse with overspeculation.
Reflecting his Jackson's background, Buchanan's answer was "reform rather than liberation." While the government is "without power to extend aid", the government will continue to pay its debts in certain forms, and while it will not limit public works, nothing will be added. He urged states to restrict banks to the credit level of $ 3 to $ 1 from the specie, and does not advocate the use of federal or state bonds as collateral for bank memorandum issues. The economy is finally recovering, although many Americans suffer from panic. Although Buchanan hopes to reduce the deficit, by the time he leaves office, the federal deficit reaches $ 17 million.
Utah War
The Utah region had been inhabited by Mormons for decades before Buchanan's presidency, and under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons had become increasingly hostile to federal intervention. Young harassed young officers and outsiders who were not eager to settle in the Salt Lake City area, and in September 1857, the Utah Territorial Militia conducted a massacre at Mountain Meadows against Arkansans that was heading for California. Buchanan is also personally offended by Young's polygamous behavior.
Receiving the wildest rumors and trusting Mormons to open an open rebellion against the United States, Buchanan sent troops in November 1857 to replace Young as governor with non-Mormon Alfred Cumming. While Mormons are often against federal authority, some question whether Buchanan's actions are a justifiable or cautious response to unrecognized reports. A complicated matter, Young's notice of his successor was not delivered because the administration of Pierce had canceled the contract of Utah mail. After Young reacts to military action by collecting a two-week expedition that destroys railways, cattle and other Army properties, Buchanan sends Thomas L. Kane as a private agent to negotiate peace. The mission was successful, the new governor was immediately placed in the office, and the Utah War ended. The President grants amnesty to all residents who will respect governmental authority, and move the federal forces to a non-threatening distance to the balance of his government. Although he continued to practice polygamy, Young received federal authority after the end of the Utah War.
Bleeding Kansas
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kansas Territory and allowed settlers there to choose whether to allow slavery. This resulted in violence between "Free Land" (antislavery) and settler settlers in what is known as the "Kansas Bleeding" crisis. The antislavery settlers held a government in Topeka, while the nation's settlers set up a government seat in Lecompton, Kansas. In order for Kansas to be accepted as a state, a constitution must be submitted to Congress with the consent of the majority of the population. Under President Pierce, a series of violent confrontations known as "Kansas Bleeding" increased as supporters of both governments clashed. The situation in Kansas is closely watched across the country, and some in Georgia and Mississippi advocating secession should Kansas be recognized as a free country. Buchanan herself does not really care whether or not Kansas enters a slave state, instead of trying to recognize Kansas as a country as soon as possible as it will likely tilt toward the Democratic Party. Instead of restarting the process and establishing a territorial government, Buchanan chose to recognize the Lecompton government.
After taking office, Buchanan appointed Robert J. Walker to replace John W. Geary as the territorial governor, with the mission reconciling the settlers' factions and approving the constitution. Walker, originally from Mississippi, is expected to assist the prosecutor's faction in obtaining new constitutional approval. However, after months in the office, Walker came to believe that slavery was not suitable for the region, and thought that Kansas would eventually become a free country. In October 1857, the Lecompton government organized a territorial election marked by a fraud that Walker dumped returns from several districts. Nevertheless, in the same month, the Lecompton government framed the constitution of a pro-slave state (known as the "Lecompton Constitution") and, rather than risking a referendum, sent it directly to Buchanan. Though excited for the state of Kansas, even Buchanan was forced to reject the Kansas entrance without a state constitutional referendum, and he sent a federal agent to compromise. The Lecompton government approved a limited referendum in which Kansas would vote not on the constitution as a whole, but only on whether or not Kansas would allow slavery after becoming a country. The Topeka government boycotted the December 1857 referendum, and slavery strongly won the approval of those voting. A month later, the Topeka government held its own referendum in which voters strongly rejected Lecompton's Constitution.
Despite protests from Walker and two former Kansas governors, Buchanan decided to accept Lecompton's Constitution. At a December 1857 meeting with Stephen Douglas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories and an important Democrat in the north, Buchanan demanded that all Democrats support the administrative position to recognize Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. On February 2, Buchanan sent Lecompton's Constitution to Congress. He also sent a message that attacked the "revolutionary government" in Topeka, uniting them with the Mormons in Utah. Buchanan makes every effort to get congressional approval, offers help, patronage appointments, and even cash for votes. The Lecompton Constitution won the Senate's approval in March, but a combination of Know-Nothings, Republicans, and Northern Democrats defeated the bill in the House. Instead of accepting defeat, Buchanan supports the UK Bill, which offers direct state Kansans and vast public lands in exchange for accepting the Lecompton Constitution. In August 1858, Kansas referendum strongly rejected Lecompton's Constitution.
The battle over Kansas has risen to battle for Democrats. On the one hand is Buchanan, mostly Southern Democrats, and northern Democrats allied to the South ("Doughfaces"); on the other hand is Douglas and most of the northern Democrats plus some southerners. Douglas's Faction continues to support the doctrine of popular sovereignty, while Buchanan insists that the Democrats respect the decisions of Dred Scott and his refusal of federal intervention with slavery in the territories. The struggle takes place the rest of Buchanan presidency. Buchanan used patronage powers to remove Douglas sympathizers in Illinois and Washington, DC and installed pro-administrative Democrats, including postmaster.
1858 mid-term selection
The term of the Senate of Douglas ended in 1859, so the Illinois legislature elected in 1858 would determine whether Douglas would win re-election. The election of the Senate is a major issue of legislative elections, marked by the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate. Buchanan, who works through federal patronage officials in Illinois, nominated a legislative candidate in a rivalry with Republicans and Democrats Douglas. It can easily throw elections to the Republicans - which shows the depth of Buchanan's hostility towards Douglas. In the end, Douglas Democrat won the legislative election and Douglas was re-elected to the Senate. Douglas troops took control throughout the North, except in the state of Buchanan in Pennsylvania. Buchanan is reduced to a narrow base of southern supporters.
The division between north and south Democrats allowed the Republicans to win plurality in the House of Representatives in the election of 1858. Their control of the room allowed the Republic to block most of Buchanan's agenda. Buchanan, in turn, vetoed six substantial sections of Republican law, leading to further hostility between Congress and the White House. Among the pieces of the law that Buchanan vetoed was the Homestead Act, which would give 160 acres of public land for settlers who remain on the ground for five years, and the Morrill Law, which would grant public land to establish a college grant of land. Buchanan argues that these actions are beyond the powers of the federal government as established by the Constitution.
Foreign policy
Buchanan took a position with an ambitious foreign policy centered around building US hegemony over Central America at the expense of Great Britain. He hopes to renegotiate the Clayton-Bulwer Agreement, which he views as an error limiting US influence in the region. He also sought to establish American protectorates over the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora, and, perhaps most importantly, he hopes to finally achieve his long-term goal of acquiring Cuba. After long negotiations with Britain, he convinced them to agree to surrender the Bay Islands to Honduras and Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua. However, Buchanan's ambitions in Cuba and Mexico were largely blocked by the House of Representatives. Buchanan also considered buying Alaska from the Russian Empire, possibly as a colony for Mormon settlers, but Buchanan and Russia could not agree on a price. In China, although not taking a direct part in the Second Opium War, Buchanan's government won a trade concession in the Tientsin Treaty. In 1858 Buchanan ordered a Paraguayan expedition to punish Paraguay for firing on the Water Wizard of the USS, and the expedition resulted in a Paraguayan apology and compensation payment.
Covode Committee
In March 1860, the Parliament established the Covode Committee to investigate administration for evidence of infringement, some impenetrable, such as bribery and extortion of representatives in return for their votes. The committee, with three Republicans and two Democrats, was accused by Buchanan supporters of being naked partisans; they also accused the chairman, Republican Rep. John Covode, by acting on a personal grudge (because the president had vetoed the bill created as a land grant for the new agricultural college, but designed to benefit the Covode railway company). However, members of the Democratic committee, as well as Democratic witnesses, are equally enthusiastic in pursuing Buchanan, and as demonstrated in their criticism, as Republicans.
The committee could not establish a reason for indicting Buchanan; however, the majority report released on June 17 reveals corruption and abuse of power among its cabinet members, as well as accusations (if not undeniable evidence) of Republican Committee members, that Buchanan has attempted to bribe members of Congress in relation to it. with Lecompton's constitution. (The Democrat Report, issued separately on the same day, indicates that the evidence is rare, but does not dispute the charge: one Democrat, Rep. James Robinson, publicly declared that he agreed with the Republican report even though he did not sign it.)
Buchanan claims to have "graduated triumphantly through this ordeal" with complete justification. Nonetheless, Republican cooperatives distributed thousands of copies of the Covode Committee's report across the nation as a campaign material in the presidential election that year.
Selection 1860
The 1860 National Democratic Convention was held in April 1860. Although Douglas leads after every vote, he can not win the two-thirds majority needed. The convention was adjourned after 53 ballot papers, and held again in Baltimore in June. After Douglas finally won the nomination, several southerners refused to accept the result, and nominated Vice President Breckinridge as their own candidate. Douglas and Breckinridge agree on most issues except for the protection of slavery in the territories. Failing to reconcile the party, and taking care of a grudge against Douglas, Buchanan warmly supports Breckinridge. With the outbreak of the Democratic Party, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won a four-way election that also included John Bell of the Union Constitution Party. Although Lincoln has almost no support in the South, his support in North Korea is enough to grant him a majority of voters. Buchanan will be the last Democrat to win the presidential election until the 1880s.
In early October, Army Commander Winfield Scott warned Buchanan that Lincoln's election was likely to cause at least seven states to secede. He also recommended to Buchanan that large numbers of federal troops and artillery were deployed to the states to protect the federal property, although he also warned that there was little available reinforcement (Congress since 1857 failed to notice both male appeals for militia stronger and have allowed it, soldiers fall into miserable conditions). Buchanan does not trust Scott (both have long been political enemies) and ignored his recommendations. After Lincoln's election, Buchanan directed Floyd's War Secretary to strengthen the southern fortress with such provisions, weapons and such people available; However, Floyd convinced him to revoke the order.
Secession
With Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disintegration reached the boiling point. Buchanan was forced to deliver it in her last message to Congress. The two factions awaited news of how Buchanan would confront the question. In his message, Buchanan denied the legal rights of states to separate but stated that the federal government can not legally prevent it. He put the blame for the crisis solely on "the cruel interference of the North with slavery problems in South America", and suggested that if they did not "repeal the unconstitutional and obnoxious laws... the injured states, after first using all peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress, will be justified in revolutionary opposition to the Government of the Union. "Buchanan's sole remedy for resolving the crisis is an" explanatory amendment "that reaffirms the state's constitutionality of slavery, the law of enslaved slavery and sovereignty people in the regions. His address was sharply criticized both by the north, because of his refusal to halt secession, and south, for refusing his right to escape. Five days after the address was delivered, Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb resigned, feeling that his views and the President had become irreconcilable.
South Carolina, the most radical southern state, declared its separation on December 20, 1860. However, union sentiment remained strong among many in the South, and Buchanan sought to appeal to a moderate south that might prevent secession in other countries. He proposed that constitutional amendments protect slavery in states and territories. He also met with South Caroline's commissioner in an attempt to resolve the situation at Fort Sumter, which federal forces remain in control despite its location in Charleston, South Carolina. He refused to dismiss Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson after the latter was chosen as Mississippi's agent to discuss secession, and he refused to dismiss War Secretary John B. Floyd despite a scandal of embezzlement, although the latter finally resigned. Before resigning, Floyd sent many weapons to the southern states, where they would eventually fall into the hands of Confederates. Despite Floyd's resignation, Buchanan continues to meet to receive advice from a counselor from Deep South, including Jefferson Davis and William Henry Trescot, who told the South Carolina government about the content of his conversation with Buchanan. Other southern sympathizers also leaked government plans.
Attempts were made by statesmen such as Senator John J. Crittenden, Rep. Thomas Corwin, and former president John Tyler to negotiate a compromise to stop secession, with Buchanan's support; all failed. Failed compromise attempts were also made by a group of governor meetings in New York. Buchanan used last minute tactics, in secret, to bring the solution. He tried in vain to get the call of President-elect Lincoln for a constitutional convention or national referendum to resolve the issue of slavery. Lincoln refused.
Despite Buchanan and others, the six slave states broke away in late January 1861. Buchanan replaced the dead southern cabinet with John Adams Dix, Edwin M. Stanton, and Joseph Holt, all of whom were committed to preserving Unity. When Buchanan considered handing Fort Sumter, a new cabinet member threatened to resign, and Buchanan changed his position. On January 5, Buchanan finally decided to strengthen Fort Sumter, sending the Star of the West with 250 men and supplies. However, Buchanan failed to ask Major Robert Anderson to provide fire for the ship, and was forced to return to the North without sending troops or supplies. Buchanan chose not to respond to this war, and instead sought a compromise to avoid secession. On March 3, a message from Anderson reached Buchanan stating that Anderson's inventory was running low. But on March 4, Buchanan was replaced by Lincoln, who was left to deal with an emerging crisis that eventually became the American Civil War.
Constitutional amendments
- March 2, 1861: Congress approves amendments to the Constitution of the United States that will protect the state's "domestic institutions" (which in 1861 included slavery) of the constitutional amendment process and the abolition or interference of Congress, to the state legislature for ratification. (Note: This amendment, commonly known as the Corwin Amendment, has not been ratified by any number of countries required to be part of the Constitution, and is pending before the state.)
Country received in Union
Three new states were accepted at the Union while Buchanan was in office:
- MinnesotaÃ, - May 11, 1858
- OregonÃ, - February 14, 1859
- Kansas - January 29, 1861
Last year
The Civil War erupted within two months after Buchanan's retirement. He supported the United States, writing to his former colleagues that "the attack on Sumter is the start of war by Confederate nations, and there is no alternative left but to judge with enthusiasm on our part". He also wrote letters to fellow Pennsylvania Democrats members, urging them to "join the thousands of bold and patriotic volunteers already on the ground".
Buchanan spends most of her remaining life defending herself from public mistakes for the Civil War, which some even refer to as the "Buchanan War". He began receiving angry and threatening letters every day, and the shops displayed Buchanan's likeness with red eyes, a figure drawn around his neck and the word "TRAITOR" written on his forehead. The Senate proposed a resolution of condemnation that ultimately failed, and the newspaper accused him of colluding with the Confederacy. Former cabinet members, five of whom had been given jobs in the Lincoln administration, refused to defend Buchanan publicly.
Initially so disturbed by the attacks that made him sick and depressed, Buchanan finally started defending himself in October 1862, in exchange of a letter between himself and Winfield Scott published in the National Intelligencer newspaper. He immediately began writing a public defense entirely, in the form of his memoirs. Buchanan Administration on Eve of Rebellion , published in 1866.
Buchanan contracted the flu in May 1868, which quickly deteriorated due to his advanced age. He died on June 1, 1868, from a respiratory failure at the age of 77 at his home in Wheatland and was buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster.
Political view
In the northern anti-slavery idiom of his day, Buchanan is often regarded as a "doughface", a northerner with southern principles. "Historian Kenneth Stampp writes:" Shortly after his election, he assured the southern Senator that the 'big object' of his government would be 'to capture, if possible, the agitation of the question of Slavery in the North and to destroy sectional parties. Buchanan was upset that the abolitionists, in his view, prevented the solution to the problem of slavery. He states, "Before [the abolitionists] started this agitation, a very large and growing party existed in some slave states that favored the abolition of slavery, and now there is no voice heard there to support such action." Abolitionists have postponed the emancipation slaves in three or four countries for at least half a century. "To honor the intentions of a typical slave owner, he quickly benefits from many doubts. In his third annual message, Buchanan claims that the slaves were "treated with kindness and humanity.... Both philanthropy and the personal interest of the lord have been combined to produce this humane result."
Buchanan considers the essence of good self-government to be established in restraint. Constitution which he considers "... restraints, imposed not by arbitrary authority, but by the people upon themselves and their representatives.... In an enlarged view, the interests of the people may appear identical, but" to the local eye and sectarian biases, they always seem to be contradictory... and the continued jealousy can be suppressed only by the peripheral circumstances surrounding the constitution. "Regarding slavery and the Constitution, he states," Although in Pennsylvania we are all against abstract slavery, we can never violate the compact constitution we have with our brother countries. Their rights will be considered sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their own question; and let it remain. "
One of the biggest problems today is the tariff. Buchanan condemned free trade and tariff restrictions, as both would benefit one part of the country to the detriment of another. As a senator from Pennsylvania, he said: "I am seen as the strongest protection advocate in another state, while I am denounced as an enemy in Pennsylvania."
Buchanan, like many of her time, is torn between her desire to expand the state for the benefit of all and her insistence on securing to those who fill an expanded territory of their rights, including slavery. In his territorial expansion he said, "What, sir? Prevents people crossing the Rocky Mountains? You might just have ordered Niagara not to flow, we have to fulfill our destiny." On the spread of enslaved slavery, through unconditional expansion, he states: "I feel strong rejection by my actions to extend the current Union boundaries over the territory of new slave ownership." For example, he hopes the Texas acquisition will "be a means of limiting, not enlarging, the dominance of slavery".
Personal life
The only president who remains a bachelor, Buchanan's private life has attracted great historical interest. His biographer Jean Baker argues that Buchanan is asexual or celibate. Some authors have argued that he is homosexual, including sociologist James W. Loewen, and writers Robert P. Watson and Shelley Ross.
In 1818, Buchanan met Anne Caroline Coleman in a grand ball at the White Swan Inn Lancaster, and the two began courting. Anne is the daughter of a rich iron man (and protective father) Robert Coleman and brother-in-law of Philadelphia Judge Joseph Hemphill, one of Buchanan's co-workers from the House of Representatives. By 1819, both were engaged, but could spend little time together; Buchanan was very busy with her law firm and political project during Panic of 1819, which took her away from Coleman for weeks at a time. Many conflicting rumors occur. Some suggest that he marries his money, because his own family is less prosperous, or that he is involved with other women. Buchanan never publicly talks about her motives or feelings, but a letter from Anne reveals she knows some rumors. Coleman broke off the engagement, and shortly thereafter, on December 9, 1819, died suddenly. Buchanan wrote her father for permission to attend the funeral, claiming "I feel happy to have run away from me forever"; However, Robert Coleman refused permission.
After Coleman's death, Buchanan never approached another woman, or seemed to show no emotional or physical interest. An unfounded rumor circulated about an affair with President Polk's widow, Sarah Childress Polk. Some believe that Anne's death serves to fend off awkward questions about Buchanan's sexuality and treasurer. During Buchanan's presidency, his orphaned nephew, Harriet Lane, whom he adopted, served as an official White House hostess.
Buchanan has a close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King, an Alabama politician who briefly served as vice president under Franklin Pierce. Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington dormitory for many years, from 1834 until the King's departure to France in 1844. The king referred to the relationship as "fellowship", and both attended a social function together. His contemporaries also noted proximity. Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy" and Democratic Party leader Aaron V. Brown referred to King as "better," "wife" and "Aunt Fancy" Buchanan (the latter is a nineteenth-century euphemism for a gentle man) , Sociologist Loewen notes that "wags" describes Buchanan and King as "conjoined twins", that Buchanan at the end of his life wrote a letter stating that he might marry a woman who could accept "lack of affection or romance", and also that Buchanan was expelled from his Lancaster Church, reportedly for a pro-slavery view gained during the King's relationship. Catherine Thompson, wife of cabinet member Jacob Thompson, later noted that "there is something unhealthy in the president's attitude". King fell ill in 1853 and died of tuberculosis shortly after Pierce's inauguration, four years before Buchanan became president. Buchanan describes it as "among the best, the cleanest and most consistent public people I know." Jean Baker's biography of Buchanan notes that his nephew and King may have destroyed some correspondence between Buchanan and King. He argues that the length and intimacy of their surviving letters (written by the King on the departure of his ambassador specifically quoted by Loewen) only describes "the affection of a special friendship."
Legacy
Historical Reputation
The day before his death, Buchanan predicted that "history would justify my memory". Historians have opposed the prediction and criticized Buchanan for his unwillingness or inability to act before secession. The history of the President of the United States, given the president's achievements, leadership qualities, failures and mistakes, has consistently placed Buchanan among the most unsuccessful presidents. When scholars are surveyed, he or she is ranked or near the bottom in terms of vision/agenda setting, domestic leadership, foreign policy leadership, moral authority, and the positive historical significance of their heritage. In some of these polls (taken before 2014), Buchanan was ranked as the worst president in US history.
Biographer Buchanan Philip Klein explains the challenges that Buchanan faces:
Buchanan took over the leadership... when an unprecedented wave of anger swept across the nation. That he holds the unfriendly parts examined during these revolutionary times is a remarkable accomplishment. His weakness in the years of his presidential storm was magnified by angry partisans in the North and South. His many talents, which in a quieter era may have gained space for him among the great presidents, were rapidly overshadowed by fierce civil war events and by the towering Abraham Lincoln. "
Jean Baker's biographer is less generous to Buchanan:
Americans have easily misled themselves about the presidency of James Buchanan, preferring to classify him as hesitant and inactive... In fact Buchanan who failed during the crisis over the Union was not inactive, but his alignment to the South, the favoritism bordering on disloyalty to a officers who promised to defend all the United States. He is the most dangerous of the chief executive, a stubborn and erroneous ideologue whose principles have no room for compromise. His experience in government only made him too confident to consider other views. In his betrayal of national belief, Buchanan came closer to treason than any other president in American history.
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