By the Maui Curmudgeon (15th in a 43-part series)

How do the U.S. Presidents stack up? I thought I’d find out by reading biographies of all 43 presidents, in the order of their administrations. Here are briefly the pros and cons of my discoveries, the interesting bits, and how I’d rank him. For comparison, I give you the 1982 Murrary-Blessing ranking, a survey of hundreds of leading historians who ranked each president by number. This survey is the gold standard of presidential rankings and is most cited when this kind of thing needs bringing up in media.

JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1861 ~ 15th U.S. President

The long train wreck of presidencies in this century culminates with a disaster - James Buchanan. Legend has it that when Buchanan picked up Abraham Lincoln from his hotel on Lincoln’s inauguration day, he said something like, “If you’re as happy entering the White House as I am leaving it, you are a very happy man.” Federal troops lined the streets, federal marshals were stationed with guns on rooftops. The Civil War was moments away.

As a young attorney, Buchanan made a fortune.  A good public speaker, he entered politics in 1820 as a member of the House, and soon went to the US Senate, where he was re-elected twice. He was Secretary of State for James Polk. Franklin Pierce beat him for the Democratic nomination, and Buchanan left the country, spending several years in Europe, which, somewhat strangely, was why he was nominated.

He was the only Democrat that the party could settle on. The Pierce-Douglas debacle of the slave territories had tarred just about everyone in both parties. Here was a man seemingly above the fray. The voting public agreed. Disaster struck immediately.

THE BAD

Buchanan never understood “what the fuss was about” with slavery. He thought the anti-slavery movement was “not respectable.” In his inauguration address, called “uninspired” by attendees, Buchanan promised to hold office just one term, push for more land expansion, and denounced “agitation against slavery” as “dangerous to the union.” Two days later, the Supreme Court, dominated by Southern conservatives, announced its Dred Scott decision. Buchanan was happy (showing how clueless he really was).

The Dred Scott decision said the Congress could not prohibit slavery in territories. Northerners were apoplectic with rage, and preparations for war truly began.

In Kansas, one of the territories in question, anti-slavery voters refused to participate in the state constitutional convention. Thus, pro-slavery forces wrote the document, a vile paper which even Stephen Douglas denied, saying that for the party to accept the thing would mean the end of democracy as we knew it. This broke Douglas from Buchanan, and the two fought over the Democratic nomination in 1860 (Buchanan pushing for his Vice-president), which gave Lincoln his victory.

Buchanan loved the Kansas constitution, and supported it, not only politically but with patronage jobs. After one of the most mean-spirited debates in history, the House finally rejected the state constitution, guaranteeing that Kansas would enter the Union slave-free. This infuriated the slave states.

So, the sides were drawn, and slave states began to talk of secession. In his final address to Congress, Buchanan bemoaned secession, but said as president he had no power to stop it. He blamed Lincoln and the Republicans for the war. Hated by both the Republicans and members of his own party, he quietly left Washington.

When Civil War began, Buchanan was denounced as a traitor in his home state of Pennsylvania, and for several years a guard was placed around his home to protect him.

THE GOOD

When federal officials fled Utah because of Mormon harassment, Buchanan sent thousands of federal troops to put the Mormons in their place. Scared to death, the Mormons, apologized, agreed to pay for damages, and signed into law the service of the territory to federal aims, all before the troops arrived.

INTERESTING BITS

Buchanan was the last man born in the 18th century to hold the office of president.

Murray-Blessing Rank: 33

My Score: 15%

Interesting Reading:

James Buchanan (The American Presidents) by Jean H. Baker and Arthur M. Schlesinger (mercifully short, which all this president deserves).