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April 23, 1791- June 1, 1868 // Party: // Democratic // Term: // March 4, 1857- March 4, 1861 // VP: // John C. Breckinridge James Buchanan, a man with educational experience, a highly valued religious moral, and political insight. All these traits could have easily put him ahead while in office; and made him one of the strongest presidents; and maybe even kept us from a Civil War. Yet, he never used any of his prior experiences, or beliefs to better his time; and it showed throughout his four years. Overall, James Buchanan earns a **//D-//** for his presidency.
 * // James Buchanan //**

As a president, Buchanan hoped to succeed in areas that could keep the country as a whole; a more powerful, nationalized community. His main goal was to stabilize the economy; and keep a financial peace among everybody. He also strived to control the threat of secession; and prevent any violence or consequences that were destined to follow. Lastly, he tried to help the people better understand the power of the Supreme Court; and for them to appreciate the laws and their abidance.

Throughout his term, Buchanan had only a fair backup in Congress. In the 35th Congress (1857-1859) he as a Democrat had the majority in both the Senate and the House (36-15; 118-92). But, in the 36th Congress (1859-1861) he only had the party power in the Senate (36-20); and suffered a loss to the Republican’s in the House (114-92). In the 35th Congress, two states, Minnesota and Oregon, entered the Union. This occurred on May 11, 1858 and February 14, 1859. During the second half of his term, the 36th Congress; many more states and territories were accepted into the United State. Kansas entered the Union on January 29, 1861; followed by three territories, Colorado, Nevada and Dakota. The only real issue involved in these years was the Morriff Tariff, passed on March 2, 1861. This tariff further protected trade in the States. During the 36th Congress, the states started to secede; and in fact, it occurred in Congress as well. South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas all withdrew their representative from Congress.

During this term, Buchanan and his Administration had an almost all negative outcome experience. The Kansas Question; was Buchanan’s way of letting slavery run him; instead of him running the country. He was willing to enforce that the Kansas Territory become a slave state; even though, he as an individual, disagreed with slavery all together. Luckily, Stephen Douglas persuaded this whole idea be voted upon by the citizens in Kansas. They voted to stop slavery, and hence in 1861, Kansas enters the Union. This outcome only became positive after someone else changed Buchanan’s mind. Also occurring in Buchanan’s four years was the Panic of 1857. This Panic was supposedly caused by the Ohio Life Insurance Company, and its failure. Yet, there are other reasons why the economy slowly trickled downhill; four of them. First, the people tried to expand the railroad system far too quickly, secondly the state banks began to fail; and the laws were not prohibiting them from doing so. Thirdly, the Crimean War ended in Europe, and our country wasn’t ready. Lastly, the price of gold dropped, and all the hopes of the Gold Rush’s “booming economy” shattered. Secession was also another issue Buchanan and his Administration had to deal with. With the leader, South Carolina, all seven states that left Congress took off to form the Confederate States of America. They were under the presidency of Jefferson Davis. Unfortunately, Buchanan found it to be unsuccessful to try and stop this mess. He decided to only take action when it affected federal property. He did say though, that he felt it was unconstitutional. Yet, he never put an end to it; might he have been able to stop the Civil War? The decision that most influenced future generations was the idea to stay neutral with secession. The South decided to secede, and this man knew there was a way to stop it. He found this movement illegal, and totally against the Constitution; but he never made that attempt to put an end to it. Instead, he tried to play the “good guy” and keep out of it completely. This approach was something that wasn’t good for this time period, and might have been avoidable. Buchanan was an intelligent man; but sometimes his actions didn’t show it.

Overall, I would have to say James Buchanan earns a **//D-//** for his presidency. He failed to show the country what he was capable of; and little by little, let the country down. His actions in Administration were mostly negative, and he never ended up meeting his goals. Time never helped this man, more or less it hurt him; the country became worse over the course of this man's term. Works Cited Degregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. 3rd ed. Avenel: Wings Books, 1984. Print. "James Buchanan -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . "James Buchanan Biography - Fifteenth President of the United States." //American History From About//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . "James Buchanan." //White House. Gov//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . "Morrill Tariff -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . "35th United States Congress -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. . "36th United States Congress -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. .