Name	Harriet Lane
Birth date	May 09, 1830
Birth place	Franklin County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death date	July 03, 1903
Death place	Narragansett, Rhode Island, U.S.
Order	First Lady of the United States
Term start	March 4, 1857
Term end	March 4, 1861
Predecessor	Jane Pierce
Successor	Mary Todd Lincoln
Religion	Episcopalian
Spouse	Henry Elliott Johnston
Children	James Buchanan Johnston Henry Elliott Johnston
Relations	James Buchanan (uncle)
Signature	Harriet R Lane Signature.svg

Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston (May 9, 1830 – July 3, 1903), niece of lifelong bachelor United States President James Buchanan, acted as First Lady of the United States from 1857 to 1861. She was one of the few women to hold the position of First Lady while not being married to the President.

Early life

Harriet Lane's family was from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest child of Elliott Tole Lane, a merchant, and Jane Ann Buchanan Lane. An orphan after the death of her father when she was 11 years old (her mother had died two years earlier), she requested that her favourite uncle, James Buchanan, be appointed her legal guardian. Buchanan, an unmarried Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, indulged his niece and her sister, enrolling them in boarding schools in Charleston, Virginia (later West Virginia), and then for two years at the Academy of the Visitation Convent in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. By this time, Buchanan was Secretary of State, and he introduced her to fashionable circles as he had promised.

In 1854 she joined him in London, where he was minister to the Court of St. James's. Queen Victoria gave "dear Miss Lane" the rank of ambassador's wife; admiring suitors gave her the fame of a beauty. In appearance "Hal" Lane was of medium height, with masses of light hair almost golden.

First Lady of the United States

The capital welcomed its new "Democratic Queen" to the White House in 1857. Harriet was a popular hostess during the four years of the Buchanan presidency . Women copied her hair and clothing styles (especially when she lowered the neckline on her inaugural gown by 2.5 inches), parents named their daughters for her, and a popular song ("Listen to the Mockingbird") was dedicated to her. While in the White House, she used her position to promote social causes, such as improving the living conditions of Native Americans in reservations. She also made a point of inviting artists and musicians to White House functions. For both her popularity and her advocacy work, she has been described as the first of the modern first ladies , and her popularity at the time is compared to that of Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s . The Presidential Yacht was named for her — the first of three ships to be named for her, one of which is still in service today. As sectional tensions increased, she worked out seating arrangements for her weekly formal dinner parties with special care, to give dignitaries their proper precedence and still keep political foes apart. Her tact did not falter, but her task became impossible—as did her uncle's. Seven states had seceded by the time Buchanan retired from office and returned with his niece to his spacious country home, Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Romance and Marriage

From her teenage years, the popular Miss Lane flirted happily with numerous beaux, calling them "pleasant but dreadfully troublesome." Buchanan often warned her against "rushing precipitately into matrimonial connexions," and she waited until she was almost 36 to marry. She chose, with her uncle's approval, Henry Elliott Johnston, a Baltimore banker. Within the next 18 years she lost her uncle, both her two young sons, and her husband.

Later Life and Death

Thereafter she decided to live in Washington. She had acquired a sizable art collection, largely of European works, which she bequeathed to the government. Accepted after her death in 1903, it inspired an official of the Smithsonian Institution to call her "First Lady of the National Collection of Fine Arts".

In addition, she had dedicated a generous sum to endow a home for invalid children at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. It became a renowned pediatric facility; the Harriet Lane Outpatient Clinics serve thousands of children today, and the widely-used manual for pediatric house officers, The Harriet Lane Handbook, bears her name.

Harriet wrote her will in 1895 and lived another eight years, during which the country’s general prosperity greatly increased the value of her estate. She added a codicil in 1899 directing that a school building be constructed on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral property and asked that it be called the Lane-Johnston Building “to the end that the family names of my husband and myself may be associated with the bequest made in loving memory of our sons.” A codicil of 1903 increased her gift by one third but said that only half the total was to be spent on the building. The remainder was “specially to provide for the free maintenance, education and training of choirboys, primarily those in service of the Cathedral.” This bequest founded the prestigious boys’ school that today is called St. Albans School, which opened in October 1909.

At Harriet Lane Johnston’s funeral, services were conducted by Bishop Satterlee and Canon DeVries of the Washington National Cathedral. She was buried in Baltimore at Green Mount Cemetery, her grave marked with a Celtic Cross like the Peace Cross on the Close. In 1905, guests were summoned to see the cornerstone of the first St. Albans School building, laid for what the invitation referred to as “The Lane Johnston Choir School for Boys of the Washington Cathedral.” She is buried at Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland.

Legacy

The United States Coast Guard has had three Cutters named in her honor. The first was the USS Harriet Lane, commissioned into the United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of the USCG) in 1857. This cutter was transferred to the United States Navy in 1861 because of the American Civil War and was captured by the Confederate Navy in 1863.

The second cutter named for Harriet Lane was the 125 foot USCGC Harriet Lane (WSC-141). The Cutter was commissioned in 1926, and decommissioned in 1946

The third cutter named for Harriet Lane is the USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC-903). The Cutter was commissioned in May 1984, and , is still in active service.

The Harriet Lane Outpatient Clinics continue to operate in countries throughout the world.

Founder: St. Albans School, Washington, DC

Miss Lane is the subject of the book, Harriet Lane, America's First Lady by Milton Stern (ISBN 1411626087; ISBN 978-1411626089), the only extensive biography of Miss Lane, which features the only picture of her in her inaugural gown known to exist on the cover.

References

Original text based on White House biography

Margaret Brown Klapthor, The First Ladies, 1995, White House Historical Association, ISBN 0-912308-58-3

Bergheim, Laura (1992). The Washington Historical Atlas: Who Did What When and Where in the Nation's Capital, Woodbine House, 219. ISBN 0933149425.

John Updike , "Buchanan Dying", 1974, a play. (Ms. Johnston is a character in this play about President Buchanan).

Category:People from Pennsylvania Category:1830 births Category:1903 deaths Category:First Ladies of the United States Category:Acting First Ladies of the United States Category:Burials at Green Mount Cemetery

Name	Michelle Obama
Image name	Michelle Obama official portrait headshot.jpg
Alt	|imagesize = 225px
Office	First Lady of the United States
Term start	January 20, 2009
Predecessor	Laura Bush
Birth date	January 17, 1964
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois
Birthname	Michelle LaVaughn Robinson
Nationality	American
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Barack Obama (m. 1992)
Children	Malia and Sasha Obama
Residence	Kenwood, Chicago (private)The White House (official)
Alma mater	Princeton University (A.B.)Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Protestant Christian
Signature	Michelle Obama Signatrue.svg

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago and to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. As the wife of a Senator, and later the First Lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and a notable advocate for poverty awareness and healthy eating.

Family and education

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois to Fraser Robinson III, a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian (née Shields), a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school. The Robinson and Shields families can trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was an American slave in the state of South Carolina, where some of her paternal family still reside. Her maternal great-great-great grandmother, Melvinia Shields, also a slave, became pregnant by a white man. His name and the nature of their union have been lost. She gave birth to Michelle's biracial maternal great-great grandfather, Dolphus T. Shields.

She grew up in a two-story house on Euclid Street in Chicago's South Shore community area. Her parents rented a small apartment on the house's second floor from her great-aunt, who lived downstairs. She was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table".

She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, where she was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer. She graduated from high school in 1981 as salutatorian. "I remember being shocked," she says, "by college students who drove BMWs. I didn't even know parents who drove BMWs." Robinson majored in sociology and minored in African American studies and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. She earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. At Harvard she participated in demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were members of minorities and worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, assisting low-income tenants with housing cases. She is the third First Lady with a postgraduate degree, after her two immediate predecessors, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Laura Bush.

and Michelle Obama.|alt=Barack and Michelle Obama, wearing dark outdoor clothes, in front of a crowd. His expression is muted; she has a wide smile.]] She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin (she has sometimes said only two, although others have pointed out there were others in different departments), and she was assigned to mentor him as a summer associate. Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting where he first impressed her. The couple married in October 1992, and they have two daughters, Malia Ann (born 1998) and Natasha (known as Sasha, born 2001). After his election to the U.S. Senate, the Obama family continued to live on Chicago's South Side, choosing to remain there rather than moving to Washington, D.C. Throughout her husband's 2008 campaign for President of the United States, she made a "commitment to be away overnight only once a week — to campaign only two days a week and be home by the end of the second day" for their two children. She is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. She is the first cousin, once removed, of Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., one of the country’s most prominent black rabbis.

She once requested that her then-fiancé meet her prospective boss, Valerie Jarrett, when considering her first career move. The marital relationship has had its ebbs and flows; the combination of an evolving family life and beginning political career led to many arguments about balancing work and family. Barack Obama wrote in his second book, , that "Tired and stressed, we had little time for conversation, much less romance". However, despite their family obligations and careers, they continue to attempt to schedule date nights.

The Obamas' daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school. As a member of the school's board, Michelle fought to maintain diversity in the school when other board members connected with the University of Chicago tried to reserve more slots for children of the university faculty. This resulted in a plan to expand the school. She stated in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the couple does not intend to have any more children. They have received advice from past first ladies Laura Bush, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Rodham Clinton about raising children in the White House.

Career

Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin, where she first met her future husband. At the firm, she worked on marketing and intellectual property. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. She continued to hold the University of Chicago Hospitals position during the primary campaign, but cut back to part time in order to spend time with her daughters as well as work for her husband's election; she subsequently took a leave of absence from her job. According to the couple’s 2006 income tax return, her salary was $273,618 from the University of Chicago Hospitals, while her husband had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate. The Obamas' total income, however, was $991,296, which included $51,200 she earned as a member of the board of directors of TreeHouse Foods, and investments and royalties from his books.

She served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (), a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum in Trenton, New Jersey, on May 14, 2007. She serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

2008 Presidential election

Although Obama has campaigned on her husband's behalf since early in his political career by handshaking and fund-raising, she did not relish the activity at first. When she campaigned during her husband's 2000 run for United States House of Representatives, her boss at the University of Chicago asked if there was any single thing about campaigning that she enjoyed; after some thought, she replied visiting so many living rooms had given her some new decorating ideas.

At first, Obama had reservations about her husband's presidential campaign due to fears about a possible negative effect on their daughters. She says that she negotiated an agreement in which her husband gave up smoking in exchange for her support of his decision to run. About her role in her husband's presidential campaign she has said: "My job is not a senior adviser." During the campaign, she has discussed race and education by using motherhood as a framework.

In May 2007, three months after her husband declared his presidential candidacy, she reduced her professional responsibilities by 80 percent to support his presidential campaign. Early in the campaign, she had limited involvement in which she traveled to political events only two days a week and traveled overnight only if their daughters could come along; She wrote her own stump speeches for her husband's presidential campaign and generally spoke without notes.

Throughout the campaign, the media often labeled her as an "angry black woman," and some Web sites attempted to propagate this image, prompting her to respond: "Barack and I have been in the public eye for many years now, and we've developed a thick skin along the way. When you’re out campaigning, there will always be criticism. I just take it in stride, and at the end of the day, I know that it comes with the territory." By the time of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August, media outlets observed that her presence on the campaign trail had grown softer than at the start of the race, focusing on soliciting concerns and empathizing with the audience rather than throwing down challenges to them, and giving interviews to shows like The View and publications like Ladies' Home Journal rather than appearing on news programs. The change was even reflected in her fashion choices, wearing more informal clothes in place of her previous designer pieces.

The presidential campaign was her first exposure to the national political scene; even before the field of Democratic candidates was narrowed to two, she was considered the least famous of the candidates' spouses. Early in the campaign, she told anecdotes about the Obama family life; however, as the press began to emphasize her sarcasm, she toned it down.}}

On the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Craig Robinson introduced his younger sister. She delivered her speech, during which she sought to portray herself and her family as the embodiment of the American Dream. She also emphasized loving her country, in response to criticism for her previous statements about feeling proud of her country for the first time. That keynote address was largely well received and drew mostly positive reviews. A Rasmussen Reports poll found that her favorability among Americans reached 55%.

On an October 6, 2008 broadcast, Larry King asked her if the American electorate was past the Bradley effect. She stated that her husband's achievement of the nomination was a fairly strong indicator that it was. The same night she also was interviewed by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show where she deflected criticism of her husband and his campaign. On Fox News' America's Pulse, E. D. Hill referred to the fist bump shared by the Obamas on the night that he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination as a "terrorist fist jab"; Hill was taken off air and the show itself was cancelled.

First Lady of the United States

Public image and style

With the ascent of her husband as a prominent national politician, Michelle Obama has become a part of popular culture. In May 2006, Essence listed her among "25 of the World's Most Inspiring Women." In July 2007, Vanity Fair listed her among "10 of the World's Best Dressed People." She was an honorary guest at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball as a "young'un" paying tribute to the 'Legends,' which helped pave the way for African American Women. In September 2007, 02138 magazine listed her 58th of 'The Harvard 100'; a list of the prior year's most influential Harvard alumni. Her husband was ranked fourth. In July 2008, she made a repeat appearance on the Vanity Fair international best dressed list. She also appeared on the 2008 People list of best-dressed women and was praised by the magazine for her "classic and confident" look.

Many sources have speculated that, as a high-profile African-American woman in a stable marriage, she will be a positive role model who will influence the view the world has of African-Americans. Her fashion choices were part of Fashion week, but Obama's influence in the field did not have an impact on the paucity of African-American models who participate, as some thought it might.

She has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy due to her sense of style, Her white, one-shoulder Jason Wu 2009 inaugural gown was said to be "an unlikely combination of Nancy Reagan and Jackie Kennedy". Obama's style is described as populist. She often wears clothes by designers Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Isabel Toledo, Narciso Rodriguez, Donna Ricco and Maria Pinto, and has become a fashion trendsetter, in particular her favoring of sleeveless dresses that showcase her toned arms.

She appeared on the cover and in a photo spread in the March 2009 issue of Vogue. Every First Lady since Lou Hoover (except Bess Truman) has been in Vogue, but only Hillary Clinton had previously appeared on the cover.

The media have been criticized for focusing more on the first lady's fashion sense than her serious contributions. She has stated that she would like to focus attention as First Lady on issues of concern to military and working families. U.S.News & World Report blogger, PBS host and Scripps Howard columnist Bonnie Erbe has argued that Obama's own publicists seem to be feeding the emphasis on style over substance. Erbe has stated on several occasions that she is miscasting herself by overemphasizing style.

Work undertaken and causes promoted

During her early months as First Lady, she has frequently visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens. On her first trip abroad in April 2009, she toured a cancer ward with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She has begun advocating on behalf of military families.

Obama has become an advocate of her husband's policy priorities by promoting bills that support it. Following the enactment of the Pay equity law, Obama hosted a White House reception for women's rights advocates in celebration. She has pronounced her support for the economic stimulus bill in visits to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Education. Some observers have looked favorably upon her legislative activities, while others have said that she should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she intends to visit all United States Cabinet-level agencies in order to get acquainted with Washington.

She has gained growing public support in her early months as first lady. As the public is growing accustomed to her, she is becoming more accepted as a role model. Newsweek described her first trip abroad as an exhibition of her so-called "star power" and MSN described it as an display of sartorial elegance. and Michelle reciprocated a touch on her back by the Queen during a reception, purportedly against traditional royal etiquette. Palace sources denied that any breach in etiquette had occurred.

On June 5, 2009, the White House announced that Michelle Obama was replacing her current chief of staff, Jackie Norris, with Susan Sher, a longtime friend and adviser. Norris will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Then in February 2010, the resignation of White House Social Secretary, Desiree Rogers was announced to be effective the following month. Rogers had been at odds with other administration officials, such as David Axelrod, and then the White House State Dinner snafu occurred on November 24, 2009. Rogers was replaced by Julianna Smoot.

After a year as First Lady, she undertook her first lead role in an administrationwide initiative. Her goal was to make progress in reversing the 21st century trend of childhood obesity. She stated that her goal is to make this effort her legacy: "I want to leave something behind that we can say, ‘Because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.’ And my hope is that that’s going to be in the area of childhood obesity." This effort does not supplant her other efforts: supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and healthy living for children and families across the country. She has earned widespread publicity on the topic of healthy eating by planting the first white house vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as first lady.

See also

Family of Barack Obama

References

Further reading

External links

First Lady Michelle Obama, Whitehouse.gov

"Meet Michelle", biographical entry at BarackObama.com

"Michelle Obama On Love, Family & Politics", interview with Katie Couric of CBS News

Photoessay in Newsweek

Archive at The New York Times

Archive at U.S.News & World Report

archive at Chicago Tribune

"Michelle Obama's plea for education", on TED (conference), May 2009

Category:1964 births Category:African American history Category:African American lawyers Category:African-American people Category:American female lawyers Category:First Ladies of the United States Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Living people Category:Obama family Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Spouses of Illinois politicians Category:Spouses of United States Senators Category:United Church of Christ members Category:Women in Illinois politics

Keith Willis (born July 29, 1959 in Newark, New Jersey) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League.

Willis was undrafted out of Northeastern University in the 1982 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played for the Steelers, as well as the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins. During his career, Willis played in 139 games and record 59 quarterback sacks. He is currently the Defensive Line coach for the NC State Wolfpack.

External links

Willis's stats

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:American football defensive ends Category:Northeastern Huskies football players Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players Category:Buffalo Bills players Category:Washington Redskins players

Name	James Buchanan
Caption	James Buchanan photographed by Charles Meade and Henry Meade in 1860.
Order	15th President of the United States
Term start	March 4, 1857
Term end	March 4, 1861
Predecessor	Franklin Pierce
Successor	Abraham Lincoln
Birth date	April 23, 1791
Birth place	Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
Birthname	James Buchanan, Jr.
Death date	June 01, 1868
Death place	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Spouse	None (Bachelor)
Occupation	Lawyer, Diplomat
Alma mater	Dickinson College
Party	Democratic
Vicepresident	John C. Breckinridge
Religion	Presbyterian
Signature	James Buchanan Signature2.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
Order2	17th United States Secretary of State
Term start2	March 10, 1845
Term end2	March 7, 1849
President2	James K. Polk
Predecessor2	John C. Calhoun
Successor2	John M. Clayton
Order3	United States Senator from Pennsylvania
Term start3	December 6, 1834
Term end3	March 5, 1845
Predecessor3	William Wilkins
Successor3	Simon Cameron
Order4	9th United States Minister to Russia
Term start4	January 4, 1832
Term end4	August 5, 1833
President4	Andrew Jackson
Predecessor4	John Randolph
Successor4	Mahlon Dickerson
Order5	14th United States Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's
Term start5	1853
Term end5	1856
President5	Franklin Pierce
Predecessor5	Joseph R. Ingersoll
Successor5	George M. Dallas
Order7	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 3rd district
Term start7	March 4, 1821
Term end7	March 3, 1823Alongside: John Phillips
Preceded7	Jacob HibshmanJames M. Wallace
Succeeded7	Daniel H. Miller
Order6	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th district
Term start6	March 4, 1823
Term end6	March 3, 1831Alongside: Samuel Edwards, Isaac Wayne, Charles Miner, Samuel Anderson, Joshua Evans, Jr. and George G. Leiper
Preceded6	James S. Mitchell
Succeeded6	William HiesterDavid Potts, Jr.Joshua Evans, Jr.
Order8	Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary
Term start8	March 4, 1829
Term end8	March 3, 1831
Preceded8	Philip P. Barbour
Succeeded8	Warren R. Davis
Branch	Volunteer
Battles	War of 1812

James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868, ) was the 15th President of the United States, from 1857 to 1861, and the last president to be born in the 18th century. He is the only president from Pennsylvania and the only president who was a life-long bachelor.

Buchanan (often called Buck-anan by his contemporaries) was a popular and experienced state politician and a very successful attorney before his presidency. He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the Senate, and served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson. He also was Secretary of State under President James K. Polk. After turning down an offer for an appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as Minister to the United Kingdom under President Franklin Pierce, in which capacity he helped draft the controversial Ostend Manifesto.

After unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1844, 1848, and 1852, "Old Buck" was nominated in the election of 1856. Throughout most of Franklin Pierce's term he was stationed in London as a Minister to England and therefore was not caught up in the crossfire of sectional politics that dominated the country. Buchanan was viewed by many as a compromise between the two sides of the slavery question. His subsequent election victory took place in a three-man race with Fremont and Fillmore. As President, he was often called a "doughface", a Northerner with Southern sympathies, who battled with Stephen A. Douglas for the control of the Democratic Party. Buchanan's efforts to maintain peace between the North and the South alienated both sides, and the Southern states declared their secession in the prologue to the American Civil War. Buchanan's view of record was that secession was illegal, but that going to war to stop it was also illegal. Buchanan, first and foremost an attorney, was noted for his mantra, "I acknowledge no master but the law."

By the time he left office, popular opinion had turned against him, and the Democratic Party had split in two. Buchanan had once aspired to a presidency that would rank in history with that of George Washington. However, his inability to impose peace on sharply divided partisans on the brink of the Civil War has led to his consistent ranking by historians as one of the worst Presidents. Buchanan biographer Philip Klein puts these rankings into context: "Buchanan assumed leadership [...] when an unprecedented wave of angry passion was sweeping over the nation. That he held the hostile sections in check during these revolutionary times was in itself a remarkable achievement. His weaknesses in the stormy years of his presidency were magnified by enraged partisans of the North and South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might have gained for him a place among the great presidents, were quickly overshadowed by the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering Abraham Lincoln."

Early life

James Buchanan, Jr., was born in a log cabin in Cove Gap, near Harrisburg (now James Buchanan Birthplace State Park), Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1791, to James Buchanan, Sr. (1761–1833), a well-to-do businessman, and Elizabeth Speer (1767–1833). His parents were both of Scotch-Irish descent, the father having emigrated from northern Ireland in 1783. He was the second of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. Buchanan had six sisters and four brothers, only one of whom lived past 1840.

In 1797, the family moved to nearby Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The home in Mercersburg was later turned into the James Buchanan Hotel.

Buchanan attended the village academy and later Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Expelled at one point for poor behavior, after pleading for a second chance, he graduated with honors on September 19, 1809. Later that year, he moved to Lancaster, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812. A dedicated Federalist, he initially opposed the War of 1812 on the grounds that it was an unnecessary conflict; but, when the British invaded neighboring Maryland, he joined a volunteer light dragoon unit and served in the defense of Baltimore.

An active Freemason during his lifetime, he was the Master of Masonic Lodge #43 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Political career

Buchanan began his political career in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1814–1816, serving as a Federalist. He was elected to the 17th United States Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1821 – March 4, 1831), serving as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary in the 21st United States Congress. In 1830, he was among the members appointed by the House to conduct impeachment proceedings against James H. Peck, judge of the United States District Court for the District of Missouri, who was ultimately acquitted. Buchanan did not seek reelection, and from 1832 to 1834 he served as Minister to Russia.

With the Federalist Party long defunct, Buchanan was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy and served from December 1834; he was reelected in 1837 and 1843, and resigned in 1845 to accept President Polk's nomination of him as Secretary of State. He was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations (24th through 26th Congresses).

After the death of Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin in 1844, Buchanan was nominated by President Polk to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court. He declined that nomination, despite having earlier been interested in previous vacancies on the court; at the time of this particular nomination, he felt compelled to complete his collaboration on the Oregon Treaty negotiations; the Court seat was filled by Robert Cooper Grier.

Buchanan served as Secretary of State under James K. Polk from 1845 to 1849, despite objections from Buchanan's rival, Vice President George Dallas. In this capacity, he helped negotiate the 1846 Oregon Treaty establishing the 49th parallel as the northern boundary of the western U.S. ]] No Secretary of State has become President since James Buchanan, although William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, often served as Acting Secretary of State during the Theodore Roosevelt administration.

In 1852, Buchanan was named president of the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and he served in this capacity until 1866, despite a false report that he was fired.

He served as minister to the Court of St. James's (Britain) from 1853 to 1856, during which time he helped to draft the Ostend Manifesto, which proposed the purchase from Spain of Cuba, then in the midst of revolution and near bankruptcy. Against Buchanan's recommendation, the final draft of the Manifesto suggested that the U.S. declare war if Spain refused to sell Cuba. The Manifesto, generally considered a blunder overall, was never acted upon, but nevertheless weakened the Pierce administration and support for Manifest Destiny.

Presidential election of 1856

The Democrats nominated Buchanan in 1856. He had been in England during the Kansas-Nebraska debate and thus remained untainted by either side of the issue. Pennsylvania, which had three times failed Buchanan, now gave its full support in its state convention. Though he never formally threw his hat into the ring, it is apparent from all his correspondence, that he was quite aware of the distinct possibility of his nomination by the Democratic convention in Cincinnati, even before heading home at the finish of his work as Minister to England. Dr.Jonathan Foltz told Buchanan in November 1855: "The people have taken the next presidency out of the hands of the politicians...the people and not your political friends will place you there." While Buchanan did not overtly seek the office, he most deliberately chose not to discourage the movement on his behalf, something that was well within his power on many occasions.

Former president Millard Fillmore's "Know-Nothing" candidacy helped Buchanan defeat John C. Frémont, the first Republican candidate for president in 1856, and he served from March 4, 1857 to March 4, 1861. Buchanan remains the most recent of the two Democrats (the other being Martin Van Buren) to succeed a fellow Democrat to the Presidency via election in his own right.

With regard to the growing schism in the country, as President-elect, Buchanan stated: "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, North or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative government'. He set about this initially by maintaining a sectional balance in his appointments and persuading the people to accept constitutional law as the Supreme Court interpreted it. The court was considering the legality of restricting slavery in the territories and two justices had hinted to Buchanan what the decision would be.

Presidency 1857-1861

. Buchanan's Inauguration was the first one to be recorded in photographs.]]

The Dred Scott case

In his inaugural address, in addition to promising not to run again, Buchanan referred to the territorial question as "happily, a matter of but little practical importance" since the Supreme Court was about to settle it "speedily and finally." Two days later, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott Decision, asserting that Congress had no constitutional power to exclude slavery in the territories. Part of Taney’s written judgment has been characterized as obiter dictum — statements commonly made by a jurist that are not central to the decision in the case; in this instance such comments delighted Southerners while creating a furor in the North. Buchanan, in his view, preferred to see the territorial question resolved by the Supreme Court. It is known that he was told of the Court's decision a week before his inauguration. Abraham Lincoln denounced him as an accomplice of the Slave Power, which Lincoln saw as a conspiracy of slave owners to seize control of the federal government and nationalize slavery. However, there is no extant contemporaneous statement that Buchanan interfered in the Court's rendering of the Dred Scott decision.

Chaos in Kansas

In 1854 President Pierce faced massive violence in Kansas, dubbed Bleeding Kansas by the Republican Party. During its development in the Pierce administration, Kansas saw escalating violence and political fraud between abolitionist and proslavery factions of settlers. The proslavery settlers decided to establish a seat of government in Lecompton, while the abolitionists organized a rival government in Topeka. Nevertheless, in order to achieve statehood, the territory needed to submit to Washington one state constitution adopted by all Kansans. Toward this end, Buchanan appointed Robert Walker as Governor and dispatched him to the territory. It was Walker's mission to reduce the divisiveness and ensure a fair and full vote by all the people in the formation of a Kansas constitution. Walker acted poorly in terms of tamping down the partisanship; the result was a census, and ultimate voting process, conducted (and corrupted) by partisans on both sides. Kansans thus adopted the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution which was rejected by the anti-slavery forces.

Buchanan's goal was the legal admission of Kansas to the United States and the end of dueling governments in the territory. He threw the support of his administration behind congressional approval of the proslavery Lecompton Constitution. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the Democrats in the Senate, denounced Lecompton and the battle over Kansas escalated into a battle over the control of the Democratic Party. Buchanan made every effort, legal or not, to defeat Douglas and secure Congressional approval for Kansas statehood, offering favors, patronage appointments and even cash in exchange for votes. The Lecompton bill passed through the House, but it was blocked by Douglas. Congress voted to call a new vote on the Lecompton Constitution, a move which infuriated Southerners. Buchanan and Douglas engaged in an all-out struggle for control of the Democratic party in 1857–60, with Buchanan using his patronage powers and Douglas rallying the popular base. Douglas emerged victorious, and Buchanan was reduced to a narrow base of southern supporters.

Buchanan's personal views

, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, James Buchanan, Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black, (c. 1859)]]

Buchanan considered the essence of good self government to be founded upon restraint. The constitution he considered to be "...restraints, imposed not by arbitrary authority, but by the people upon themselves and their representatives... In an enlarged view, the people's interests may seem identical, but "to the eye of local and sectional prejudice, they always appear to be conflicting... and the jealousies that will perpetually arise can be repressed only by the mutual forbearance which pervades the constitution."

As to the economy, one of the greatest issues of the day was the tariff. Buchanan condemned both free trade and prohibitive tariffs, since either system would benefit one section of the country to the detriment of the other. As the Senator from Pennsylvania, he thought: "I am viewed as the strongest advocate of protection in other states, whilst I am denounced as its enemy in Pennsylvania."

Buchanan, like many of his time, was torn between his interest in the expansion of the country for the benefit of all, and the insistence of the people settling the expanded areas to all of their rights, including some rights not beneficial to all, i.e. slavery. On territorial expansion, he said, "What, sir! Prevent the people from crossing the Rocky Mountains? You might just as well command the Niagara not to flow. We must fulfill our destiny." On the resulting spread of slavery, through unconditional expansion, he stated: "I feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the present limits of the Union over a new slave-holding territory." For instance, he hoped the acquisition of Texas would "be the means of limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery."

Historian Kenneth Stampp wrote: "Shortly after his election, he assured a southern Senator that the "great object" of his administration would be "to arrest, if possible, the agitation of the Slavery question in the North and to destroy sectional parties. Should a kind Providence enable me to succeed in my efforts to restore harmony to the Union, I shall feel that I have not lived in vain." In the northern anti-slavery idiom of his day, Buchanan was often considered a "doughface," a northern man with southern principles.

The President, however, also felt that "this question of domestic slavery is the weak point in our institutions, touch this question seriously...and the Union is from that moment dissolved. Although in Pennsylvania we are all opposed to slavery in the abstract, we can never violate the constitutional compact we have with our sister states. Their rights will be held sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their own question; and there let it remain."

As regards the abolitionist movement, Buchanan was irked that the abolitionists were preventing the very result everyone sought, the solution of the slavery problem. He stated, " Before [the abolitionists] commenced this agitation, a very large and growing party existed in several of the slave states in favor of the gradual abolition of slavery; and now not a voice is heard there in support of such a measure. The abolitionists have postponed the emancipation of the slaves in three or four states for at least half a century." In fact, the bill he vetoed was a ruse for a federal land donation act designed to benefit Rep. John Covode's railroad company, and fashioned to appear as a land grant for new agricultural colleges.

As to his religious convictions, near the end of his administration he had a serious exchange with the Rev. William Paxton. After what Paxton described as quite a probative discussion, Buchanan said, " Well, sir... I hope I am a Christian. I have much of the experience you have described, and as soon as I retire, I will unite with the Presbyterian Church."

Paxton asked why he delayed, to which he replied, "I must delay for the honor of religion. If I were to unite with the church now, they would say 'hypocrite' from Maine to Georgia."

Panic of 1857

In August suddenly came the Panic of 1857, brought on mostly by 1) the people's over-consumption of goods from Europe to such an extent that the Union's Specie was drained off; 2) overbuilding by competing railroads; and 3) rampant land speculation in the west. Most of the state banks had overextended credit, to more than $7.00 for each dollar of gold or silver. The Republicans considered the Congress to be the culprit for having recently reduced tariffs. Buchanan's response was reform not relief. The government would continue to pay its debts in specie, and while it would not curtail public works, none would be added. He urged the states to restrict the banks to a credit level of $3 to $1 of specie, and discouraged the use of federal or state bonds as security for bank note issues. The economy did eventually recover on the shoulders of determined individuals able and willing making difficult but sound business choices. Nevertheless, the recovery came only after many lives had suffered despair, poverty and even starvation. The South was considered to have been less severely affected, due to "King Cotton", than the North where manufacturers were hardest hit.

Utah War

In March 1857, Buchanan received conflicting and unconfirmed reports from federal judges in Utah that their offices had been disrupted and they had been driven from their posts by the Mormons. While some of these reports may have had some basis in fact, historically the Mormons had valid complaints against the federal government's actions in the territory. The Pierce administration had refused to facilitate Utah's being granted statehood and the Mormons feared the loss of their property rights. Taking the wildest rumors at face value and believing the Mormons to be in open rebellion against the United States, Buchanan sent the Army in November of that year to replace Brigham Young as Governor with the non-Mormon Alfred Cumming. While the Mormons' defiance of federal authority in the past had become traditional, some question whether Buchanan's action were a justifiable or prudent response to uncorroborated reports. Complicating matters, Young's notice of his replacement was not delivered because the Pierce administration had annulled the Utah mail contract.

Partisan deadlock

The division between northern and southern Democrats allowed the Republicans to win a plurality in the House in the election of 1858. Their control of the chamber allowed the Republicans to block most of Buchanan's agenda (including his proposals for expansion of influence in Central America, and for the purchase of Cuba). Buchanan thought the ideologies of the Unites States would bring peace and prosperity to these neighboring lands as they had in the Northwest and that in the absence of U.S. influence, the major European powers would intervene. The imperative of safe and speedy travel from east to west was of strategic importance to the country. In any case, these goals would not be reached . Buchanan, in turn, vetoed six substantial pieces of Republican legislation, generating even further hostilities between Congress and the White House.

In March 1860 the House created the Covode Committee to investigate the administration for evidence of offenses, some impeachable, such as bribery and extortion of Congressmen in exchange for their votes. The Committee for its part was nakedly partisan, with three Republicans and one Democrat, and Buchanan enemy John Covode as chairman; the group leaked damaging information about the President without affording him the chance to testify or respond officially; the committee was unable to establish grounds for impeaching Buchanan, but its final report in June exposed a level of corruption and abuse of power among members of his Cabinet; practices which had become common since the days of the Jackson administration. In several incidents, the Buchanan administration assisted the Committee in exposing and correcting abuses during the investigation. Republican operatives distributed thousands copies of the Covode Committee report throughout the nation as campaign material in that year's presidential election.

Disintegration: election of 1860

, Vice President of the United States under Buchanan.]] Sectional strife rose to such a pitch that the Democratic Party's national convention in 1860 led directly to a schism in the Party. Buchanan played very little part as the national convention, meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, deadlocked. The southern wing walked out of the convention and nominated its own candidate for the presidency, incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge. The remainder of the party finally nominated Buchanan's archenemy, Stephen Douglas. Consequently, when the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, it was a foregone conclusion that on November 6, 1860 he would be elected even though his name appeared on the ballot only in the free states, and the slave states that bordered on free states (Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware).

As early as October, the army's Commanding General, Winfield Scott, warned Buchanan that the election of Lincoln would likely lead to the secession of at least seven states. He also quite disingenuously recommended to Buchanan that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property. After Lincoln's election Buchanan directed War Secretary Floyd to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms and men as were available. Nevertheless, through no fault of Scott or the President, Congress had since 1857 failed to heed both men's calls on behalf of a stronger militia and had allowed the Army to fall into deplorable condition. Scott himself had previously advised the Senate that the level of troops was such that "to move any substantial number of troops from one frontier to reinforce another would invite instant attack on the weakened point".

With Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling point of such proportion that Buchanan's final message to Congress, due the month after the election, could not help but address it; both factions eagerly awaited news of how Buchanan would deal with the question. In his Message (December 3, 1860), Buchanan both denied the legal right of states to secede and also held that the Federal Government legally could not prevent them. Furthermore, he placed the blame for the crisis solely on "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States.". Buchanan's specific solution to the crisis was that the Congress, in coordination with the state legislatures, call for a constitutional convention which would give the people of the country the opportunity to vote specifically on an amendment to the constitution regarding the slavery issue. There was no ability to reach agreement on this approach as a solution to be pursued. South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 followed by six other slave states and, by February 1861, they had formed the Confederate States of America. As Scott had surmised, the secessionist governments declared eminent domain over federal property within their states.

Efforts were made by Sen. Crittenden and others in Congress, which were supported by Buchanan, to reach a compromise, but failed. Failed efforts to compromise were also made by a group of governors meeting in New York. Buchanan employed a last minute tactic, in secret, to bring a solution. He again attempted in vain to procure President-elect Lincoln's call for a constitutional convention to give the citizens a popular vote on slavery and other issues. Lincoln declined, at least partially in deference to his party and its Chicago platform.

Beginning in late December, Buchanan reorganized his cabinet, ousting Confederate sympathizers and replacing them with hard-line nationalists Jeremiah S. Black, Edwin M. Stanton, Joseph Holt and John A. Dix. These conservative Democrats strongly believed in American nationalism and refused to countenance secession. At one point, Treasury Secretary Dix ordered Treasury agents in New Orleans, "If any man pulls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." The new cabinet advised Buchanan to request from Congress the authority to call up militias and give himself emergency military powers, and this he did, on January 8, 1861. Nevertheless, by that time Buchanan's relations with Congress were so strained that his requests were rejected out of hand. newspapers, 1861]]

Before Buchanan left office, all arsenals and forts in the seceding states were lost (except Fort Sumter and three island outposts in Florida), and a fourth of all federal soldiers surrendered to Texas troops. The government retained control of Fort Sumter, which was located in Charleston harbor, a conspicuously visible spot in the Confederacy. On January 5, Buchanan sent a civilian steamer Star of the West to carry reinforcements and supplies to Fort Sumter. On January 9, 1861, South Carolina state batteries opened fire on the Star of the West, which returned to New York. Buchanan, having no authorization from Congress as requested, made no further moves to prepare for war.

On Buchanan's final day as president, March 4, 1861, he remarked to the incoming Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man."

James Buchanan's presidential cabinet

Clear	yes
Name	Buchanan
President	James Buchanan
President start	1857
President end	1861
Vice president	John C. Breckinridge
Vice president start	1857
Vice president end	1861
State	Lewis Cass
State start	1857
State end	1860
State 2	Jeremiah S. Black
State start 2	1860
State end 2	1861
War	John B. Floyd
War start	1857
War end	1860
War 2	Joseph Holt
War start 2	1860
War end 2	1861
Treasury	Howell Cobb
Treasury start	1857
Treasury end	1860
Treasury 2	Philip Francis Thomas
Treasury start 2	1860
Treasury end 2	1861
Treasury 3	John Adams Dix
Treasury date 3	1861
Justice	Jeremiah S. Black
Justice start	1857
Justice end	1860
Justice 2	Edwin M. Stanton
Justice start 2	1860
Justice end 2	1861
Post	Aaron V. Brown
Post start	1857
Post end	1859
Post 2	Joseph Holt
Post start 2	1859
Post end 2	1860
Post 3	Horatio King
Post date 3	1861
Navy	Isaac Toucey
Navy start	1857
Navy end	1861
Interior	Jacob Thompson
Interior start	1857
Interior end	1861

Judicial appointments

of James Buchanan]] Buchanan appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Nathan Clifford. Buchanan appointed only seven other Article III federal judges, all to United States district courts. He also appointed two Article I judges to the United States Court of Claims.

States admitted to the Union

Minnesota – May 11, 1858

Oregon – February 14, 1859

Kansas – January 29, 1861

Personal relationships

, thirteenth Vice President of the United States, a friend of James Buchanan, with whom he shared his home.]] In 1819, Buchanan was engaged to Ann Caroline Coleman, the daughter of a wealthy iron manufacturing businessman and sister-in-law of Philadelphia judge Joseph Hemphill, one of Buchanan's colleagues from the House of Representatives. Buchanan spent little time with her during the courtship: he was extremely busy with his law firm and political projects during the Panic of 1819, which took him away from Coleman for weeks at a time. Conflicting rumors abounded, suggesting that he was marrying her for her money, because his own family was less affluent, or that he was involved with other women. Buchanan never publicly spoke of his motives or feelings, but letters from Ann revealed she was paying heed to the rumors.

After Buchanan paid a visit to the wife of a friend, Ann broke off the engagement. She died soon afterward, on December 9, 1819. The records of a Dr. Chapman, who looked after her in her final hours, and who said just after her death that this was "the first instance he ever knew of hysteria producing death", reveal that he theorized, despite the absence of any valid evidence, the woman's demise was caused by an overdose of laudanum, a concentrated tincture of opium.

His fiancée's death struck Buchanan a terrible blow. In a letter to her father, which was returned to him unopened, Buchanan wrote "It is now no time for explanation, but the time will come when you will discover that she, as well as I, have been much abused. God forgive the authors of it [...] . I may sustain the shock of her death, but I feel that happiness has fled from me forever." Buchanan vowed he would never marry, though he continued to be flirtatious. Some pressed him to seek a wife; in response, Buchanan said, "Marry I could not, for my affections were buried in the grave." He preserved Ann Coleman's letters, keeping them with him throughout his life; at his request, they were burned upon his death. King became Vice President under Franklin Pierce. He became ill and died shortly after Pierce's inauguration, four years before Buchanan became President. Buchanan's and King's close relationship prompted Andrew Jackson to call King "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy", while Aaron V. Brown spoke of the two as "Buchanan and his wife." Some of the contemporary press also speculated about Buchanan's and King's relationship. The two men's nieces destroyed their uncles' correspondence, leaving some questions about their relationship; but the length and intimacy of surviving letters illustrate "the affection of a special friendship", In May 1844, during one of King's absences that resulted from King's appointment as minister to France, Buchanan wrote to a Mrs. Roosevelt, "I am now 'solitary and alone', having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone, and [I] should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection."

Circumstances surrounding Buchanan's and King's close emotional ties have led to speculation that Buchanan was homosexual. The only President to remain a bachelor, Buchanan turned to Harriet Lane, an orphaned niece, whom he had earlier adopted, to act as his official hostess.

Legacy

In 1866 Buchanan published Mr Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion, the first published presidential memoir, in which he defended his actions; the day before his death he predicted that "history will vindicate my memory". Buchanan died June 1, 1868, at the age of 77 at his home at Wheatland and was interred in Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster. Nevertheless, historians continue to criticize Buchanan for his unwillingness or inability to act in the face of secession. Historians in both 2006 and 2009 voted his failure to deal with secession the worst presidential mistake ever made. Historical rankings of United States Presidents considering presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults, consistently place Buchanan among the least successful presidents.

In somewhat of a contradiction to modern historians and pollsters however, the following prominent observation was made near the end of Buchanan's administration: :We must retrench the extravagant list of magnificent schemes which received the sanction of the Executive ... the great Napoleon himself, with all the resources of an empire at his sole command, never ventured the simultaneous accomplishments of so many daring projects. The acquisition of Cuba ... ; the construction of a Pacific Railroad ... ; a Mexican protectorate, the international preponderance in Central America, in spite of all the powers of Europe; the submission of distant South American states; ... the enlargement of the Navy; a largely increased standing Army ... what government on earth could possibly meet all the exigencies of such a flood of innovations?

A bronze and granite memorial residing near the Southeast corner of Washington, D.C.'s Meridian Hill Park was designed by architect William Gorden Beecher and sculpted by Maryland artist Hans Schuler. Commissioned in 1916 but not approved by the U.S. Congress until 1918, and not completed and unveiled until June 26, 1930, the memorial features a statue of Buchanan bookended by male and female classical figures representing law and diplomacy, with the engraved text reading: "The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the law," a quote from a member of Buchanan's cabinet, Jeremiah S. Black. The memorial in the nation's capital complemented an earlier monument, constructed in 1907–08 and dedicated in 1911, on the site of Buchanan's birthplace in Stony Batter, Pennsylvania. Part of an memorial site, the earlier monument is a 250-ton pyramid structure designed to show the original weathered surface of the native rubble and mortar.

Three counties are named in his honor: Buchanan County, Iowa, Buchanan County, Missouri, and Buchanan County, Virginia. Another in Texas was christened in 1858 but renamed Stephens County, after the newly elected Vice President of the Confederate States of America, Alexander Stephens, in 1861.

See also

Historical rankings of United States Presidents

List of Presidents of the United States

U.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stamps

Bibliography

excerpt and text search

Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857–1859 (1950), the standard scholarly history

Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861 (1976), Pulitzer Prize

Rhodes, James Ford. History of the United States from the compromise of 1850 to ...1877: Volume 2, 1854-1860 (1906) online edition, good older history

Stampp, Kenneth M. America in 1857: A Nation on the Brink (1990). ISBN 0-19-503902-5 online version

Primary sources

Buchanan, James. Fourth Annual Message to Congress. (1860, December 3).

Buchanan, James. Mr Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion (1866)

"National Intelligencer" (1859)

References

Further reading

Binder, Frederick Moore. "James Buchanan: Jacksonian Expansionist" Historian 1992 55(1): 69–84. Issn: 0018-2370 Fulltext: in Ebsco

Binder, Frederick Moore. James Buchanan and the American Empire. Susquehanna U. Press, 1994. 318 pp.

Birkner, Michael J., ed. James Buchanan and the Political Crisis of the 1850s. Susquehanna U. Press, 1996. 215 pp.

Meerse, David. "Buchanan, the Patronage, and the Lecompton Constitution: a Case Study" Civil War History 1995 41(4): 291–312. Issn: 0009-8078

Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln 2 vols. (1960) highly detailed narrative of his presidency

Nichols, Roy Franklin; The Democratic Machine, 1850–1854 (1923), detailed narrative; online

Potter, David Morris. The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 (1976). ISBN 0-06-013403-8 Pulitzer prize.

Rhodes, James Ford History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896 vol 2. (1892)

Smith, Elbert B. The Presidency of James Buchanan (1975). ISBN 0-7006-0132-5, standard history of his administration

Updike, John Buchanan Dying (1974). ISBN 0-8117-0238-3

External links

James Buchanan: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress

Biography of James Buchanan (Official White House site)

The James Buchanan papers, spanning the entirety of his legal, political and diplomatic career, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

University of Virginia article: Buchanan biography

The Other Buchanan Controversy

Wheatland

James Buchanan at Tulane University

Essay on James Buchanan and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs

Buchanan's Birthplace State Park, Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Primary sources

Mr. Buchanans Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion. President Buchanans memoirs.

Inaugural Address

Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1860

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