149 Facts About James Buchanan

James Buchanan served as the secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the US Congress.

James Buchanan was a lawyer in Pennsylvania and won his first election to the state's House of Representatives as a Federalist.

James Buchanan was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1820 and retained that post for five terms, aligning with Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party.

James Buchanan won the election in 1834 as a US senator from Pennsylvania and continued in that position for 11 years.

James Buchanan was appointed to serve as President James K Polk's secretary of state in 1845, and eight years later was named as President Franklin Pierce's minister to the United Kingdom.

James Buchanan was nominated and won the 1856 presidential election.

James Buchanan 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 Northern Democrats.

James Buchanan honored his pledge to serve only one term and supported Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the 1860 presidential election.

James Buchanan failed to reconcile the fractured Democratic Party amid the grudge against Stephen Douglas, leading to the election of Republican and former Congressman Abraham Lincoln.

James Buchanan simultaneously angered the North by not stopping secession and the South by not yielding to their demands.

James Buchanan supported the Corwin Amendment in an effort to reconcile the country.

James Buchanan made an unsuccessful attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter, but otherwise refrained from preparing the military.

James Buchanan was the last president born in the 18th century and, until the election of Joe Biden in 2020, the only one born in Pennsylvania.

James Buchanan belonged to the Clan Buchanan, whose members had emigrated in large numbers from the Scottish Highlands to Ulster in the north of Ireland during the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century and, later, largely because of poverty and persecution by the Crown due to their Presbyterian faith, had further emigrated in large numbers from Ulster to America from the early eighteenth century onwards.

James Buchanan's father became the area's wealthiest resident, working as a merchant, farmer, and real estate investor.

James Buchanan attributed his early education primarily to his mother, whereas his father had a greater influence on his character.

James Buchanan's mother had discussed politics with him as a child and had an interest in poetry, quoting John Milton and William Shakespeare to Buchanan.

James Buchanan attended the Old Stone Academy in Mercersburg and then Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

In 1812, James Buchanan passed the bar exam and after being admitted to the bar, he remained in Lancaster, even when Harrisburg became the new capital of Pennsylvania.

James Buchanan quickly established himself as a prominent legal representative in the city.

James Buchanan served as chairman of the Lancaster chapter of the Federalist Party.

James Buchanan became a strong critic of Democratic-Republican President James Madison during the War of 1812.

James Buchanan was the last president involved in the War of 1812.

Since the sessions in the Pennsylvania General Assembly lasted only three months, James Buchanan continued practicing law at a profit by charging higher fees, and his service helped him acquire more clients.

In 1815, James Buchanan defended District Judge Walter Franklin in an impeachment trial before the Pennsylvania Senate, over alleged judicial misconduct.

James Buchanan persuaded the senators that only judicial crimes and clear violations of the law justified impeachment.

In Washington, James Buchanan became an avid defender of states' rights, and was close with many southern Congressmen, viewing some New England Congressmen as dangerous radicals.

James Buchanan was appointed to the Agriculture Committee in his first year, and he eventually became chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

In 1831, James Buchanan declined a nomination for the 22nd United States Congress from his constituency consisting of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Lancaster counties.

James Buchanan still had political ambitions and some Pennsylvania Democrats put him forward as a candidate for the vice presidency in the 1832 election.

James Buchanan was reluctant to leave the country, viewing the distant St Petersburg as a kind of political exile, but ultimately agreed.

James Buchanan's work focused on concluding a trade and shipping treaty with Russia.

James Buchanan had denounced Tsar Nicholas I as a despot merely a year prior during his tenure in Congress; many Americans had reacted negatively to Russia's response to the 1830 Polish uprising.

James Buchanan returned home and lost the election in the State Legislature for a full six-year term in the 23rd Congress, but was appointed by the Pennsylvania state legislature to succeed William Wilkins in the US Senate.

The Jacksonian James Buchanan, who was re-elected in 1836 and 1842, opposed the re-chartering of the Second Bank of the United States and sought to expunge a congressional censure of Jackson stemming from the Bank War.

James Buchanan served in the Senate until March 1845 and was twice confirmed in office.

James Buchanan maintained a strict adherence to the Pennsylvania State Legislature's guidelines and sometimes voted against positions in Congress which he promoted in his own speeches, despite open ambitions for the White House.

James Buchanan was known for his commitment to states' rights and the Manifest Destiny ideology.

James Buchanan rejected President Martin Van Buren's offer to become United States Attorney General and chaired prestigious Senate committees such as the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations.

James Buchanan joined the majority in blocking the rule, with most senators of the belief that it would have the reverse effect of strengthening the abolitionists.

James Buchanan was offered the position of Secretary of State in the Polk administration or, as the alternative, a seat on the Supreme Court, to compensate him for his support in the election campaign but in order to eliminate him as an internal party rival.

James Buchanan accepted the State Department post and served for the duration of Polk's single term in office.

In negotiations with Britain over Oregon, James Buchanan initially favored the 49th parallel as the boundary of Oregon Territory, while Polk called for a more northerly boundary line.

When Northern Democrats rallied around the popular slogan Fifty-Four Forty or Fight in the 1844 election campaign, James Buchanan adopted this position, but later followed Polk's direction, leading to the Oregon Compromise of 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the boundary in the Pacific Northwest.

In regards to Mexico, James Buchanan maintained a dubious view that its attack on American troops on the other side of the Rio Grande in April 1846 constituted a border violation and a legitimate reason for war.

However, as the war came to an end, James Buchanan changed his mind and argued for the annexation of further territory, arguing that Mexico was to blame for the war and that the compensation negotiated for the American losses was too low.

James Buchanan sought the nomination at the 1848 Democratic National Convention, as Polk had promised to serve only one term, but he only won the support of the Pennsylvania and Virginia delegations, so Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan was nominated.

James Buchanan was getting on in years and still dressed in the old-fashioned style of his adolescence, earning him the nickname "Old Public Functionary" from the press.

James Buchanan bought the house of Wheatland on the outskirts of Lancaster and entertained various visitors while monitoring political events.

James Buchanan found public service jobs for some through patronage, and for those in his favor, he took on the role of surrogate father.

James Buchanan formed the strongest emotional bond with his niece Harriet Lane, who later became First Lady for Buchanan in the White House.

James Buchanan intended to publish a collection of speeches and an autobiography, but his political comeback was thwarted by the 1852 presidential election.

James Buchanan traveled to Washington to discuss Pennsylvania Democratic Party politics, which were divided into two camps led by Simon Cameron and George Dallas.

James Buchanan quietly campaigned for the 1852 Democratic presidential nomination.

In light of the Compromise of 1850, which had led to the admission of California into the Union as a free state and a stricter Fugitive Slave Act, James Buchanan now rejected the Missouri Compromise and welcomed Congress' rejection of the Wilmot Proviso, which prohibited slavery in all territories gained in the Mexican-American War.

James Buchanan criticized abolitionism as a fanatical attitude and believed that slavery should be decided by state legislatures, not Congress.

James Buchanan disliked abolitionist Northerners due to his party affiliation, and became known as a "doughface" due to his sympathy toward the South.

James Buchanan sailed for England in the summer of 1853, and he remained abroad for the next three years.

James Buchanan met repeatedly with Lord Clarendon, the British foreign minister, in hopes of pressuring the British to withdraw from Central America.

James Buchanan was able to reduce British influence in Honduras and Nicaragua while raising the kingdom's awareness of American interests in the region.

James Buchanan focused on the potential annexation of Cuba, which had long interested him.

At Pierce's prompting, James Buchanan met in Ostend, Belgium, with US Ambassador to Spain Pierre Soule and US Ambassador to France John Mason, to work out a plan for the acquisition of Cuba.

When Buchanan arrived home at the end of April 1856, he led on the first ballot, supported by powerful Senators John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and Thomas F Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader appealing to the North and South.

The 1856 Democratic National Convention met in June 1856, producing a platform that reflected James Buchanan's views, including support for the Fugitive Slave Law, which required the return of escaped slaves.

James Buchanan won the nomination after seventeen ballots after Douglas' resignation.

James Buchanan was joined on the ticket by John C Breckinridge of Kentucky in order to maintain regional proportional representation, placating supporters of Pierce and Douglas, allies of Breckinridge.

James Buchanan did not actively campaign, but he wrote letters and pledged to uphold the Democratic platform.

James Buchanan won 45 percent of the popular vote and decisively won the electoral vote, taking 174 of 296 votes.

James Buchanan's election made him the first president from Pennsylvania.

James Buchanan abhorred the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories, saying that Congress should play no role in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories.

James Buchanan proposed a solution based on the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which stated that the principle of popular sovereignty was decisive, and Congress had no say in the matter.

James Buchanan recommended that a federal slave code be enacted to protect the rights of slaveowners in federal territories.

James Buchanan alluded to a then-pending Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v Sandford, which he said would permanently settle the issue of slavery.

James Buchanan already knew what the Court was going to decide.

When James Buchanan urged the nation to support the decision, he already knew what Taney would say.

James Buchanan first worked on this task in Wheatland until he traveled to the capital in January 1857.

James Buchanan's objective was to dominate the cabinet, and he chose men who would agree with his views.

James Buchanan had a troubled relationship with his vice president from the beginning, when he did not receive him during his inaugural visit but referred him to his niece and First Lady, which Breckinridge never forgave him for and saw as disrespectful.

James Buchanan left out the influential Stephen A Douglas, who had made Buchanan's nomination possible by resigning at the National Convention the previous year, when filling the post.

James Buchanan appointed one Justice, Nathan Clifford, to the Supreme Court of the United States.

James Buchanan appointed seven other federal judges to United States district courts.

James Buchanan appointed two judges to the United States Court of Claims.

James Buchanan consulted with Judge John Catron in January 1857, inquiring about the outcome of the case and suggesting that a broader decision, beyond the specifics of the case, would be more prudent.

James Buchanan hoped that a broad decision protecting slavery in the territories could lay the issue to rest, allowing him to focus on other issues.

James Buchanan then wrote to Grier and prevailed upon him, providing the majority leverage to issue a broad-ranging decision sufficient to render the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.

Two days after James Buchanan was sworn in as president, Chief Justice Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, which denied the petitioner's request to be freed from slavery.

James Buchanan's letters were not made public at the time, but he was seen conversing quietly with the Chief Justice during his inauguration.

Rather than destroying the Republican platform as James Buchanan had hoped, the decision infuriated Northerners, who condemned it.

James Buchanan agreed with the southerners who attributed the economic collapse to over-speculation.

James Buchanan acted in accordance with Jacksonian Democracy principles, which restricted paper money issuance, and froze federal funds for public works projects, causing resentment among some of the population due to his refusal to implement an economic stimulus program.

James Buchanan was offended by the militarism and polygamous behavior of Young.

James Buchanan did not comment on the conflict again until his State of the Union Address in December 1857, leaving open the question of whether it was a rebellion in Utah.

James Buchanan was the first recipient of an official telegram transmitted across the Atlantic.

James Buchanan transmitted a message that attacked the "revolutionary government" in Topeka, conflating them with the Mormons in Utah.

James Buchanan made every effort to secure congressional approval, offering favors, patronage appointments, and even cash for votes.

James Buchanan never forgave Douglas, as the Northern Democrats' rejection was the deciding factor in the House's decision, and he removed all Douglas supporters from his patronage in Illinois and Washington, DC, installing pro-administration Democrats, including postmasters.

Rather than accepting defeat, James Buchanan backed the 1858 English Bill, which offered Kansas immediate statehood and vast public lands in exchange for accepting the Lecompton Constitution.

Douglas' faction continued to support the doctrine of popular sovereignty, while James Buchanan insisted that Democrats respect the Dred Scott decision and its repudiation of federal interference with slavery in the territories.

James Buchanan, working through federal patronage appointees in Illinois, ran candidates for the legislature in competition with both the Republicans and the Douglas Democrats.

James Buchanan's support was otherwise reduced to a narrow base of southerners.

James Buchanan, in turn, added to the hostility with his veto of six substantial pieces of Republican legislation.

James Buchanan took office with an ambitious foreign policy, designed to establish US hegemony over Central America at the expense of Great Britain.

James Buchanan sought to revitalize Manifest Destiny and to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, which had been under attack from the Spanish, French, and especially the British in the 1850s.

James Buchanan sought to establish American protectorates over the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to secure American citizens and investments, and most importantly, he hoped to achieve his long-term goal of acquiring Cuba.

James Buchanan considered buying Alaska from the Russian Empire, as whaling in the waters there had become of great economic importance to the United States.

James Buchanan fueled this by spreading the rumor to the Russian ambassador Eduard de Stoeckl in December 1857 that a large amount of Mormons intended to emigrate to Russian Alaska.

James Buchanan sought trade agreements with the Qing Dynasty and Japan.

In May 1860, James Buchanan received a Japanese delegation consisting of several princes who carried the Harris Treaty negotiated by Townsend Harris for mutual ratification.

James Buchanan supporters accused the committee, consisting of three Republicans and two Democrats, of being blatantly partisan, and claimed its chairman, Republican Rep.

The committee gathered evidence that James Buchanan had tried to bribe members of Congress in his favor through intermediaries in the spring of 1858 in connection with the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of Kansas, and threatened their relatives with losing their posts if they did not vote in favor of the Lecompton Constitution.

James Buchanan Robinson, stated that he agreed with the Republicans, though he did not sign it.

James Buchanan claimed to have "passed triumphantly through this ordeal" with complete vindication.

James Buchanan became the last Democrat to win a presidential election until Grover Cleveland in 1884.

James Buchanan recommended that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property, although he warned that few reinforcements were available.

James Buchanan's address was sharply criticized both by the North, for its refusal to stop secession, and the South, for denying its right to secede.

However, Unionist sentiment remained strong among many in the South, and James Buchanan sought to appeal to the Southern moderates who might prevent secession in other states.

James Buchanan met with South Carolinian commissioners in an attempt to resolve the situation at Fort Sumter, which federal forces remained in control of despite its location in Charleston, South Carolina.

James Buchanan saw Congress, not himself, as responsible for finding a solution to the secession crisis.

James Buchanan refused to dismiss Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson after the latter was chosen as Mississippi's agent to discuss secession, and he refused to fire Secretary of War John B Floyd despite an embezzlement scandal.

James Buchanan's friend Rose O'Neal Greenhow took advantage of the proximity to the president and spied for the Confederacy, which had already established a sophisticated network for gathering information from its eventual opponent before its formation.

James Buchanan secretly asked President-elect Lincoln to call for a national referendum on the issue of slavery, but Lincoln declined.

When James Buchanan considered surrendering Fort Sumter, the new cabinet members threatened to resign, and James Buchanan relented.

James Buchanan chose not to respond to this act of war, and instead sought to find a compromise to avoid secession.

Three new states were admitted to the Union while James Buchanan was in office:.

James Buchanan was dedicated to defending his actions prior to the Civil War, which was referred to by some as "James Buchanan's War".

James Buchanan received hate mail and threatening letters daily, and stores in Lancaster displayed Buchanan's likeness with the eyes inked red, a noose drawn around his neck and the word "TRAITOR" written across his forehead.

James Buchanan soon began writing his fullest public defense, in the form of his memoir Mr Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of Rebellion, which was published in 1866, one year after the Civil War ended.

James Buchanan attributed secession to the "malign influence" of Republicans and the abolitionist movement.

James Buchanan discussed his foreign policy successes and expressed satisfaction with his decisions, even during the secession crisis.

James Buchanan blamed Robert Anderson, Winfield Scott, and Congress for the unresolved issue.

Two years after the publication of the memoir, James Buchanan caught a cold in May 1868, which quickly worsened due to his advanced age.

James Buchanan died on June 1,1868, of respiratory failure at the age of 77 at his home at Wheatland.

James Buchanan was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster.

James Buchanan was often considered by anti-slavery northerners a "doughface", a northerner with pro-southern principles.

James Buchanan identified with cultural and social values that he found reflected in the honor code and lifestyle of the planter class and with which he increasingly came into contact in his retirement community beginning in 1834.

James Buchanan was conflicted by free trade as well as prohibitive tariffs, since either would benefit one section of the country to the detriment of the other.

James Buchanan was torn between his desire to expand the country for the general welfare of the nation, and to guarantee the rights of the people settling particular areas.

In 1818, James Buchanan met Anne Caroline Coleman at a grand ball in Lancaster, and the two began courting.

Anne was the daughter of the wealthy iron manufacturer Robert Coleman; Robert, like James Buchanan's father, was from County Donegal in Ulster.

James Buchanan was busy with his law firm and political projects during the Panic of 1819, which took him away from Coleman for weeks at a time.

James Buchanan broke off the engagement, and soon afterward, on December 9,1819, inexplicably died of "hysterical convulsions" resulting from an overdose of laudanum, at the age of 23.

James Buchanan wrote to her father for permission to attend the funeral, which was refused.

James Buchanan had a close relationship with William Rufus King, which became a popular target of gossip.

Such a living arrangement was then common, though James Buchanan once referred to the relationship as a "communion".

James Buchanan described him as "among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known".

Jean Baker suggests that James Buchanan was celibate, if not asexual.

Biographer Jean Baker is less charitable to James Buchanan, saying in 2004:.

James Buchanan was that most dangerous of chief executives, a stubborn, mistaken ideologue whose principles held no room for compromise.

James Buchanan High School is a small, rural high school located on the outskirts of his childhood hometown, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.