When was james buchanan born

Roosevelt, Harry S. Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes to his wife, Varina, of the desperate situation facing the Confederates. Davis was in Charlotte, North Carolina, on his flight away from Yankee troops. It was three weeks Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Ancient History. World War I. Vietnam War. Art, Literature, and Film History.

Sign Up. Cold War. After graduating from college, Buchanan moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he studied law, and, in , he was admitted to the bar. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the military at the start of the War of and participated in the defense of Baltimore. In , at age 23, Buchanan began what would be a long political career when he was elected as a member of the Federalist Party to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He later won a seat in the U.

House of Representatives, where he served five consecutive terms, from to In , when Andrew Jackson was elected to his second term as president, he appointed Buchanan as his envoy to Russia, a post in which Buchanan further proved his aptitude as a diplomat. In Buchanan returned to the United States and won a seat in Senate as a Democrat, a position he would hold for the next 10 years, until, in , he resigned to serve as James K.

Polk 's secretary of state, a position he used to further an expansionist agenda. In , he made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, losing to Franklin Pierce , who, after being elected president, made Buchanan his minister to England. In , Buchanan successfully defeated Republican candidate John C.

Fremont and, on March 4, , was sworn in as the 15th president of the United States. In his inaugural address, Buchanan, who had won, in no small part, due to the support he had garnered in the southern states, reiterated a belief that had been one of the major running points of his campaign: that slavery was a matter for states and territories to decide, not the federal government.

He went on to suggest that the matter was one that would be easily resolved, both "speedily and finally. Shortly after his inauguration, the Dred Scott decision was delivered, essentially stating that the federal government had no right to exclude slavery in the territories. Around this time, Buchanan also attempted to resolve the slavery dispute in Kansas, so that it could agree on a constitution and be admitted to the Union.

Buchanan supported the pro-slavery Lecompton constitution, which passed the House but was blocked by the Senate and ultimately defeated.

By the end of Buchanan's presidency, the slavery issue threatened to tear the country apart. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in , the possibility that several states would secede was approaching likelihood. In his final address to Congress, Buchanan argued that while the states had no legal right to seceded, the federal government had no right to prevent them from doing so.

Despite Buchanan's attempts to prevent it, on December 20, , South Carolina became the first state to secede. See the Elon Musk family tree here at FameChain. Click here to Start FameChaining Explore how the celebrity world connects. Unknown Grandfather. Unknown Grandmother. Unknown Birth Father.

Unknown Birth Mother. Married James Buchanan Age 60 approx. Born Died 11 Jun Other Partners Professional Partners. His Other Children. Children Together President James Buchanan born , died , age 77 approx. Jane Lane born , died , age Yates born , died , age Sarah Huston born , died , age