"President James Buchanan" our fifteenth president was born near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. President James Buchanan graduated from "Dickson College" and studied law. President James Buchanan was a bachelor. He was a very successful lawyer, who moved easily into politics, first as a member of the "Pennsylvania Legislature", then in 1820, in Congress.

President James Buchanan was a "Federalist", but as the "Federalist Party" fell apart, he allied himself with the Democrats because of his admiration for "President Andrew Jackson". In 1832, President James Buchanan was elected to the Senate, where he served for twelve years.

When "President James Knox Polk" was elected President, he appointed President James Buchanan his "Secretary of State". President James Buchanan held this position during the "annexation of Texas" and the "Mexican War", and he was very successful in arranging "The Oregon Settlement" with "Great Britain" in 1846.

"President Franklin Pierce" appointed President James Buchanan as Minister to Great Britain in 1853, so that he was away from the United States during the passing of the "Kansas - Nebraska Act" and the resulting bloody war in Kansas.

In 1856 the Democrats felt that President James Buchanan would be a popular middle-of-the-road candidte, especially sine he had expressed no opinion about the difficult Kansas - Nebraska question, so they nominated President James Buchanan  for President, and he was elected.

President James Buchanan had hesitated to accept the nomination for the Presidency because he could see a possibility of approaching "Civil War", but he felt that he could prevent a break between the "North and South". President James Buchanan's method of preventing war however, was to appease the South whenever he could.

President James Buchanan did not approve of slavery, but he believed the "Constitution" allowed it, so he supported the "Fugitive Slave Law", accepted the "Dred Scott Decision", in which the "United States Supreme Court" ruled the "Missouri Compromise", which limited slavery, was unconstitutional, and supported a pro-slavery constitution for Kansas.

President James Buchanan hoped that the madness of the people who believed so passionately about slavery would pass and that order would be restored. When "President Abraham Lincoln" was elected in 1860 and it seemed certain that South Carolina would secede from the Union, he was uncertain what he should do.

President James Buchanan thought the Southern states had no right to secede, but he also thought the North had no right to keep them in the Union by force. When seven states had seceded and a "Southern Government", "Confederate States of America", was formed, President James Buchanan did nothing.

President James Buchanan tried to get men and supplies to "Fort Sumter" in "Charleston Harbor" but when the supply ship was fired on, it turned back. By this time, President James Buchanan's term in office was over, and he left the problem to President Abraham Lincoln.

President James Buchanan died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, eight years later.

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
Photography "NOT" by:
Robert Palumbo
2/21/2010 (c)