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**Born** April 23rd of 1791 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania – **Died** June 1st of 1868 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania **Political Party**: Democrat **In Office**: March 4th, 1857 – March 4th, 1861 **Vice President**: John Breckinridge March 4th, 1857 – March 4th, 1861
 * James Buchanan**

**Thematic Context** Throughout Buchanan’s disappointing presidency American Identity was all but dissolved. Buchanan was the last president before the great American Civil War and he quite frankly did not help the already dicey situation. The division grew ever more apparent and materialized in Kansas, a territory applying for statehood. Both Free-Soilers and Proslaveryites clashed heads and thus a civil war broke out in Kansas. During this feud Buchanan was quick to back the pro-slavery Lecomptonites that claimed the constitution they had drafted was passed despite being boycotted by the Free-Soilers. Buchanan’s efforts to add Kansas to the Union cause a lot of political uproar and scandal. In his attempts to get Congress to approve Kansas’ statehood he openly offered favors, office appointments, and even money for votes. Not only was this situation furthering sectionalism in Kansas and all of America but the Democratic Party too. Standing in the way of Kansas’ Statehood was Stephen Douglas who proposed popular sovereignty. Instead of trying to keep the nation intact Buchanan ultimately followed his own will, which brought the nation closer to its breaking point. Another problem that arose during Buchanan’s presidency was the Dred-Scott Case that would decide the fate of a slave that had spent a great deal of time on free soil. Although at first it did not amount to anything it quickly became one of the most influential decisions on the topic of slavery in America. The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not give the Federal Government the right to exclude slavery in the territories. Thus, the slave remained in bondage and America moved an inch closer to civil war. While the North and slaves were outraged, the South was jubilant and satisfied for the time being. The decision also declared The Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Any progress that had been made against the act of slavery just took a huge blow. In the South the “Slavocracy” grew in power once again furthering sectionalism and hatred between North and South. No longer was there just one American Identity but two separate ones with but a few similarities. Peoples of the North were against slavery and manufacturing thrived, as for the South they obviously favored slavery and depended on agriculture. One of the few things they had in common was passion for their cause.

**Thesis** Buchanan and his officials performed horribly and deserved an F for his efforts, however feeble they were. He took office at a time when war was imminent and only managed to delay the war just long enough for his term to end, leaving Lincoln with a huge mess to clean up. Many of his decisions took a turn for the worst and he sat around twiddling his thumbs while the country was on the brink of war. Besides the height of the Civil War, sectionalism reached an all-time high under Buchanan. As for politics he indirectly aided in the split of the Democratic Party. He did America a great service by not running again. **Goals** His ambitions heading into office were high, even stating that he wanted his presidency to be regarded as highly as George Washington’s and other political giants. As was everyone’s goal, Buchanan wanted to finally put to rest the question of Slavery. Buchanan was regarded as a Northern man with Southern Principles and believed that the abolitionists were the ones at fault in the situation. Any attempt by Buchanan to defeat the question of slavery was immediately met with opposition and did not fair well for him. Kansas broke out in their own brief civil war and the Dred-Scott decision coupled with John Brown’s rampage only added to the problem. Also on his agenda was the issue of tariffs, Buchanan was against both free trade and protective tariffs as they both benefitted one part of the country at the expense of the other. This was a major issue of the time as America was amidst another financial crisis, The Panic of 1857. The North wanted protective tariffs to help the growth of their own manufacturing and the South advocated for free trade because of their need to import resources. He did little to nothing to help the financial crisis, as the nation was not in a place to hand out relief he turned to reform that never really came. Another problem Buchanan wanted to tackle was expansion and the institution of Manifest Destiny. While Buchanan was all for western expansion he wanted to assure the settler’s rights were upheld and that slavery would not taint the new lands causing more trouble. Kansas caused a lot of controversy and was the new focal point for the war on slavery. It was eventually left up to popular sovereignty and hurt Buchanan’s dwindling reputation. **Relationship with Congress** The American scene got very messy when chaos broke out in Kansas, sparking up political division. On one side you had Buchanan doing anything he could to pass Kansas’ statehood under the Lecompton Constitution, on the other hand you had the widely know Stephen Douglas. Buchanan managed to get it through the House but got stopped short by Stephen Douglas in the Senate. Douglas fought Buchanan at every turn and Buchanan tried everything in his power to tarnish Douglas’ name and end his career but that never happened. After the Kansas happenings, Buchanan’s party lost a lot of popularity and with it a lot of seats in Congress. Relations got even worse and Buchanan spent much of his time vetoing whatever Congress threw his way that was not in his favor. He even vetoed bills for improvements to the education system claiming that there were already too many intelligent people. **Events** **Influential Decision** Some of the final things he did in office may not have been the most well known aspects of his time in office but it was definitely influential. Before leaving office Buchanan ordered a civilian steamer to Fort Sumter and caught the attention of the newly forming Confederate States. The civilian vessel came under fire from Confederate artillery and caused its withdraw. His actions hurt his successor, Abraham Lincoln, who was caught in the wake of Buchanan’s presidency. Not too long after Lincoln was in office Fort Sumter was attacked, mostly in part to the stupidity of Buchanan who’s last act set Lincoln up for failure. Buchanan’s lack of foresight had short-term repercussions that reflected badly not on himself but Lincoln who followed him. **Conclusion** Simply put, Buchanan failed to fulfill his duties as president and had a negative affect on the country as a whole. Even though the nation was already on the path to war Buchanan sped up the process and ultimately lead the nation to war in the ensuing years. When he took office the country was held together by a mere thread: he proceeded to sever that tie and with it all of the balances that were previously in place. Hence Buchanan got a low grade, an F for failure. There is little that Buchanan could have done to make matters worse, as he hastened the onset of the Civil War. **Bibliography** "American President: James Buchanan." //The Miller Center//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. .
 * Positive** events during Buchanan’s presidency were scarce at best. One good thing he managed to accomplish was the assertion of American sovereignty over North and Central America. Britain saw its opportunity to gain more land in the new world and saw Central America as a big gain. Buchanan seeing Britain’s interest managed to dispatch American naval vessels to intercept and warn off the British ships. For good reason Buchanan wanted to keep Britain from growing and gaining more influence in the area. As well as keeping Central America out of the hands of the British Buchanan also used the navy to counter British vessels in the Pacific Ocean trying to lay claim to Oregon territory. Essentially, he stood up to Britain and kept America in the clear for the time being.
 * Negative** events were in no shortage during Buchanan’s one term as president. Arguably the most negative events sprouted from the handlings of the chaos in Kansas. Buchanan handled matters terribly when it came to the statehood of Kansas. The amount of sectionalism that followed the events of Kansas were almost unparalleled: Kansas in civil war, the country in ruins, factions forming within the Democratic Party, it was a train wreck. He willingly backed the false Lecompton Constitution in his rush to get Kansas as a state and spared no expense trying to get it passed, handing out favors and money for support. Factions in Kansas fought with rifles and muskets while on the Senate floor a separate war of words raged on. Things could have gone a lot smoother than they did and Buchanan’s decisions didn’t help the situation if not made them worse.

DeGregorio, William A.. //The complete book of U.S. presidents//. New York: Dembner Books, 1984. Print.

"James Buchanan." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. . "President James Buchanan." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. .