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James Buchanan Political Party: Democrat Born: April 23, 1791 Died: June 1, 1868 Presidency: 1857-1861 Vice President: John C. Breckenridge Rating: F Theme: Culture

James Buchanan is by no doubt the worst president ever. Every historian will probably agree with that statement. He made no effort to stop the civil war in any way, which indirectly was a major cause of the war. He also was indecisive in his decision making. Almost all the problems he was faced with, were pushed away for a later date. Lucky he promised to only serve one term, which would have also been due to the fact no one would have elected him for a second time. A weak president in the North during the American Civil War would have been fatal for the south. This gives him the rating of an F.

Goals of the Buchanan administration were set, but few were achieved or handled properly. Slavery being one of the biggest issues of the time was settled poorly and timidly. Popular sovereignty was he best solution, which was in fact a bad one. This said that all new territories will be decided by the people on if slavery should be allowed. This was okay except these territories didn’t exist yet. That was just pushing off the issue from his chest to a later president’s. It also didn’t help solve problems with the already existing states. Another goal set forth in his inaugural address from 1857 was to preserve the constitution and the union. This for a president would not have been a hard goal. During his term though, sectionalism was quite apparent. The North was industrialist, against slavery, and had a strong economy. The South was suffering economically, wanted to continue slavery and was mostly agricultural. These led up to major disagreements between the two. Abolitionist hated the South, the South hated them. Succession was a possibility by the end of his term. The entire culture of the country was shifting rapidly and the tentative Buchanan could not keep up. He did not achieve this goal in the end of the day. At the end of his term 7 Southern states seceded immediately, failing the goal of preserving the Union.

Buchanan’s relationship with the congress was stable since he was a democrat and the majority in both the house and senate were democrats. This agreement is seen the Dred Scott case in 1854. It ruled that Dred Scott could not sue the federal government because he was a salve. Slaves were seen as property, therefore they had no rights as citizens. This was a true shinning of his democratic beliefs and southern support. He also had some rough patched with congress such as the Bleeding Kansas crisis. Kansas was to be decided by popular sovereignty as of wether it would be a free state or not. Free-Soilers went in to Kansas to challenge the Lecompton Constitution set forth by the Democrats. Going against the will of the people, Buchanan’s administration admitted Kansas as a free state. Thus upsetting the Union more.

In his administration he has seven different positions that were filled by 14 people through out his term. Including Secretary of Navy, Issac Toucey and Secretary of the War Joseph Holt. Throughout out his term they made a few good decisions and a lit of bad ones. One of the worst being the response to the Panic of 1857. The economy was down and it his the industrial north very hard. Instead of coming up with a plan to get out of the enormous and continuously growing debt, he gave a speech. Secretary of Treasury was just about useless in the decision. He urged the states to use federal aid but never put anything in place. This accumulated to 17 million dollars of federal debt by the end of his term. One of the well planned and executed decisions made was admitting of Kansas as a free state. Norther radicals were attacking the south in small rebellions and battles were being held in Kansas. This relieved some of the urging pain that the North had to end slavery, although slavery was not wanted to end for the right moral reasons, this decision was still smart one and a prelude to the succession in 1861. This was one of the only good things to come of Buchanan’s administration.

By doing so little to evade war of the North and South, Buchanan effected the administration directly after him. The Dred Scott case for example, upset the North because it was a pro slavery move. The Kansas admission upset the south because it was a pro north decision. All of these choices made by him led to the succession directly after the election that came after him. That put pressure on the smaller Union to fight the war and gain the south, although intentions were to nearly allow admission back peacefully, slavery was made illegal by default of winning the Civil War. This effected future generations until about the mid 21 century. Blacks were free put looked at as unequal and lesser than the white male. Although free, they could still not work certain jobs and were segregated. This was the same before the war but now it wasn’t slavery holding them back, it was how people looked at the African American race. The culture of America, especially in the south was extremely racist and groups such as the KKK emerged. Ultimately due to the poor decisions made by Buchanan.

The country as a whole was better before his term than after. He was an extremely timid president who should have seen succession and the civil war coming due to extreme sectional differences and beliefs. The rating he received was so low due to those reasons. An F is almost as low as you can go which was generous to give to such a terrible president. The Bleed Kansas decision was the only positive thing to come out of his presidency. Every other choice ( and the Kansas admission to an extent) all led to the Civil war. He took no time out of his term to settle disputed between the North and South effecting generations to come. James Buchanan was the worst president ever.

Work Cited

"American President: James Buchanan: Foreign Affairs." //Miller Center//. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. .

"James Buchanan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. .