He was nearly expelled for bad behavior but pleaded for a second chance and ultimately graduated with honors in 1809. īuchanan attended the Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg and then Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His father became the wealthiest resident there, working as a merchant, farmer, and real estate investor. Shortly after Buchanan's birth, the family moved to a farm near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1794 the family moved into the town. His parents were both of Ulster Scot descent, and his father emigrated from Ramelton, Ireland in 1783. was born April 23, 1791, in a log cabin in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, to James Buchanan Sr. presidents in American history.Įarly life Buchanan's birthplace Historians and scholars rank Buchanan as among the worst, if not the worst, of U.S. Buchanan died of respiratory failure in 1868 and was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he had lived for nearly 60 years. president to remain a lifelong bachelor, leading some historians and authors to question his sexual orientation. In his personal life, Buchanan never married and was the only U.S. His failure to forestall the Civil War has been described as incompetence, and he spent his last years defending his reputation.
He made an unsuccessful attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter, but otherwise refrained from preparing the military. He supported the ineffective Corwin Amendment in an effort to reconcile the country. He simultaneously angered the North by not stopping secession and the South by not yielding to their demands. He failed to reconcile the fractured Democratic Party amid the grudge against Stephen Douglas, leading to the election of Republican and former Congressman Abraham Lincoln.īuchanan's leadership during his lame duck period, before the American Civil War, has been widely criticized. Buchanan honored his pledge to serve only one term and supported Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the 1860 presidential election. He acceded to Southern attempts to engineer Kansas' entry into the Union as a slave state under the Lecompton Constitution, and angered not only Republicans but also Northern Democrats. Frémont and Know-Nothing former president Millard Fillmore to win the 1856 presidential election.Īs President, Buchanan intervened to assure the Supreme Court's majority ruling in the pro-slavery decision in the Dred Scott case. Breckinridge of Kentucky carried every slave state except Maryland, defeating anti-slavery Republican John C. He benefited from the fact that he had been out of the country as ambassador in London and had not been involved in slavery issues. Douglas at the Democratic National Convention. He was finally nominated in 1856, defeating incumbent Franklin Pierce and Senator Stephen A. Polk's secretary of state in 1845, and eight years later was named as President Franklin Pierce's minister to the United Kingdom.īeginning in 1844, Buchanan became a regular contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He was appointed to serve as President James K. senator from Pennsylvania and continued in that position for 11 years. Buchanan served as Jackson's minister to Russia in 1832. House of Representatives in 1820 and retained that post for five terms, aligning with Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party. He was an advocate for states' rights, particularly regarding slavery, and minimized the role of the federal government preceding the Civil War.īuchanan was a prominent lawyer in Pennsylvania and won his first election to the state's House of Representatives as a Federalist.
He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S. ( / b j uː ˈ k æ n ə n/ bew- KAN-ən April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861.
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