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 * Name:** James Buchanan
 * Birth-Death date:** April 23, 1793 (Cove Gap) - June 1, 1868 (Wheatland Estate)
 * Political Party:** Democrat
 * Vice President:** John Cabell Breckinridge
 * Term of Office:** 1857-1861 15th President

James Buchanan deserves an overall grade of a C-. He did not do much of anything while in office, and what he did do was minimal. He sat and watched the nation tear itself in two, he did nothing to aid those devastated by the Panic of 1857, and he had cabinet members resign because of his lack of action. Buchanan did nothing to benefit the nation while in office; he just let it go to pieces.

Buchanan didn't really have any goals he wished to accomplish in office. All that he wanted to do was to uphold the Constitution, nothing else. He was put in charge of the nation when it was inevitably going to war with itself. He just tried to not make things worse, which he did by not doing anything to stop it.

Buchanan had a decent relationship with Congress. He had the majority of the Senate in both terms, but only had the majority in the House for the first two years. The relationship wasn’t too good because although he had the majority, nothing notable was passed or vetoed. Another reason that it wasn’t too good was because of all the secessionists in Congress. They ended up leaving the union after his presidency. Buchanan ended up doing nothing with Congress during his presidency.

There were very few things that Buchanan did to help the country; the biggest thing was to ride out the Panic of 1857. The administration did not do anything to add to the panic. If they had interfered it could have made things much worse than they were. The worst thing that the administration did was nothing. They just sat there and watched the nation tear itself in two. They could have interfered and made the sectional fighting less of a threat. They could have bargained and reasoned with the South to keep them a part of the union, but they didn’t. The Buchanan Administration did so little that the Secretary of State Lewis Cass resigned when Buchanan refused to reinforce Fort Moultrie. Twelve days later Southern forces captured the fort. Other members also resigned, they went to their home states and helped to lead the Confederacy. The Buchanan Administration was terrible.

The biggest thing that Buchanan did to affect future administrations is to allow the South to secede. He said that it was unconstitutional for them to be allowed to leave the Union, but said that he could not prevent it under the Constitution. It had the largest impact because it allowed for the Civil War to occur. It was the bloodiest war ever for America. It created rifts that are still present today. It also could have allowed for the South to create its own nation recognized by the world, which would greatly alter the history of America. Allowing the South to secede was the biggest impact that Buchanan had on future administrations, and it could have been much greater.

At the end of “Old Buck’s” term of office the nation was far worse off than before. The economy was weak and the nation splitting in two. He did nothing while he was in office to prevent the split. He just said that it was wrong, but he wasn’t going to do anything about it. He had ample opportunities to prevent it, but didn’t. His passive stance allowed for the bloodiest war in American history, and almost lost half of the country. He allowed sectional quarrels to erupt into flat out rebellion. President James Buchanan left the nation in turmoil. Luckily, Abraham Lincoln was there to bring it back together.

 Works Cited "American President: James Buchanan." //Miller// //Center// //of Public Affairs//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. . DeGregorio, William A., and Sandra Lee. Stuart. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. 7th ed. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2009. Print. "James Buchanan." //The White House//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. . Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Andrew Bailey, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. //The American Pageant: a History of the Republic//. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print.