geekyBuchanan was seen by many as a compromise between the two sides of the slavery question. His election victory took place in a three-man race with John C. Frémont and Millard Fillmore. He was called a "doughface", a Northerner with Southern sympathies. In his own mind Buchanan saw himself as a great diplomat, but his efforts to maintain peace between the North and the South alienated both sides.
His first challenge as President on the issue of slavery arose as the Supreme Court was considering a landmark case involving a runaway slave named Dred Scott. The court was considering the legality of restricting slavery in the territories. How slavery and runaway slaves would be treated in the western territories was a controversial issue at the time of Buchanan's election. But he chose to pass the buck, saying that since the Supreme Court was about to settle it "speedily and finally," when the decision came he would "cheerfully submit, whatever this may be." Two days after Buchanan said this, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott Decision, asserting that Congress had no constitutional power to exclude slavery in the territories. This decision delighted Southerners and incited anger in the North.
Buchanan has been accused of meddling with the court's decision and trying to influence the outcome. He had written to Justice John Catron in January 1857, inquiring about the case and suggested that a decision considerate of southern interests would be more prudent .Catron, who was from Tennessee, replied on February 10 that the Supreme Court's southern majority would decide against Scott, but would likely have to publish the decision on narrow grounds if there was no support from the Court's northern justices—unless Buchanan could convince his fellow Pennsylvanian, Justice Robert Cooper Grier, to join the majority. Buchanan then wrote to Grier and successfully prevailed upon him, allowing the majority leverage to issue a broad-ranging decision that went beyond the specific circumstances of Scott's case to declare the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.The correspondence was not public at the time; however, at his inauguration, Buchanan was seen talking with Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. When the decision was issued two days later, Republicans began spreading word that Taney had then told Buchanan what the forthcoming result would be.
Abraham Lincoln was very critical of Buchanan and called him "an accomplice of the Slave Power" which Lincoln saw as a conspiracy of slaveowners to seize control of the federal government and nationalize slavery.
Buchanan inherited Franklin Pierce's problem of massive violence in Kansas. During the Pierce administration, Kansas saw escalating violence and political fraud between abolitionist and proslavery factions of settlers. The proslavery settlers decided to establish a seat of government in Lecompton, while the abolitionists organized a rival government in Topeka. In order to achieve statehood the territory needed to submit to Washington one state constitution adopted by all Kansans. Buchanan appointed Robert Walker as Governor and dispatched him to the territory. It was Walker's mission to reduce the divisiveness and ensure a fair and full vote by all the people in forming a constitution. The result was a vote corrupted by partisans on both sides. Kansans adopted the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution which was rejected by the anti-slavery forces. Buchanan threw the support of his administration behind congressional approval of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution.
Senator Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the Democrats in the Senate, denounced Lecompton and the battle over Kansas escalated into a battle over the control of the Democratic Party. Buchanan made every effort to defeat Douglas and secure Congressional approval for Kansas statehood, offering favors, patronage appointments and even cash in exchange for votes. The Lecompton bill passed through the House, but it was blocked by Douglas. Congress voted to call a new vote on the Lecompton Constitution, a move which infuriated Southerners. Buchanan and Douglas engaged in an all-out struggle for control of the Democratic party in 1857–60, with Buchanan using his patronage powers and Douglas rallying the popular base. Douglas was the winner and Buchanan was reduced to a narrow base of southern supporters.
Buchanan justified slavery as being constitutional. He said: "I feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the present limits of the Union over a new slave-holding territory." For instance, he hoped the acquisition of Texas would "be the means of limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery." But he was quick to give slaveholders the benefit of much doubt. In his third annual message Buchanan claimed that the slaves were "treated with kindness and humanity... Both the philanthropy and the self-interest of the master have combined to produce this humane result." He also said "Although in Pennsylvania we are all opposed to slavery in the abstract, we can never violate the constitutional compact we have with our sister states. Their rights will be held sacred by us. Under the constitution it is their own question; and there let it remain."
Buchanan was upset that the abolitionists were preventing the solution to the slavery problem. He stated, "Before [the abolitionists] commenced this agitation, a very large and growing party existed in several of the slave states in favor of the gradual abolition of slavery; and now not a voice is heard there in support of such a measure. The abolitionists have postponed the emancipation of the slaves in three or four states for at least half a century."
The Democratic Party's national convention held in 1860 split the party badly over the slavery issue. The southern wing walked out of the convention and nominated its own candidate for the presidency, Vice President John C. Breckinridge. Another faction nominated former Speaker of the House John Bell, who took no position on slavery; his only focus was on saving the Union. The remainder of the party finally nominated Buchanan's archenemy, Stephen Douglas. For his part, President Buchanan supported Breckenridge. When the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, it was a near certainty that he would be elected.
In October of 1860 , General Winfield Scott, warned Buchanan that Lincoln's election would likely cause at least seven states to secede. He also recommended to Buchanan that massive amounts of federal troops and artillery be deployed to those states to protect federal property. Buchanan ignored Scott's recommendations. After Lincoln's election, Buchanan directed War Secretary Floyd to reinforce southern forts with such provisions, arms and men as were available, but Floyd convinced him to revoke the order.
With Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling point. Buchanan was forced to address it in his final message to Congress. In his message, Buchanan denied the legal right of states to secede but held that the federal government legally could not prevent them. He placed the blame for the crisis solely on "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States", and suggested that if they did not "repeal their unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments ... the injured States, after having first used all peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress, would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Union." Buchanan's answer was "an explanatory amendment" reaffirming the constitutionality of slavery in the states, the fugitive slave laws, and popular sovereignty in the territories.
Buchanan's response was sharply criticized both by the north, for its refusal to stop secession, and the south, for refuting its right to secede. Efforts were made by statesmen such as Sen. John J. Crittenden, Rep. Thomas Corwin, and former president John Tyler to negotiate a compromise to stop secession, with Buchanan's support; all failed. Failed efforts to compromise were also made by a group of governors meeting in New York. Buchanan employed a last-minute tactic, in secret, to bring a solution. South Carolina declared its secession on December 20, 1860, followed by six other slave states, and, by February 1861, they had formed the Confederate States of America. As Scott had surmised, the secessionist governments declared eminent domain over federal property within their states. Buchanan and his administration took no action to stop the confiscation of government property by the Confederate states.
Before Buchanan left office, all arsenals and forts in the seceding states were lost (except Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, and three island outposts in Florida). A quarter of all federal soldiers surrendered to Texas troops. Buchanan made a quiet pact with South Carolina's legislators that he would not reinforce the Charleston garrison in exchange for no interference from the state. But Buchanan did not inform the Charleston commander, Major Robert Anderson, of the agreement, and on December 26 Anderson violated it by moving his command to Fort Sumter. Southerners responded with a demand that Buchanan remove Anderson, while northerners demanded support for the commander. On December 31, Buchanan ordered reinforcements. On January 5, Buchanan sent civilian steamer Star of the West to carry reinforcements and supplies to Fort Sumter. On January 9, 1861, South Carolina state batteries opened fire on the ship and it returned to New York. Buchanan was again criticized both north (for lack of retaliation against the hostile South Carolina batteries) and south (for attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter), further alienating both factions. Paralyzed, Buchanan made no further moves either to prepare for war or to avert it.
On Buchanan's final day as president, March 4, 1861, he remarked to the incoming Lincoln, "If you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man." Buchanan consistently ranks last in scholarly rankings of the Presidents. In fact at least two books have been written about Buchanan with the phrase "Worst President" in their title.