James Buchanan, the 15th US president, hoped history would vindicate him, but his failures in office, including his support for slavery and inaction during state secession, make him one of the worst presidents. He served one term, vetoed every law Republicans tried to pass, and published memoirs before his death. Historians see him as a disastrous choice to lead the US.
When James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States died in 1868, he was reported to have said the day before his death that history would one day vindicate him. So far, few historians have accepted this challenge due to Buchanan’s failures in office. Indeed, he is considered one of the worst sitting presidents and few of his decisions are considered anything but weak or unintelligent. During his tenure from 1857 to 1861, state secession began in earnest, and Buchanan did little to try to stop it.
James Buchanan is what people of his time called a “doughface,” a Northerner, born in Pennsylvania in 1791, with strong Southern leanings. He supported slavery and states’ rights and refused to act when several southern states seceded. He argued that states had no legal right to do so, but on the other hand, the federal government had no legal right to prevent states from leaving the Union. His inaction would have required Abraham Lincoln’s cleanup work, the Civil War, and subsequent Reconstruction to reunify the states of the United States.
Prior to serving as president, James Buchanan held a number of political offices. As a member of the Federalist Party, he was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1814 to 1820. He later served as chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, and from 1832 to 1834 was appointed Secretary of State. Russia. By then the Federalist Party had few members left, and James Buchanan became a Democrat. He served as a Democratic United States Senator from 1834 to 1845 and then as President Polk’s Secretary of State from 1845 to 1849.
When he was elected president, it was clear Buchanan’s sympathies were pro-slavery. He characterized the treatment of slaves as kind and humane, viewing slave ownership as a philanthropic act. Two years into his term, Republicans won majorities in the House and Senate and blocked virtually every major decision Buchanan attempted to make. He responded by vetoing every law the Republicans tried to pass.
This would have been a bad enough presidential record, but it became even more so when James Buchanan showed no clear direction in taking action against state secession. Seven states left the Union before Buchanan left office, and though Buchanan stepped back to fill his cabinet with nationalists, his sympathies perhaps created a climate in which states felt they could leave. He also argued for allowing territories to have slaves, feeling that the question of whether slavery should be allowed in the territories should not be addressed until the territory has applied for statehood.
President James Buchanan served one term and seemed relieved enough to leave the presidency and retire to his estate, Wheatland. He spent the rest of his life managing his estate and published his memoirs Mr. Buchanan’s Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion. He was the first president to publish memoirs and also the first single president. He never married and there are unsubstantiated speculations regarding his close personal friendship with Senator William Rufus King. Buchanan vainly hoped, the day before his death, that history would demonstrate his greatness as president. Given his actions and his pro-slavery stance, that is unlikely ever to happen and historians, regardless of political leanings, see Buchanan as a disastrous choice to lead the United States.
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