James buchanan why he was a bad president

Buchanan returned to Lancaster to find "solace" in writing a two volume book justifying his actions as president. While he had always viewed himself as a good leader and "competent public figure," in a blog post for the New York Times , Baker said that the last year of Buchanan's presidency was the "worst year of his life.

She cites one possibly apocryphal story about the 15th president's eagerness to retire on the eve of the Civil War. While riding up to Lincoln's inauguration, Buchanan turned to his successor and said, "If you are as happy entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

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Jazz Appreciation. Julia Child Recipe of the Week. Kids in Museums. Object Project. Buchanan retired to his estate in central Pennsylvania and lived to see the end of the Civil War. Toggle navigation. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. But the blunders of politicians like Buchanan - and Kansas was his biggest - made it happen sooner.

Lincoln, whose election triggered the break-up of the Union, would not have been elected if Buchanan had not split his own party, he adds.

But Andrew Johnson, who followed Lincoln, was a worse president than Buchanan, Birkner says, because he squandered the opportunity to take the country forward after the war. The majority view, that Lincoln was the best and Buchanan was the worst, results from shortcomings in the way US historians rate presidents, says Ivan Eland, author of Recarving Rushmore. Eland thinks presidential ratings are too easily swayed by charisma, activism and service during a crisis.

In his book, he ranks the White House occupants according to how much they fulfilled the aims of the Founding Fathers to bring peace, prosperity and liberty to the country. At the top he puts the relatively unknown John Tyler, for ending the longest Indian war in US history and avoiding one with Britain over Canada. He was trying to avoid the war and it ended up being a catastrophe," says Eland.