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**__James Buchanan__** //Born: April 23, 1791 Died: June 1, 1868 Political Party: Democrat Term of Office: March 4, 1857 - March 3, 1861 Vice President: John Cabell Breckinridge//

James Buchanan is seen as the worst full-term president to be untouched by any type of major scandal and is ranked as the last of the six below average presidents. In his efforts to not alienate anyone he was disliked by everyone due to his lack of intervention in the south. His very little success and overall failure in domestic affairs is reason enough for James Buchanan's presidency to receive a **D+**.

One of President Buchanan's goals was to strengthen the Democratic Party and its stance on slavery which is apparent in the following quote from his inaugural address: "It is the imperative and indispensable duty of the government of the United States to secure to every resident inhabitant the free and independent expression of his opinion by his vote. This sacred right of each individual must be preserved. That being accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to leave the people of a territory free from all foreign interference to decide their own destiny for themselves, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." Hoping that he would stay away from conflict between The North and The South he made sure that none of his administration were radicals. Along with his goals for domestic policy he also had high hopes for foreign policy. Buchanan wanted to strengthen the influence of the U.S. on the nations that were below the continent and also believed in our manifest destiny. He ultimately failed in annexing Cuba because of the continuous Republican opposition. Despite his failure with Cuba he was able to assert American sovereignty on the British.  James Buchanan's relationship with Congress was a very pressured one because of the Lecompton Constitution. The Lecompton Constitution was a document that allowed the vote for the constitution with or without slavery, but no matter what there would still be "black bondage" in Kansas. He urged Congress to adopt the constitution, but Stephen A. Douglas opposed it because Kansas was not able to vote for it. After Douglas fought long and hard for fair play the entire Lecompton Constitution was up to a popular vote. Later in 1858 the Lecompton constitution was rejected. Buchanan tried again just to get the same outcome; a second referendum and another rejection from congress. As evidenced by overwhelming rejection of the Lecompton Constitution it is easy to see that congress (mainly the House) had a greater majority of Republicans or supporters of Republican ideals over Democrats. Not only did he have problems with the Lecompton Constitution, but he could not get their support for another Mexican war either. With congress focused on Brown's Rebellion they did not need to worry about another conflict with another group let alone a foreign one. Therefore, Congress did not provided the necessary funds or pass the treaty to further his mission.  President Buchanan and his administration had that best/most positive outcome from their foreign policy/affairs. Once again the British had an interest in The United States. Often times Buchanan would have naval forces sent to Britain to warn them of the consequences of intervening. He was very successful in limiting their overall presence in the Central American countries. Buchanan also used this method to get the British to back off of San Juan Island and to show that America was determined to assert their authority. Despite not having the necessary funds or approvals to "establish a military protectorate in Northern Mexico" he was able to win compensation from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Columbia for American property damage and later won the transit rights to Nicaragua. Even these actions ended somewhat badly. Buchanan's use of power to bully the nominal Central American and Caribbean nations resulted in ill will towards American diplomacy. The worst decision/outcome from President Buchanan and his administration would have to be choices made dealing with the Kansas question. These include the Dred Scott case and the Lecompton Constitution. With his belief that slavery was included in the consititution he believed that it could not be "legislated out of existence" even in the new territories. Thus leading to a further divide between the already split Union. The abolitionist North wanted Kansas to join the Union as a free state, where as the South wanted it admitted as a slave state. Once again President Buchanan straddled both sides of the heated debate. He was against slavery, but he felt bound by the constitution to have Kansas admitted as a slave state. He later appointed Robert J. Walker to a constitutional convention that resulted in the creation of the Lecompton Constitution. Buchanan then had his entire administration back up the constitution, but it backfired by causing the divide of the Democratic party. Up until that fateful decision, it was the only national party. Not only did it mean sectionalism within the party, but it also meant that the union was completely severed.

Buchanan's decison to "straddle" both sides of the war against slavery was by far the most influential for future presedents and the overall society. Not only did this leave President Lincoln with a multitude of problems to fix, but it also led to the tragic Civil war. If only he would have had a stronger sense of leadership rather than being so passive the Union wouldn't have completely split as evidenced by the quote by Ulysses S. Grant, "Mr. Buchanan's policy... rendered collision inevitable, and a continuance of that policy will not only bring it about, but will go far to produce a permanent division of the Union.". Buchanan was willing to sit and watch the union as it continued to dissolve and only act when he thought it was absolutely necessary. After applying the wait-and-see policy and still not being able to resolve sectional differences that led up to the Civil war, Buchanan refused to go for a second term.

It is easy for one to see that the country was by far worse off after James Buchanan's presidency. He was a president who straddled both sides of the war on slavery due to the contradiction between his moral beliefs and his political party. It is apparent in the following statement to Abraham Lincoln from Buchanan that he did indeed leave the country in turmoil in just one term; "My dear, sir, if you are as happy on entering the White House as I on leaving, you are a very happy man indeed." Based off of his many bad decisions and policies he most definitely deserves a **D+** for his presidency.


 * Works Cited:**

"American President: James Buchanan." __Miller Center of Public Affairs__. 2010. University of Virginia. 18 Mar. 2010 [].

DeGregorio, William A. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. 7th ed. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2009. Print.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. __The American Pageant__. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.