Buchanan, JAMES

Buchanan, JAMES, fifteenth president of the United States, was born near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, the son of an immigrant Irish farmer. He was educated at Dickinson Col. lege, and in 1812 was admitted to the bar, where he enjoyed a large practice. He served in the state legislature (1815-16), and in congress (1820-31). In 1832 he was sent as envoy-extraordinary to negotiate the first commercial treaty with Russia; and in 1833 he was elected a member of the United States senate, in which he sat till 1845. Appointed by President Polk, in March 1845, secretary of state, he held that office till the close of Polk's presidency, and by his firmness succeeded in settling the Oregon boundary question on lines satisfactory to the United States. Buchanan was ambassador to England from 1853 to 1856, and in the latter year, on the nomination of the Democratic party, he was elected president. During his administration the slavery question drew to a head. Buchanan himself was strongly in favour of the maintenance of slavery; his cabinet was largely made up of advocates of the system; and he freely supported the attempt to establish Kansas as a slave state. As the close of his term approached, it became evident that a conflict was impending, and the election of Lincoln precipitated the outbreak; on the 20th of December, South Carolina formally seceded. The president declined to reinforce Fort Sumter; but neither would he withdraw its garrison, and his cabinet, partaking in the sectional differences, hurriedly broke up. The closing days of his administration were marked by a supineness which facilitated the movements of the party of secession, by whom most of the forts and arsenals in the disaffected states were seized during the winter. After his retirement from office, Buchanan took no part in public affairs; but he published in 1866 a defence of his administration. He died June 1, 1868. See his Life by George Ticknor Curtis (2 vols. New York, 1883).