What was James Buchanan like?

Answer 1

He is known as the "Do nothing President" for good reason. It's what he didn't do that gets him the honor as one of the the worst president of the US. In 1860, as South Carolina seceded from the Union, Buchanan declared that secession was illegal, yet there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Had this issue been tackled, perhaps the Civil War would not have been fought.

During his years in office, he oversaw the Dred Scott Decision (which stated that slaves are property, and since the Constitution says that a person cannot be deprived of their property without due process, it was illegal to ban slavery). He hoped Kansas would be admitted as a slave state, but after revolts known as "Bleeding Kansas," it was admitted as a free one.

The Panic of 1857 left the economy in a poor state, but Buchanan did not provide assistance to the suffering.

Answer 2

Yes, one of the best examples of a Hamiltonian politician in his realization of the importance of trade and commerce, James Buchanan scored the United States a maritime trade treaty with Russia. He also displayed his political adeptness in his staying out of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, thus leaving his reputation untarnished and making him the only president that seemed fit to keep the union stable, and did he ever keep it stable.

An opposing viewpoint:

In most historian's ranks of American presidents, James Buchanan appears at or near the bottom. One would be hard-pressed to find any notable achievements while he was in office and the failures of his Presidency (notably presiding over the secession of the Southern states and the start of the Civil War) tarnish his legacy. The most remarkable thing about Buchanan is that he was elected at all.

As sociologist Jim Loewen wrote, "There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during, and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too - he was not far into the closet....Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual."

Answer 3

Buchanan is considered to be one of the weakest presidents because he essentially marked time without proposing any solutions to the nation's problems. On the other hand, he kept the country together for four more years and it seems likely that the only solution to the slavery issue was what eventually happened- namely a long bloody Civil War that abolished slavery by force with conditions imposed entirely by the winners of the war.