James Buchanan, the fifteenth president of the United
States, was the third of a hapless trio of presidents who, for their lack of
creative efforts to attempt to stave off secession and Civil War, consistently
rank among in the bottom ten in historians’ rankings of US presidents. Buchanan, more often than not, ranks dead
last. Why was Buchanan, who entered into office as one of the most experienced
US statesmen and diplomats in American history, such a failure as a president?
Many historians of the past have claimed that Buchanan’s
failure was due primarily to his indecisiveness and his lack of assertiveness
as a leader. In James Buchanan, part of the “American Presidents” series of brief
presidential biographies, historian Jean Baker argues just the opposite. Baker claims that even though he did
occasionally suffer from indecision, just as any leader does, Buchanan was normally
a highly decisive and assertive leader.
These qualities, normally positive in a leader, proved to be negatives
in Buchanan’s case, because in him they were wedded to a dogged pro-Southern
orientation and an intense hatred for abolitionists and Republicans.
Among Buchanan’s many pro-Southern decisions, Baker especially
highlights two. The first is Buchanan’s support
of the so-called “Lecompton Constitution” of 1857, which was approved by a
minority of Kansas voters, all of whom who were pro-slavery, and some of whom
did not even reside in Kansas. Although the Lecompton Constitution ultimately
did not stand, Buchanan’s support of it emboldened southern “fire eaters” while
simultaneously adding credence to the “Slave Power Conspiracy” held by an increasing
number of northerners. It was a clear
failure to support fairness and legal procedure.
Another of Buchanan’s pro-Southern decisions that Baker
views as key was his ordering Major Robert Anderson, the commander of Fort
Sumter, to relocate the fort’s garrison to Fort Moultrie. Due to Fort Moultrie’s location on South
Carolina’s mainland, the fort and its garrison would easily have been captured
by South Carolina forces. Anderson knew
this and wisely chose to disobey Buchanan’s orders, leading to the famous
confrontation at Fort Sumter that began the Civil War. As Baker points out, Buchanan’s order seems
to indicate that he wanted the garrison to be captured.
Not only this, but Buchanan (willingly or not, we will
likely never know) allowed certain of his cabinet officials to take measures
that assisted the South and thereby made the Confederacy harder to defeat after
war broke out. Most notorious were the
actions of Secretary of War John Floyd, who distributed cannon and small arms
throughout the South immediately after secession. If these actions occurred without Buchanan’s
knowledge, he must be considered barely competent; if they occurred with his
knowledge, he is guilty of treason. In
any case, Buchanan’s failure to stand up to the South prior to or after
secession, clearly makes him one of the worst, if not THE worst, American
presidents.
James Buchanan is
well-written and persuasive. Baker has
provided students of American history with an excellent introduction to our
fifteenth president.
