The "One More Look At 'Old Buck'" Story

President James "Old Buck" Buchanan

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out the programs that are scheduled for the next month at Lancasterhistory.org., an historical museum standing next door to United States' President James Buchanan's home known as Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.   I found a few interesting programs I may want to visit, but also found a link to a small article written by former board member of Lancasterhistory.org.  Michael J. Birkner who is a professor at Gettysburg College (PA) as well as an editor of two books on President Buchanan's presidency.  If you search my blog you will find quite a few stories I have written about "Old Buck", as many have called President Buchanan, but none delve into Buchanan as does Mr. Birkner.  I was fascinated by some of his cameos on "Old Buck" and decided to do a bit more research on some special aspects of his life.  The following brief stories will give you a more in-depth look at Pennsylvania's only President and maybe a reason why he really isn't our country's worst President as proclaimed by many.

• It was widely known that Buchanan disliked politicians who were anti-slavery, which included his successor, Abraham Lincoln.  But, he was a Union man through and through.  Shortly after Lincoln was voted into office, replacing Buchanan, South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession declaring they no longer wanted to be part of the United States.  Buchanan, even though he wasn't a big supporter of Lincoln, still stepped in and said he would have done the same thing.  He consistently supported Lincoln's determination to preserve the Union including waging a hard war against the slavocracy.  Buchanan never  embraced Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation or his commitment to equality for African-Americans, but he never said a harsh word about Abraham Lincoln personally and was extremely distressed when Lincoln was assassinated.  He always wanted the Union to prosper, even if it meant altering his ideas on slavery.  
• Was Buchanan really a homosexual as many said?  His housemate when he was in the Senate, Sen. William R. King of Alabama, was referred to as Buchanan's supposed "Siamese Twin." But, nothing was ever proved about either one of them.  And, does it really matter?  I can add my two cents and say that what I found about James when he was living in Lancaster and dating a very beautiful girl from the church where I am now a member, could prove most wrong about James.  The fact that she perhaps committed suicide after not being able to date him anymore due to her father's wishes was proof enough for me that he enjoy the opposite sex.
• Finally, James Buchanan actually did some good things as President.  Might not be a long list, but at least he did do some good.  He employed the U.S. Military to keep the international slave trade in check.  He put staunch Unionists in his cabinet in early 1861 to show that secession was unacceptable.  He also was careful not to make any rash moves against the newly formed Confederacy that would enable it to claim to be the injured party and give it higher moral ground for resistance to federal authority.  In his final few months as President, he made sure that the North could not be seen as the aggressor.  Lincoln followed with the same response and it was five weeks after Lincoln's inauguration that Fort Sumter was fired upon.  Luckily for Buchanan, it was not his war.  

So, should he be considered the worst president ever?  Nah!  We have had many bad and much worse since.  In Lancaster we love our famous resident who lived in a beautiful house that I visit often.  If you search hard enough I'm sure you can find good and bad about every president we have every had in our history.  Let's stop picking on "Old Buck"!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.