James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1971 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College when he was eighteen years old. Buchanan immediately began studying (what a surprise) law. When he was twenty three he won election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a member of the Federalist Party. In 1832 president Andrew Jackson appointed him as an envoy to Russia. After settling negotiations for a trade treaty, he came back to the US the following year, and won a US Senate seat. By the end of his term, he had become one of the most influential senators in Congress. Slavery was slowly but surly becoming a big problem in the US. By this time, Buchanan had openly stated he despised abolitionists and established himself as a Democrat. This fact would have an impact on his presidency because when he did make decisions he usually sided with the Southerners. He ran for presidency in 1844 but lost to James Knox Polk. Polk named Buchanan as secretary of state. He ran again in 1852 but lost once more to a man named Franklin Pierce, who named him minister of England. This was good because it kept him away from the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. This allowed him to finally win an election because the Democrats didn't want to re-nominate Pierce and risk him doing something even crazier than repealing the Missouri Compromise.
Presidency
Buchanan believed that slavery was a matter for each separate state and territory to decide. This was not the most ideal of beliefs to have at the time because how were the people supposed to solve their problems when their leader didn't even know how to, Two days after his inauguration, the Supreme handed Buchanan its Dred Scott decision. It stated that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the territories and they refused to recognize African Americans as US citizens. Buchanan agreed to the ruling not because he was proslavery, but because he thought a final verdict would settle the argument and get the Northerners and Republicans to cool their jets. However, it only made them angrier. It also led to an even bigger gap between them and the Southerners and Democrats who though the Dred Scott decision was perfectly reasonable. Buchanan worsened his relationship with the North by accepting the Lecompton Constitution which would have made Kansas into a slave state. He did this because he wanted to retain the support of Southern Democrats and he believed early statehood for Kansas would solve the territorial problem. It was rejected in the end and Kansas was able to become a free state in 1861. Then John Brown entered the picture. He was an abolitionist whose method of fighting slavery was armed rebellion. Because the Southerners had Buchanan's support they were able to quell this insurrection fairly quickly. Within three days a company of US Marines led by Robert E. Lee had captured John Brown. He was living proof to the Southerners that the North wanted to end slavery so badly that they were resorting to murder. Tensions continued to rise and Buchanan did a really poor job of trying to keep it under control. By the time Abraham Lincoln became president the gap between the North and South was so wide that South Carolina actually seceded from the Union.
Legacy
James Buchanan, the fifteenth president of the United States, wasn't a very good president. He never really took as side on the slavery issue and because of this he never found a solution. When he did take a side he sided with the Southerners which angered the Northerners. He did virtually nothing to try to solve the problem so when Lincoln (he was anti-slavery) became president, South Carolina and six other southern states seceded from the Union. This eventually developed into what we now know as the Civil War. Buchanan's presidency teaches us that we can't be wishy washy with our beliefs, especially when were carrying our nations entire future on our backs. If a leader can't solve a problem how are his followers supposed to?
Works Cited
"Kansas-Nebraska Act." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Life Before the Presidency-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Domestic Affairs-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Life After the Presidency-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"James Buchanan." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Life Before the Presidency-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Domestic Affairs-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"Miller Center." James Buchanan: Life After the Presidency-. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"James Buchanan." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.