We're now on the 15th day of my daily presidents threads celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA.Today we have James Buchanan (4/23/1791 - 6/1/1868), who served as president from 1857 to 1860. Prior to being president he was the secretary of state for Polk, and a senator/representative from Pennsylvania. Notable actions or events during his presidency include Dred Scott v. Sanford, the Panic of 1857, the Utah War, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, the Covode Committee, the Treaty of Tientsin, the Secession Crisis, and the failed resupply of Fort SumterWhat do your think of the guy who tried nothing and was all out of ideas?
>>18510526Truth is there wasn't a lot he could do, the South was becoming increasingly paranoid and psychotic. By 1856 Southern newspapers and journals were increasingly talking about nothing but the slavery question to the detriment of anything else.
>>18510568also we all know that tomorrow's thread is going to be an obvious shitfest and bring out schizos, in fact OP should just skip ahead to Andrew Johnson
>>18509072>>18510572Follows next a period spannin'Four long years with James Buchanan...
>>18510572>also we all know that tomorrow's thread is going to be an obvious shitfest and bring out schizoswait until we get to presidents since FDR
>>18510526>Age 65 when he took office in 1857, Buchanan was not a spring chicken--he was often made fun of for his outdated fashion sense, still wearing clothing styles from the 1810s, when he was a young man, and for his quaint, old-fashioned mannerisms and style of speech. His political career, starting as a youthful Federalist attorney in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, saw him become a Jacksonian Democrat during the 1820s realignments. Over the years, Buchanan served in Congress, as ambassador to Russia, and Secretary of State. He had sought the presidency since 1848. For a man of his decades of experience in government, his record as president is almost shocking.
>During the fall months, the country was struck with a serious economic crash when the boom that had begun with the California Gold Rush popped due to the usual issues with rampant speculation. Northern cities had long lines of unemployed men in a time when social safety nets were few and government intervention in the economy was not yet a concept. The South was less affected by the panic despite some reduction in demand for its staple crops and some Southern fire-eaters took this as vindication of their system's superiority.>The 1857 panic was over in a year, but the US economy remained sluggish into 1861. A flood of war materials orders erased unemployment almost overnight and an unprecedented economic boom began by the fall.
>Buchanan's inauguration on March 4, 1857 was the last one the Democrats would get to celebrate for 28 more years. The 1858 midterms saw the party take major losses in both national and state elections outside the South--the Democrat Party in Buchanan's own state was thoroughly decimated, leading the president to remark "We have met the enemy in Pennsylvania and it is us."
>>18510526Firstly, Buchanan admired the South and thought they were cool guys and why would anyone dislike slavery anyway? Secondly, he considered the presidency a finale to his political career before he rode off into the sunset so he didn't really care what happened once he was out of office.>meddles in the Dred Scott Decision>tries to illegally force slavery onto Kansas>tries to pay off Congressmen to support the Lecompton Constitution which only 10% of Kansans supported>his administration was arguably the most corrupt pre-WW2 one and unlike Grant and Harding, who were just dupes for the crooks in their administrations, Buchanan was openly in on the graft>his speechmaking and general political skills were atrocious>once South Carolina seceded, Buchanan did nothing not because he was worried about the legalities of using military force on them, but because he really just didn't care>this was unlike Jackson and Taylor who both said they would use force on a seceding state>that war was coming should have been obvious since at least the summer of 1860 when the Democrat split essentially gift-wrapped the election to Lincoln>so Buchanan had months to prepare, Secretary of State Cass and Winfield Scott both tried without success to get him to do something>his Secretary of War was a Virginian who openly ordered large transfers of weapons to Southern arsenalstl;dr is Buchanan was literally guilty of treason and should have been hanged
>>18510747Buchanan presented his own side of the story in his memoirs, but they're not a very enjoyable read due to the 19th century writing style that has aged like old milk and the fact that he basically spends the entire thing on a huge dindonuffin trip ie. nothing was his fault and he did as good of a job as he could under the circumstances.Jean Baker's biography of Buchanan from 2004 isn't bad though at 200 pages a bit short. A more extensive Buchanan bio was Philip Klein's from 1962, but be forewarned that Klein was a huge Dixietard who acted like Republicans/abolitionists were the problem rather than Buchanan and also goes out of his way to deny that Buchanan was a closeted homo.
>>18510747to be fair it's not clear if Buchanan actually knew Floyd was transferring weapons to the South, although if he did it was certainly an act of treason
>>18510778It's hard to find JB bios that talk about him directly and not just his effect on starting the Civil War
>>18510747Buchanan was a product of the Jacksonian system of political deals and compromise. Although he tended to favor the South much of the time, his mentality was that bargains like the Missouri Compromise could be made to reduce sectional tensions. He thought for example that the Dred Scott Decision was exactly that, although he was horribly wrong.He spent a few years overseas as US ambassador to Britain during which time the Second Party System fell apart and gave way to regional parties uninterested in compromise. Buchanan was an old dude in his 60s and not cut out for this new development. That is to say he couldn't process the fact that making political deals just wasn't going to work anymore.
>>18510747also his non-response to the Panic of 1857
>>18510827That wasn't his fault though, the 19th century mentality was just let things sort themselves out and the idea of the government intervening in an economic depression was not even considered yet.
Buchanan was not a stupid guy by any means.>an excellent student who graduated at the top of his class>learned to speak fluent French>he had charisma and people skills which ensured his rapid political rise>he was a schemer too, as demonstrated by his work to swipe the 1856 Democrat nomination out from under Pierce>sometimes it didn't work like when he (most likely) leaked the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo to undermine Polk>the fact that he was known in D.C. to be a closet donut puncher and still managed to be elected president was also a bit of a feat>he also had difficulty handling stress and would often develop health issues>his raging Dixieboo inclinations and pig-headedness harmed him quite a bit, he was also atrocious as a commander-in-chief as his handling of the Mormon war demonstrated>he was also incredibly vain, hated to be told no, and filled his cabinet with yes men>he was super-image conscious and was obsessed with history remembering him as a great president
>>18510652Buchanan had a very courtly, old-fashioned air to him. He liked expensive clothes and gourmet dining and became annoyed when his meals and outfits weren't up to snuff. As president, he fired the native-born White House staff and replaced them with European immigrants. He was said to have a photographic memory and could recall in detail specific episodes from his college days decades later. Overall, Buchanan was pretty physically robust, he did not wear eyeglasses until his last few years and did suffer some permanent complications from his bout of gastroenteritis in 1857. He could have had Klinefelter’s Syndrome because of his fat distribution and odd body shape.
>>18511139he had unusual eye conditions where one eye was nearsighted and the other farsighted, and his eyes would tend to drift off in different directions
>>18511139>He could have had Klinefelter’s Syndrome because of his fat distribution and odd body shape.Klinefelter Syndrome is mostly caused by high maternal age, but Buchanan's mother was 24 when she had him so that seems unlikely.
>>18511139he eviscerated Dickinson College in his memoirs for not giving him a literary award he thought was owed. more than half a century later and he still couldn't get over that.
>>18510526I always found it really sus that to this day there isn't a single president that the public at large and historians in general all agree was just an all around retarded douchbag we shouldn't have elected. 250 years and mediocre ho-hums and run of the mill jerks is the best we got. Not buying it, I feel like something is getting whitewashed.
>>18511139here was why Buchanan related to Southerners so well, he greatly admired their wannabe country squire society. however, he didn't much like Andrew Jackson and thought him a vain egomaniac and wannabe despot.
>>18511357>I always found it really sus that to this day there isn't a single president that the public at large and historians in general all agree was just an all around retarded douchbag we shouldn't have elected.Franklin Pierce, no?
>>18511364Most Jackson allies didn't care for Buchanan, in part for that very reason (Buchanan, like John Tyler, thought Jackson abused executive power and disregarded the rule of law).
it's a common meme to think Buchanan was just overmatched in a national crisis and would have been a good president in a quieter time, much like Herbert Hoover. in reality that ignores what a tool and corrupt dirtbag he actually was.
