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(James Buchanan (1804–1870) was a Scottish minister and th...)
James Buchanan (1804–1870) was a Scottish minister and theologian. He joined the Free Church of Scotland in 1843, and succeeded Thomas Chalmers as professor of systematic theology at the New College of the Free Church in Edinburgh in 1847, a post he held for twenty-one years. Buchanan's magnum opus was The Doctrine of Justification, which still has great value as a classic treatment of the article by which Martin Luther says the church stands or falls. He covers biblical, systematic, and historical ground in his work, but is never far from a warm-hearted evangelical delight in the doctrines he is expounding.
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James Buchanan Jr. was born on April 23, 1791 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. His ancestors--Buchanans, Russels, Speers, and Pattersons--were all North-Ireland Scottish Presbyterians who emigrated to south-central Pennsylvania. His father, James Buchanan, who came to America in 1783, was a successful, hard-headed store-keeper, who wisely invested in farm lands. His mother, Elizabeth Speer, was a hard-working frontier wife, with a taste for good reading.
James had a good classical preparation at a school in Mercersburg, and in the fall of 1807 entered the junior class of Dickinson College, of which his memories were not complimentary. In 1809 he graduated. There followed three years of diligent reading for the bar at Lancaster, and admission to the bar in 1812.
Buchanan was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1813 and he began to practice law in Lancaster. He earned a reputation as an astute trial lawyer with an impressive mastery of the law's complexities, and his practice was profitable for many years. By the time he was thirty, in fact, he estimated his personal fortune at more than $300,000.
In 1814, at age 23, Buchanan began a long political career when he was elected as a member of the Federalist Party to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1814. Six years later he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served five consecutive terms, from 1821 to 1831. In 1832, when Andrew Jackson was elected to his second term as president, he appointed Buchanan as his envoy to Russia, a post in which Buchanan further proved his aptitude as a diplomat. In 1834 Buchanan returned to the United States and won a seat in Senate as a Democrat, a position he would hold for the next 10 years, until, in 1845, he resigned to serve as James K. Polk's secretary of state, a position he used to further an expansionist agenda. In 1852 he made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, losing to Franklin Pierce, who, after being elected president, made Buchanan his minister to England in 1852. Service abroad helped to bring him the Democratic nomination in 1856 because it had exempted him from involvement in bitter domestic controversies. Thus, in his Inaugural the President referred to the territorial question as "happily, a matter of but little practical importance" since the Supreme Court was about to settle it "speedily and finally."
Pierce had steadily lost popularity throughout his term, and antislavery forces were uniting behind the new Republican Party that was founded in 1854. Buchanan, who appealed to both Northern and Southern voters, won the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 1856. Buchanan won the election with 1.8 million popular votes and nearly all of the Southern electoral votes. After assuming the office, he named moderates and conservatives from both the North and the South to his cabinet, but his position on the slavery issue was made clear in his inaugural address when he said that the question should be settled in the federal courts.
Two days after his inauguration Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, asserting that Congress had no constitutional power to deprive persons of their property rights in slaves in the territories. Southerners were delighted, but the decision created a furor in the North. When the territory of Kansas applied to enter the Union, the issue of the expansion of slavery into the West aroused even stronger emotions across the country. The earlier Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed prospective states to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery or not. Buchanan's efforts to engineer an agreeable compromise didn't work out. The majority of settlers in the Kansas territory were opposed to slavery, but a pro-slavery government had been made legitimate by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. When Kansas applied to join the Union as a slave state the petition was blocked in Congress, and Buchanan offered legislation as a temporary resolution. He suggested that Kansas be admitted as a slave state but with a greatly reduced federal land grant. Congress passed the bill, but during a cooling-off period, heated debate in Kansas resulted in its being admitted into the Union as a free state three years later.
Buchanan believed that a president should be limited to one term, and he sat out the 1860 presidential campaign. His goal in the meantime was to keep some appearance of political order and to keep the Union intact—an impossible task. The Democratic Party was split into Northern and Southern factions by then, and there was agreement on neither a standard bearer nor a platform. When Abraham Lincoln, a former Illinois congressman and avowed enemy of slavery, became the Republican presidential nominee, some Southern states made it very clear that if he won the election, they would leave the Union.
A few weeks after Lincoln won the presidential election, South Carolina announced its secession from the Union. Buchanan responded by asserting that a state didn't have that right under the Constitution. However, the Constitution didn't offer him a way to remedy the situation. He held meetings with South Carolina leaders to talk them into reconsidering, but it was an exercise in futility. His only option was military force, but Buchanan refused to go that route even if it might keep the Union intact.
As he finished out the last weeks of his term, Buchanan was virtually powerless. Neither side in the slavery dispute could agree on a compromise that could ease the tense situation. Buchanan urged President-elect Lincoln to call a constitutional convention to resolve the crisis, believing that the action would isolate South Carolina's secession as an extreme measure, but Mr. Lincoln was not interested in a compromise.
Buchanan refused to use force even when federal forts were being threatened in the South. Similar threats and violence against government interests had been countered decisively by such presidents as George Washington, who had called out several state militias to stop the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, and Andrew Jackson had threatened federal intervention if the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union during the nullification crisis of 1832. Buchanan did not want to provoke a regional war, but his inaction did nothing to stop the growing conflict.
Many members of Buchanan's cabinet had resigned by New Year's Eve. Northern politicians were enraged over his refusal to act decisively on the South Carolina matter, and Southerners wanted the president to affirm their right to secede. Buchanan moved quickly to appoint new Cabinet officials—this time choosing many Northerners, whom Lincoln would retain. He submitted a four-point plan to Congress that he hoped might save the Union. It included calling a constitutional convention and a promise to take no action likely to provoke a war. Congress refused to consider the bill. Part of the resistance was led by Republican forces who wanted Lincoln to act on the crisis when he took office in March, damaging the reputations of the Democrats in the bargain.
Seven Southern states formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861, and Lincoln's inaugural ceremonies a few weeks later were tense and disrupted by the strong presence of federal troops to discourage potential terrorists.
Buchanan retired to Wheatland and died on June 1,1868.
James Buchanan was instrumental in the conclusion of arrangements between Great Britain and Nicaragua and Honduras, which, in his opinion, neutralized some of the dangerous features of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, and he checked the activity of the British fleet in searching vessels suspected of being engaged in the slave trade in American waters. He secured reparation from Paraguay for the firing on the Water Witch, a United States naval vessel, surveying La Plata. He made an advantageous treaty with China, and cemented our relations in the Far East by his reception of embassies from Japan and Siam. His main purpose, however, the annexation of Cuba, was blocked by the impossibility of securing from Congress the appropriation necessary to initiate negotiation. The same was true of his policy with regard to Mexico.
He was primarily a constitutional lawyer, confident that the mechanics of law, as established in the United States by the divine voice of the people, was sufficient to solve all problems, and his most distinct emotion was irritation with those who failed to consider legal solutions all-sufficient. He was fitted neither by nature nor by self-training to "ride the whirlwind and command the storm, " to which test he was put by an unkind fate.
(James Buchanan (1804–1870) was a Scottish minister and th...)
Buchanan had desired to join the Presbyterian church during the Civil War, but they at that time refused him. He was finally admitted to membership in the church on 23 September 1865. In his will, Buchanan made a generous bequest to the Presbyterian church.
Buchanan began his political career in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1814–1816) as a member of the Federalist Party. He was elected as a Federalist, but his positions were those of a moderate, and he had friends on both sides of the house. As the election of 1824 approached it was plain that the Federalist party was dead; what would become of its members was a problem which excited much discussion. Ultimately the majority, because of a general similarity of views, became Whigs. Buchanan was of the smaller number who went the other way. But it was not long before the relations which he formed with General Jackson and his following were temporarily imperiled.
He was again presented for the presidency by the Pennsylvania Democracy, with the strong support of his close friends, Schell of the "Hard" New York Democracy and Slidell of Louisiana, and with that of his old party associates in Virginia. Most of his support, however, came from the North. He led from the first ballot, and on the seventeenth was unanimously nominated, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky being chosen as candidate for vice-president. The platform contained a statement of the finality of the compromise of 1850, and an indorsement of the principle of non-interference by Congress with slavery in the territories. Buchanan did little speaking during the campaign, and when he did speak he was most emphatic in his denunciation of the abolitionists. He failed of a popular majority vote, receiving 1, 800, 000 to 1, 300, 000 for Frémont, the Republican candidate, and about 900, 000 for Fillmore, on the American and Whig tickets. Of the electoral votes he received 174 to 114 for Frémont, and 8 for Fillmore.
He supported the administration throughout the war as a Union Democrat. Much of his time he devoted to the preparation of a careful defense of his administration. Buchanan's career has been viewed almost entirely from the point of view of the last months of his administration. The estimates of his conduct at this time have been colored by the fact that it was pleasing to neither the North nor the South. This came from his sharing in part the views of both, but neither completely. He hated the Abolitionists whom he regarded as the chief cause of dissension; he liked the Southerners personally; he became a strict constructionist; and he favored a laissez-faire policy for the national government.
James Buchanan shared the Pennsylvania opinion against slavery in the abstract; he fully recognized the constitutional defenses of slavery and the duty of the national government to protect slavery where it existed: he expressed strongly his sympathy with the Southern whites, in their fear of the harmful effects of agitation upon the negroes and the peril which it might bring to Southern homes; he denounced the abolitionists as dangerous fanatics; but at the same time, as a constitutionalist, he defended the right of petition, and besought the Southerners not to create the impression "that the sacred right of petition and the cause of the abolitionists must rise or must fall together. " He joined with the Southerners, however, in supporting a bill which made it unlawful for postmasters to distribute any material touching slavery, where the circulation of such material was forbidden by state laws. Under the Tyler administration Buchanan continued to be one of the leaders and spokesmen of his party.
He stood for economy, for the payment of the public debt, but for a small increase in the navy. Most important was his statement that the question of slavery in the territories was one for judicial decision, and he referred to the Dred Scott Case, then pending, of the progress of which he had somewhat irregularly informed himself, as destined to give a solution to which all good citizens would cheerfully submit. His individual opinion he stated to be that popular sovereignty, or local control, began with the formation of a state constitution. He reiterated his well-known belief that a president should not be reëlected. On taking office he made an appeal to democratic sentiment by enunciating the principle of rotation in office, which meant that although succeeding a Democratic president, he would re-man the civil service.
The selection of his cabinet was directed by another principle, which he maintained with reference to all important appointments; that of giving, as far as possible, equal representation to slave and non-slaveholding states--"the sacred balance. " Lewis Cass became secretary of state, and the other most important appointments were those of Howell Cobb, the Georgia Unionist, as secretary of the treasury, of John B. Floyd of Virginia as secretary of war, and of the Pennsylvania lawyer, his personal friend, Jeremiah S. Black, as attorney-general. With Miss Lane as mistress of the White House, the administration was one of the most successful, socially, in our history. Its height was marked by the visit in 1860, of the Prince of Wales.
The tone of Washington society at the time was set by a group of brilliant women from the South, such as Mrs. Roger Pryor of Virginia, Mrs. Chesnut of South Carolina, and Mrs. Clay of Alabama. The Gwins, formerly of Mississippi and now of California, entertained lavishly. One of the closest intimates at the White House was Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. It was Buchanan's intention that his administration should be chiefly characterized by a vigorous foreign policy. In this he had some success, which seems to have been due for the most part to his own careful and minute attention.
So far as the status of slavery in Kansas and Nebraska was concerned, Buchanan accepted the Dred Scott decision as final. In administration he showed apparent wisdom and strength. To the territory of Kansas, where something very like civil war prevailed between the Free-State party and the Slave-State party, he sent Robert J. Walker, one of the ablest men at his disposal, whose conduct now receives the general approval of historians. It was not, however, a situation calling for wise administration only, but for Congressional action. When the Lecompton convention in January 1858 presented its request for statehood under the pro-slavery constitution which it had drawn up, the President at once presented it to Congress with his recommendation.
He argued that it was republican in form, that opportunity had been given for a popular vote on the all-important question of slavery, that acceptance would banish the question of slavery from Congress, and that once admitted as a state the people of Kansas could decide as they saw fit. This stand at once brought about a break between the two factions of the Democratic party. It identified the administration with the Southern wing, and caused the revolt of the supporters of Stephen A. Douglas.
Both factions still claimed to be in good party standing, but from now on the full powers of the administration, including that of the patronage, were thrown against Douglas.
His chief public policy was expansion, which, under the circumstances, meant expansion southward. His administration was undoubtedly strongly influenced by Southern interests. He trusted men who, to some degree at least, were working for the South, and he left the government less prepared for a vigorous enforcement of the laws than he could have done had he exercised a stricter administrative control.
The Southern leaders, however, failed to perceive that his devotion to the preservation of the Union was the strongest of his convictions, and were bitterly disappointed when they found that, his effort to content the South having failed, he reverted to the other side. The Northern criticism, that by vigor he might have prevented secession and the formation of the Southern Confederacy, is quite unjustified.
He spent most of his remaining years defending himself from public blame for the war, which was even referred to by some as "Buchanan's War. "
Quotations:
"If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed."
"To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington, and its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute."
"The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
An active Freemason, he was the Master of Masonic Lodge No. 43 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
According to biographer George Ticknor Curtis, Buchanan’s personality was marked by “strong family affections,” “engaging social qualities,” “fidelity to friends,” a “forgiving temper toward those who had injured him,” and generosity. He freely loaned money to friends in need and gave funds to the poor. He bought slaves in Washington and freed them in Pennsylvania without any guarantee of reimbursement. He was scrupulous to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. He declined all offers of free transportation passes and, as president, turned gifts over to the Patent Office. Buchanan carried himself with an air of dignity and was at all times graceful and courteous. He was not an especially gifted speaker.
Physical Characteristics: An imposing, handsome figure, Buchanan stood a bit over 6 feet tall and had broad shoulders and a sizable paunch. He had a very fair complexion and large blue eyes. His massive forehead receded to silky gray hair, which he wore swept up and back. He had rather small feet for his size and took quick steps. His most distinctive feature was a wryneck; his head was habitually cocked to the left. Unlike most victims of wryneck, his was not caused by muscular malfunction. Rather, it was a result of a peculiar eye disorder. One eye was nearsighted, the other farsighted; also the left eyeball was pitched higher in the socket than was the right. To compensate, Buchanan early developed the habit of cocking his head and closing one eye. If he were talking to someone or examining something close up, he would wink shut the farsighted eye; if gazing in the distance, he closed the nearsighted one. For reading he found it easier to focus with a candle in front of his eyes. He apparently coped well with the disorder, for he read much throughout his career and did not wear glasses until near the end of his life.
Quotes from others about the person
"Violence reached the floor of the United States Senate, where Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina savagely beat Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with his cane. Southern sympathizers sent Brooks new canes. Members began carrying knives and pistols into the Chamber. Meanwhile, the Nation's Chief Executive, James Buchanan, did nothing."
David McCullough narrating The Civil War by Ken Burns
He was engaged to be married to Ann Caroline Coleman in 1819, who was the heiress of a wealthy businessman who dealt in iron.
Ann broke off the engagement, due to long absences on Buchanan’s part and rumor mills linking him to a number of other women.
Highly depressed, she died on December 9, 1819 and her family held Buchanan responsible and hence he was not allowed to attend her funeral. As a result he vowed never to get married, a promise he kept till the end.
1761–1821
1767–1833
1802–1840
1795–1849
1793–183
1798–1825
1812–1902
1808–1832
1811–1895
1805–1826
Buchanan declined to serve as the vice presidential nominee, and the convention instead nominated Buchanan's close friend, William King.
William Rufus DeVane King, 13th Vice President of the United States, a friend of James Buchanan, with whom he shared a Washington boardinghouse.
