#15 James Buchanan: The Blood of Kansas on His Hands (1857-1861)

“James Buchanan” by Jean H. Baker, 2004

Why is there only one book about James Buchanan in the adult section of my local library but five books in the juvenile section? My guess is that Kansas schoolchildren learn how closely he is responsible for the “Bleeding Kansas” period of our state but adults just blame him for contributing to the start of the civil war.  Both groups would be correct and both factors contribute to James Buchanan being consistently ranked as a bottom five president in our history.

James Buchanan was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in 1791 to hardworking Scotch-Irish parents and was the oldest son of 11 children.  His father was a trader and merchant, so by the time James was older, he could afford to send him to college.  James was a tall, blonde handsome fellow with a smooth face- never really had to shave and always dressed very formally.   He had problems with his eyes- they focused differently and so he tilted his head or closed one eye much of the time.  He was a sharp student but would join in with other boys causing trouble because he wanted to be popular.  This caused him to be expelled from college but his family connections managed to talk his way back in. After college he studied law and began making a good income as a lawyer. Buchanan began his political career with the Federalist party, mainly because his father was a member, and started in the Pennsylvania state legislature. Buchanan was never a memorable, outstanding politician or speaker, but more of a steady, hardworking, analytical sort.

 At the age of 28, Buchanan met Ann Coleman, a beautiful girl from a wealthy family, and became engaged.  However, she called off their engagement under very strange circumstances and then died shortly afterwards- some say of a broken heart, depression or possibly suicide.  Buchanan was very upset but was barred from attending her funeral and her family shunned him. He claimed he loved her so much that he refused to ever marry- so he is our only bachelor president.  However, many scholars believe he was actually gay and point to his lengthy years of having roommates and especially to his friendship with Sen. Rufus King, also a lifelong bachelor.  Buchanan and King were often gossiped about and called “Mr. Nancy or Mr. Fancy”.  However, there is no written proof since almost all of their correspondence was burned by Buchanan.

In 1820 Buchanan was elected as a US congressman and in 1824 he switched from the federalist party to the democratic party, primarily because of his admiration for Andrew Jackson and southerners.  Almost all of his close friends in Washington DC were southerners, including Sen. Rufus King, and he became a defender of slavery since he said it was protected by the constitution. He always claimed that he personally found slavery abhorrent and did occasionally buy a slave in Washington DC then set him free. But he also made very racist remarks about how blacks needed slavery to “civilize them” and keep them from being murderers and rapists.  Buchanan began to absolutely HATE abolitionists, like Quakers, and blamed them for causing conflict in the country.

In 1831, Andrew Jackson appointed Buchanan as minister to Russia out of loyalty for Buchanan’s support.  Jackson joked that it was the farthest away he could get Buchanan from him since there was no minister to Antarctica. (HAHA!) Buchanan returned after 18 months and was appointed to complete an empty senate position for Pennsylvania. He spent the next 20 years positioning himself for a presidential run but would lose the democratic nomination 5 times.

President James K Polk appointed him as Secretary of State but they did not work together very well.  Polk was a more passionate, decisive man and Buchanan was methodical, slow moving, examined everything to death kind of guy. And since Buchanan was always trying to position himself to be president, instead of doing what Polk wanted, it was an uncomfortable situation.  Buchanan was publicly and loudly critical of Polk’s war with Mexico and pressured Polk to accept the 49^th parallel as the northern Oregon border in a settlement with Great Britain. Also, during this time, Buchanan developed a lifelong obsession with buying Cuba from Spain so that it could become another slave state.

Wheatland

In 1849, after losing the presidential nomination again, he returned to Pennsylvania and bought a small estate called “Wheatland” near Lancaster. (It has been preserved well and looks like a nice historical place to visit.) Also, a number of Buchanan’s brothers and sisters had died, leaving him as the guardian of many nieces and nephews.  One favorite niece was Harriet Lane, a lovely, outgoing, intelligent lady who became his household hostess and eventually served as his first lady.

Niece, NOT wife

When Franklin Pierce was elected president, Buchanan was appointed minister to Great Britain.  However, he stated that he preferred to become a Supreme Court Justice and then vacillated between the two posts many times before finally accepting the post in Great Britain.  Buchanan and his niece Harriet become popular with Queen Victoria but he did not really accomplish much there. However, he participated in the writing of the “Ostend Manifesto” which stated the US should declare war on Spain then invade and seize Cuba. Spain pretty much ignored Buchanan on this one.

When Buchanan returned in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act (which gave the two territories the right to vote and decide if they wanted to be slave or free states) was tearing the democratic party into northern and southern factions. It also led many northerners to join the new republican/antislavery party. Since Buchanan had been out of the country during most of this time, he was sort of a compromise candidate in the 1856 election…a northerner who supported the south and had 40 years of govt service.  So, he FINALLY got the democratic nomination and was elected- he won all the slave states and four northern ones.

Buchanan was immediately swallowed up by the problem of “Bleeding Kansas”.   Kansas basically had two competing governments -a “free state” one based in Topeka and a “slave state” one based in Lecompton.  Although everyone knew that the Lecompton one was based on a fraudulent election- many people from Missouri snuck across the border and voted for slavery- Buchanan would only recognize the Lecompton government and their constitution since he was adamant that Kansas be a slave state. His own appointed Kansas territory governor, Robert Walker, confirmed that the “free staters” outnumbered the Lecompton group by at least three to one in Kansas. But Buchanan took the Lecompton vote/constitution and tried to rush its ratification through the US Congress by offering extensive “enticements” to a huge number of congressmen.  In fact, his “bribing” of congress eventually led to an investigation committee (sort of a special prosecutor/Robert Mueller situation) towards the end of Buchanan’s presidency.  However, Sen. Stephen Douglas led the push to allow a new, honest election on the issue in Kansas. When that happened, 11,300 Kansans voted for a free state and only 1,800 voted for slavery.  Although it was bitterly opposed by southerners, Kansas became a free state in January 1861- and Buchanan began to lose a lot of his southern support base.  

  

The final year of his presidency was spent appeasing the south and trying to prevent Lincoln from being elected. The investigation for Buchanan’s bribing congressmen on the Kansas vote did not lead to impeachment or any criminal charges but shocked the country with the level of corruption exposed.  The fractured northern/southern democratic party put two guys on the ballot- thus splitting the vote and assuring a victory for Lincoln.

Leading up to the election, many advised Buchanan to shore up forts and ports in southern states in case they rebelled when Lincoln won.  Buchanan refused to do anything since he did not want to upset the south.  So when Fort Sumpter was attacked, it was so weakened and understaffed it guaranteed a southern victory. His southern secretary of war also bought massive weapons for southern army positions- which were of course seized by the confederacy. As state after state seceded leading up to Lincoln’s inauguration, Buchanan did almost nothing except assert that the constitution did not give the federal govt the right to attack rebellious states- a move which just encouraged more states to secede since there were no repercussions at all.

At Lincoln’s inauguration, Buchanan was just relieved and happy to leave Washington.  He spent his remaining few years writing a book which basically claimed he did nothing wrong and Lincoln was to blame for everything.

Juvenile Books also read:

“James Buchanan” by David R. Collins, 1990.

“James Buchanan: Our Fifteenth President” by Gerry and Janet Souter, 2002.