The words of the Presidential Oath of Office are enshrined in the Constitution. Each person to hold the office of the President first had to make a solemn pledge to the American people; that they would, to best of their ability, "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." James Buchanan may very well have preformed to the best of his ability, but he most certainly did not preserve or protect our Constitution or the Union it created. When a nation splits in two during your presidency, it's safe to say you're not doing a good job.
James Buchanan is, for most Americans, a forgotten president. In fact, despite the fact that he presided over the most tumultuous period of American history (save the Civil War itself) most of my students only remember one thing about him: "Mr. Ashcraft, wasn't he the gay one?" It's true that there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that Buchanan was a homosexual, but that has little to do with his presidency...which was an abject failure. To be fair, few men would have been able to hold the nation together in the years leading up to the outbreak of war between the states. The Southern slave powers, despite the fact that slavery was expanding in the years leading up to the war, realized that their way of life and immoral economic system were under attack like never before with growing anti-slavery sentiment in the North and the establishment of Republican Party. For his part, James Buchanan, a Northerner, was sympathetic to the South. It is this sympathy that gives him his last place rating. Buchanan's term began with a bombshell. The Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that slaves were not people and therefore had no rights. Furthermore, the court said, Congress had no right to regulate slavery in the western territories; essentially turning the entire country into a slave country. While this is not Buchanan's fault obviously, the President did little to question the court's actions. When a civil war broke out between pro and anti-slavery forces in the territory of Kansas, Buchanan supported the pro-slavery cause; going so far as to try to force slavery upon an unwilling population of Jayhawkers. This horrible decision coupled with a devastating financial panic in 1857, doomed Buchanan's presidency. Wisely deciding not to run for reelection in 1860, Buchanan watched as the Democratic Party fractured along North and South lines. This division probably helped to elect Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, to office. When news of Lincoln's election spread, 7 southern states succeeded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Buchanan condemned the Southern leaders and denied the legality of succession, but did nothing to stop it. James Buchanan was dealt a bad hand. Perhaps no president besides Lincoln has ever come into office with a more divided nation than "Old Buck." Nevertheless, for his failure to hold the nation together, and role in hastening it's separation, James Buchanan will be remembered as the Worst President in American History.
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Derek Trent AshcraftA place to discuss, among other things, politics, culture, food, faith, and nonsense. Archives
July 2021
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