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James Buchanan Jr. ( / bjuːˈkænən / bew-KAN-ən; [3] April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. Buchanan also served as the secretary of State from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S ...
May 28, 2024 · James Buchanan (born April 23, 1791, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died June 1, 1868, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was the 15th president of the United States (1857–61), a moderate Democrat whose efforts to find a compromise in the conflict between the North and the South failed to avert the Civil War (1861–65).
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- James Buchanan was the 15th president of the United States (1857–61). A moderate Democrat well endowed with legal knowledge and experience in gover...
- James Buchanan was a lawyer whose gift for oratory led him to politics. He served in the Pennsylvania legislature (1814–16), the U.S. House of Repr...
- James Buchanan unsuccessfully attempted to preserve the Union by preventing Northern antislavery agitation and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act (18...
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- James Buchanan’s Early Years and Personal Life. James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791, in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, to James Buchanan Sr. (1761-1833), a merchant who had emigrated from Ireland, and Elizabeth Speer Buchanan (1767-1833).
- Senator and Diplomat. In 1834, after returning from Europe the previous year, James Buchanan was elected to represent his home state in the U.S. Senate.
- Election of 1856. In 1854, President Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which created two new territories and allowed settlers to determine whether they would enter the Union as free states or slave states.
- James Buchanan in the White House. Once in office, James Buchanan appointed a cabinet composed of Northerners and Southerners and hoped to keep peace between the country’s pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.
Learn about the life and presidency of James Buchanan, who served from 1857 to 1861 and faced the crisis of the Civil War. Find out how he failed to prevent sectional strife, the Dred Scott decision, and secession.
Apr 2, 2014 · James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States. Serving as president during the run-up to the Civil War, Buchanan's inability to halt the southern states' drive toward...
Buchanan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, took office as the 15th United States president after defeating former President Millard Fillmore of the American Party, and John C. Frémont of the Republican Party in the 1856 presidential election .
Learn about the life and presidency of James Buchanan, the only bachelor president and the last to serve before the Civil War. Explore his views on slavery, the Dred Scott decision, Kansas, John Brown, and secession.
