James Buchanan

15th President, 1857-61

Millard Fillmore merely stalled the Civil War — James Buchanan made it a near certainty. Claiming that his hands were bound by the Constitution, Buchanan believed the best action to quell the threat of secession was no action at all. Sympathetic to the South, Buchanan supported the Dred Scott decision, and when Southern states stated their intention to withdraw from the Union, he called their actions illegal but said he had no authority to stop them. He hoped to negotiate a compromise but didn't bother seeking re-election, leaving behind little record of accomplishment and the Civil War looming starkly on the horizon.

— By Dan Fletcher

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