James buchanan biography book

I had long wondered about the relationship between these two. This book addressed this issue in a reasonable and well grounded way. If you have interest in learning more about their close friendship, I think you will find this book worthwhile. May 18, at am. Particularly since the number of books on Buchanan is relatively limited…. Share this: Twitter Facebook Email Tumblr.

Like Loading Steve said: September 3, at am. Peter said: April 18, at am. Who do you think was the better presidents between J. Adams and Lincoln? Steve said: April 19, at pm. Peter said: April 19, at pm. Steve said: April 20, at pm. Peter said: April 20, at pm. James said: February 19, at pm. Mike said: April 11, at pm. Andrew said: August 12, at pm.

Steve said: August 13, at am. Kevin said: August 29, at am. HBM said: August 31, at am. Kevin said: September 4, at am. Walter Bauer said: February 18, at pm. Steve said: May 18, at am. Particularly since the number of books on Buchanan is relatively limited… Reply. Leave a comment Cancel reply. Comment Reblog Subscribe Subscribed. I suppose I also enjoyed a glimpse into Pennsylvania politics back in the day my home state.

On to Lincoln! The book focuses a lot on his life before the presidency, but barely spends any time on the most interesting part of his life. I also understand trying to portray the your subject in a good light, but the author overstated his case repeatedly. It seemed like the author himself, not just Buchanan, thought that the whole abolitionist movement was a mistake.

Tom Rowe. In one episode, Mr. Kotter, the teacher, tells his students that they go to a pretty bad high school named after a pretty bad president.

James buchanan biography book: Popular James Buchanan Books: The Good

Later, I learned that the South began seccession during Buchanan's last few months in office. Usually in the history books, this is pretty glossed over. It goes something like: 1. Lincoln elected. Southern states secceed. Buchanan does nothing. Lincoln inaugurated. Attack on Ft. The American Civil War happens. So, I was sure that there was more to it than that.

Buchanan marks the 42nd presidential biography that I have read clearly not in orderand I was most interested in what happened in the four months between Lincoln's election and all hell breaking loose. Well, this book did not disappoint. The chapters detailing those months were the best parts of the book. I won't give it away, but what Buchanan did and didn't do were mostly out of his control.

For this reason, I recommend this book. The rest of the book is OK and needed to understand the man who was in office for those four months.

James buchanan biography book: There are 72 reviews

As an added bonus, learn why Buchanan had to wear a sword to talk to Queen Elizabeth and then how she sent her son to America where he visited a brothel in New York. What you won't learn is whether or not Buchanan was a homosexual or much about his relationship with William Rufus King. As an ironic aside, the book often describes Buchanan as "gay" but this is in the older "happy" meaning.

Also, meet the fabulous Harriet Lane. An orphaned party girl who championed Native Americans and had a medical handbook named after her now in its 20th edition. You won't find much of this in here, but keep your eye on her. I really wish I could find a good biography on her. So, if you are interested to see how a presidency can fail so miserable that in the end the country falls apart, read this biography of James Buchanan.

It will make you say, "Hillary or Trump? Well, it could be worse. The other John. He was the last of the compromise generation, those politicians who strictly adhered to the constitutional limitations of the federal government and respected the "right" of the states to allow or eliminate slavery as their people saw fit. Of course, I have yet to read biographies of Lincoln or subsequent presidents, so maybe, they too, had hoped to maintain that antebellum status quo.

For years he had labored in politics, supporting his party, state and country, but once he finally achieved the honored office of President, the compromises gave way and the union fell apart. Buchanan did his best, but with so many people in each region demanding their own way, there wasn't much he could do. Reminds me of my church. But I digress.

The book was a rather enjoyable read, and as the crisis of Civil War began to loom, it became somewhat dramatic. As one might suspect, this biography is quite favorable towards Mr. Buchanan and makes the readers question the virtues of his opponents, including Abraham Lincoln. But then, none of the presidential biographies I've read up to this point have had much good to say about James Buchanan.

The multiple viewpoints along the way makes for some interesting reading. Karen Koppy. Very thorough biography but a little too detailed for me, especially when covering the earlier elections. I'm really glad I read it because it helped me understand the struggles and challenges he faced just before Lincoln was elected. He tried to avoid at all costs a civil war and was blamed for setting the stage for it.

As I see it there was plenty of blame to go around. From my view he was a patriotic person that based all his decisions on the Constitution as it was in that day, that he favored states' rights and tried to choose a slower approach to eliminating slavery. According to this biography he was in favor of a constitutional convention to get politicians in the north and south together to work on the slavery issue but at that time people were too emotionally engrossed in the differing jameses buchanan biography book and just wanted it taken care of.

Very few politicians agreed with him because of party politics. I found it interesting that james buchanan biography book Lincoln was elected he ended up recommending many of the same ideas that Buchanan had endorsed. James Ruley. This biography paints a vivid picture of Buchanan - an ambitious bachelor who embraced politics as a means of advancing in life and ended up rising to the highest office in the land.

However, that honor became a curse as the tensions between North and South accelerated despite his best efforts to allay them. Klein did not make me like Buchanan, or even reassess the effectiveness of his presidency. This book completely changed my view on the 15th President alumnus of my employer and former president of the Board for my alma mater.

Buchanan was not one of the greats by a stretch but he was a brilliant political strategist although he hurt himself most by failing to be bold and waiting for political winds and one of the most qualified statesmen in US history. He made some poor decisions in and around secession but he should not be yoked with the complete blame as the nation fell apart.

He consistently hoped for peace but supported the Union throughout including the Civil War. Franklin Pierce was, in fact, the worst. A Hisbschman cousin of mine was defeated for reelection from Lancaster Pennsylvania by James Buchanan. Perhaps family loyalty affects my judgement of the man who I beleive bears a great deal of repsonsibilty for the Civil War by having encouraged the rebels and "sleeping with the enemy" of our country.

The book contains facts that are presented in a chronolical fashion but leaves James Buchanan as somewhat of a mystery. The book fills a void but the most useful portion will be the footnotes for locating another volume that may prove more insightful. Luke Johnson. The author is noticeably sympathetic to Buchanan and unsympathetic to his political enemies — which contrasts with the opinions of some other writers.

Nevertheless, this is overall a measured, objective, thorough account of the president, with special attention to his years in politics which was most of them. It is probably more thorough than necessary for most modern readers, and the best that can be said for the writing is that it is serviceable. Brent Ecenbarger. Much like Martin Van Buren or Millard Fillmore, Buchanan was a politician through and through, although his ambitions are more clearly defined due to the strategies he used being a conscious reflection of those winning recipes by his predecessors.

Buchanan did, in his still hunt for the Presidency. Speaking of Martin Van Buren, Buchanan took aim at the highest office in the land from every election from Martin Van Buren to when he ultimately won. With that lengthy of a political career, one would expect that Buchanan would be attached to all sorts of interesting and important moments in government, but that was actually not the case.

He never, in all his legislative career, had his name attached to an important bill or became the focal point of public interest in a debate…He quietly exerted a great deal of influence on important legislation, but his steady craftsmanship attracted little public attention. If he should become president he feared he should not escape the next outburst.

He ended up becoming a successful farmer and store owner, but nothing particularly prolific compared to many of the other presidential families. James had several sisters, but was also the oldest surviving child, whose few brothers were much younger 14 years or more. For his parents humble beginning he scores well here, but being the oldest son was also a ticket to success compared to others.

Not a lot is known about his younger years that is distinctive of any many of that era. Buchanan went to Dickinson College to learn pre-law; he was expelled for bad behavior, but was also eventually reinstated. Despite that, it was obvious that Buchanan was disliked by Dickinson faculty for his attitude throughout this time. The first speech that Buchanan gave convinced people he was a Democrat; Buchanan over-corrected so much that his 2nd speech was so anti-democrat it created lifetime enemies Note, Buchanan was a Federalist at this time; the family did idolize Washington.

For income Buchanan ran a successful law practice, so much so that Buchanan appears to have been one of the wealthier former presidents upon retirement. Once Buchanan was elected to Congress as a Federalist, he was appreciated by his constituents who then reelected him twice more which had never happened to somebody from his district previously.

Once in Congress Buchanan again made his mark with a speech, this time defending Calhoun on overspending on the war budget, making a formidable ally while doing so. Buchanan played an important role by being the congressman to directly ask Andrew Jackson about promises in his cabinet, as well as alluding to what rumors he had heard. The fallout was Buchanan eventually switched parties from Federalist to Jackson Democrat, even though Jackson never trusted him completely afterwards.

Buchanan was still reelected even though he switched parties, although the shuffling among politicians resulted in his branch of the party called by the author the Amalgamation group losing ground in political appointments.

James buchanan biography book: The life of James Buchanan is

While Buchanan thought he was in line for a treasury or even Vice Presidency spot, he ended up being appointed as Minister to Russia a spot the author says was reserved for sending dangerous politicians. Once there, yet another speech made others take note of him, this time defending George M. Once Dark Horse Polk was elected President, he named Buchanan Secretary of State, but before it was finalized the two acknowledged the possibility Buchanan would seek the nomination the following term but would step down from office if that happened.

Against this contested political setting, Buchanan was the election by carrying his home state and much of south. It was apparent at that point that the Democratic Party was the only party that was not entirely regional at that point. As a result he was not in touch with the extreme views of the political climate directly prior to the Civil war.

Lewis Cass was made the Secretary of State, but mainly an honorary title at that point due to his age. Howell Cobb was the main voice in the Cabinet, a Georgia man against secession as late as History has not been kind to his term in office, as many historians list Buchanan as the worst president. Buchanan was already out of touch with his country when he was elected.

As with Pierce, Kansas became the key issues of his presidency, as Buchanan supported the original vote that settlers made toward government despite allegations that it had been fixed by the pro slavery faction. His veto of the Homestead act is defended by author, but apparently not by rest of historians. Klein also argues that the act was written in such a way that authors were wanting it vetoed by Buchanan so that that they could ridicule him over it and pump up a Republican candidate instead.

The eventual election of Lincoln led to South Carolina seceding, as Klein spends as much time on the last few months of his presidency as on the entire rest of the term. Per Klein, the congressional atmosphere in this time was purely obstructionist with no movement to accomplish anything productive. After the secession, Buchanan struggled with the legality of the concept and had research done on what authority states had and what authority the federal government had to police this new movement.

Buchanan did everything he could to not set off hostilities, including allowing a sitting cabinet member to travel to discuss his state seceding, not reinforcing South Carolina forts, and blaming the impending conflict on Lincoln and the radical Republicans. As he left office, he had neither reinforced or abandoned Fort Sumter, with his main goal being for nothing to happen while he was in office.

John Breckinridge was a surprise nomination as vice president, and like many from that era was not mentioned again for much of the book. His lack of a love life was certainly interesting. She then died mysteriously later the same day. All the comments about their relationship were by her prior to her even meeting him. The political climate was not one that favored praising Buchanan during the Civil War, and even his allies suggested he put his mission on the james buchanan biography book burner which Buchanan mostly did.

The one exception was in some letter writing with Winfield Scott as the two blamed each other for some handling of the South Carolina issue. To give author Philip Klein his due he was trying hard to make some kind of a case for James Buchanan, that he was a decent sort by 19th century standards in an impossible situation. In fact he was definitely the kind of guy you could go have a drink with and if you were fortunate to be invited to his home called Wheatland in his native Lancaster, Pennsylvania you got a good meal and great conversation.

But James Buchanan's talents were for political management, not statesmanship. And when he was elected statesmen were needed. Our only bachelor president and our only president from Pennsylvania was born in and his was a long slow road to the White House. He was first elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature from Lancaster in and it was as a Federalist.

In he was elected to the House of Representatives from the same area. Overall rating: 4 stars. Share this: Twitter Facebook Email Tumblr. Like Loading Will you be adding a review of Worst. Robert Strauss to your reviews list?

James buchanan biography book: My first Buchanan biography was Philip

Steve said: January 23, at am. Leave a comment Cancel reply. His approach to Dred Scott reinforces the image of a president whose doughface views were less a matter of hypocrisy than a thorough identification with southern interests. Essays on the secession crisis provide fodder for debate about the strengths and limitations of presidential authority in an existential moment for the young nation.

It was a year packed with unsettling events. The Panic of closed every bank in New York City, ruined thousands of businesses, and caused widespread unemployment among industrial workers. The Mormons in Utah Territory threatened rebellion when federal troops approached with a non-Mormon governor to replace Brigham Young. And when a proslavery minority in Kansas Territory tried to foist a proslavery constitution on a large antislavery majority, President Buchanan reneged on a crucial commitment and supported the minority, a disastrous miscalculation that ultimately split the Democratic party in two.