Johnny+M.+-+JB+-+FA09

April 15, 1791 - June 1, 1868 Democratic Party VP: John Breckenridged One Term: 1857-1861
 * ​James Buchanan:**


 * Rating: F**

James Buchanan was a horrible president and deserves an F. He was arguably the worst president to ever lead the united states of america. He did nothing, and let the country slip into civil war, putting forth no effort to stop it. He also had a horrible relationship with fellow politicians and flat out just deserves an F for his so called "presidency".


 * Goals:**

Buchanan's main goals in office were to strengthen the economy, and let the threat of seccession blow over. He did not pay particular attention to the threat of seccession, he just kind of thought that it would blow over. But as we can now see, Buchanan should have taken action and did all he could have to put seccession to a rest. Also, he wanted to make sure that it was clear that the supreme court had final say in all situations of interperating the constitution. The Dread Scott case came up during his presidency. Scott was a slave that was suing for his freedom because he was living on free soil, but because he was owned property, his owner could take him wherever. Buchanan let the supreme court handle everything, and since Scott was property, the supreme court did not side with him. This showed that the supreme court had final say.


 * Relationship with Congress:**

Buchanan did not agree with congress very often, since in the second half of his term the congress was made up of mostly Republicans. Buchanan also supported the Lecompton Constitution, and left the Dread Scott case to the supreme court. This enfuriated many of his fellow democrats. So at this point, Buchanan does not have the republicans nor the democrats on his side. No other president that I am aware of has managed to be so unanimously hated throughout the entire congress. Perhaps if he would have had different views on the issues of Dread Scott and the Lecompton Constitution, he would have had a decent relationship with congress.


 * Biggest Outcomes:**

Nothing positive came from Buchanan's presidency. His arguments with Stephen A. Douglas were deffinately the most negative aspect of his presidency. He and Douglas disageed on issues such as the Lecompton Constitution and they fought bitterly over whether to accept it (Buchanan) or denie it (Douglas). Another negative thing was Buchanan's lack of leadership. He sat back and watched the show a bit too much it seemed. For example, leaving everything up to the Supreme Court, and allowing Kansas to be pro slavery even though he was anti-slavery (which Douglas had to step in and correct).


 * Future Presidents:**

Buchanan impacted his successor Abe Lincoln. He set the bar low, making it easy for Lincoln to come in and seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread. He left the seccession issue for Abe Lincoln, which soon turned out to turn into the civil war. Other then that, Buchanan didnt really impact any future presidencies.


 * Was the country better or worse?**

The country was worse when Buchanan left office. The south was teetering on the edge of seccession and eventualy did separate form the union to form the confederacy. I believe that with a bit of effort on his part, Buchanan could have been a great president, but it seems he was just too lazy for the job and should never had taken it. And for his sheer laziness, and disagreements with his own party, Buchanan deserves a nice juicy, succulent F.


 * Bibliography**

"James Buchanan." //American President//. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. . "James Buchanan." //Wikipedia//. 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. . "Stephen A. Douglas." //Wikipedia//. 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2009. .