James Buchanan 1857 - 1861

Born: 1791, Cove Gap, PA
Died: 1869

A lawyer, Congressman, Senator and Secretary of State under Polk, James Buchanan was untainted by the fractious domestic politics of the Franklin Pierce Presidency, thanks to his posting overseas as Pierce's Minister to Britain. Chosen as the Democrat's Presidential candidate in 1856, Buchanan favored popular sovereignty in the territories and tried generally to downplay the divisive slavery issue. His attitude of denial worked for a time -- he defeated the candidate of the newly formed Republican party, which opposed slavery's extension. Just days after his inauguration the Supreme Court handed down the Dred Scott decision, holding that Congress could not bar slavery from the territories. But in 1858 Republicans controlling the House of Representatives refused to allow Kansas into the Union as a slave state. The government became deadlocked.

In 1860 the Democrats abandoned Buchanan. Now split into Northern and Southern wings, each with its own Presidential candidate, the party essentially handed over the Presidency to the Republican, Abraham Lincoln. Seven southern states seceded rather than accept the election and Buchanan's Southern Cabinet members, resigned to join the Confederacy. Buchanan called the secession illegal, but took no action to save the Union.

Fifteenth President
Democrat