🎩James Buchanan

15th President · 1857–1861 · Democratic

James Buchanan is consistently ranked by historians as one of the worst U.S. presidents. Faced with the final crisis over slavery and secession, he concluded that secession was illegal but also that the federal government had no constitutional power to stop it. Seven states left the Union between his successor Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and Lincoln's inauguration in March 1861 — and Buchanan watched it happen.

Long Resume

Buchanan had perhaps the most impressive pre-presidential resume of any president: twelve years in Congress, minister to Russia and Britain, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Secretary of State under Polk. He won the Democratic nomination in 1856 after two previous unsuccessful bids. He was 65 at inauguration, the oldest president to that point.

Dred Scott

Two days after Buchanan's inauguration, the Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision — ruling that Black Americans could not be citizens, that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Buchanan had actually lobbied a Northern justice to join the majority to give the opinion more legitimacy. Dred Scott inflamed the North and accelerated the coming war.

The Secession Winter

Abraham Lincoln won the November 1860 election. Six weeks later, South Carolina seceded. By Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had left the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Buchanan rejected secession as unconstitutional but also insisted that the federal government had no authority to coerce a state to remain. He did nothing. Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor remained in Union hands largely by the stubbornness of its commander, not by presidential action.

The Bachelor President

Buchanan never married. His niece Harriet Lane served as his official White House hostess and was the de facto First Lady. His close lifelong friendship with Alabama senator William Rufus King — later Vice President to Franklin Pierce — has prompted modern speculation that Buchanan may have been gay, though no direct evidence survives. The two men shared a house in Washington for many years.

Buchanan Trivia

• Buchanan is the only U.S. president who never married.
• He is consistently ranked by historians as one of the worst U.S. presidents, typically near the bottom.
• Buchanan lived to see the Civil War begin, be fought, and end, and died just three years after Appomattox.
• He was the last president born in the 18th century.

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