James Buchanan
| James Buchanan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 15th President of the United States | |
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In office March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 |
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| Vice President | John C. Breckinridge |
| Preceded by | Franklin Pierce |
| Succeeded by | Abraham Lincoln |
| United States Minister to the United Kingdom | |
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In office August 23, 1853 – March 15, 1856 |
|
| President | Franklin Pierce |
| Preceded by | Joseph Reed Ingersoll |
| Succeeded by | George M. Dallas |
| 17th United States Secretary of State | |
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In office March 10, 1845 – March 7, 1849 |
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| President |
James K. Polk Zachary Taylor |
| Preceded by | John C. Calhoun |
| Succeeded by | John M. Clayton |
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United States Senator from Pennsylvania |
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In office December 6, 1834 – March 5, 1845 |
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| Preceded by | William Wilkins |
| Succeeded by | Simon Cameron |
| United States Minister to Russia | |
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In office January 4, 1832 – August 5, 1833 |
|
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John Randolph |
| Succeeded by | Mahlon Dickerson |
| Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary | |
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In office March 5, 1829 – March 3, 1831 |
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| Preceded by | Philip Pendleton Barbour |
| Succeeded by | Warren R. Davis |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th district |
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In office March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1831 |
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| Preceded by | James S. Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | William Hiester |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 3rd district |
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In office March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823 |
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| Preceded by | Jacob Hibshman |
| Succeeded by | Daniel H. Miller |
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives | |
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In office 1814–1816 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 23, 1791 Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 1, 1868 (aged 77) Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place |
Woodward Hill Cemetery Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Dickinson College |
| Profession | |
| Religion | Presbyterianism |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
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| Service/branch | Pennsylvania Militia |
| Years of service | 1814 |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | Henry Shippen's Company, 1st Brigade, 4th Division |
| Battles/wars | |
| The Buchanan Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Name | Term |
| President | James Buchanan | 1857–1861 |
| Vice President | John C. Breckinridge | 1857–1861 |
| Secretary of State | Lewis Cass | 1857–1860 |
| Jeremiah S. Black | 1860–1861 | |
| Secretary of Treasury | Howell Cobb | 1857–1860 |
| Philip Francis Thomas | 1860–1861 | |
| John Adams Dix | 1861 | |
| Secretary of War | John B. Floyd | 1857–1860 |
| Joseph Holt | 1860–1861 | |
| Attorney General | Jeremiah S. Black | 1857–1860 |
| Edwin M. Stanton | 1860–1861 | |
| Postmaster General | Aaron V. Brown | 1857–1859 |
| Joseph Holt | 1859–1860 | |
| Horatio King | 1861 | |
| Secretary of the Navy | Isaac Toucey | 1857–1861 |
| Secretary of the Interior | Jacob Thompson | 1857–1861 |
James Buchanan, Jr. (/bjuːˈkænən/; April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate, then served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson. He was named Secretary of State under President James K. Polk, and is the last former Secretary of State to serve as President of the United States. After Buchanan turned down an offer to sit on the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the Ostend Manifesto.
Buchanan was nominated by the Democratic Party in the 1856 presidential election, on a ticket with former Kentucky Representative John C. Breckinridge, defeating both the incumbent President Pierce and Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Throughout most of Pierce's presidency, Buchanan had been stationed in London as minister to the Court of St James's and so was not involved in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which further divided the country along sectional lines. His subsequent election victory took place in a three-man race against Republican John C. Frémont and Know-Nothing Millard Fillmore. As President, Buchanan allied with the South in attempting to gain the admission of Kansas to the Union as a slave state under the Lecompton Constitution. In the process, he alienated both Republican abolitionists and Northern Democrats, most of whom supported the principle of popular sovereignty in determining a new state's slaveholding status. He was often called a "doughface", a Northerner with Southern sympathies, and he fought severely with Stephen Douglas, the leader of the popular sovereignty faction, for control of the Democratic Party. Buchanan's efforts to maintain peace between the North and the South alienated both sides. Buchanan indicated in his 1857 inaugural address that he would not seek a second term; he kept his word, and supported Vice President John C. Breckinridge in 1860. In a four-way contest, Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln was declared the winner, on a platform of keeping slavery out of all Western territories. In response, seven Southern states declared their secession from the Union, eventually leading to the American Civil War. Buchanan's view was that secession was illegal, but that going to war to stop it was also illegal, and so didn't confront the new polity militarily. Buchanan, an attorney, was noted for his mantra, "I acknowledge no master but the law."
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