Presidents and Their Cabinets: James Buchanan
James Buchanan entered the presidency in 1857 expecting that his administration would be as great as that of George Washington. Boy, was he ever wrong. At the beginning it looked as if he might make a good president. He had a very impressive resume. He had represented his home state of Pennsylvania in both Houses of Congress, he had served a full term as Secretary of State, he had been Minister (Ambassador) to Russia and most recently to Great Britain, and he had over forty years of service in government. At the end of Presidency he would earn a place as the worst president ever in the rankings of many scholars and historians.
Buchanan's recent service as Ambassador to the United Kingdom conveniently placed him outside of the country as the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act rocked the nation. When the 1856 Democratic National Convention met in June 1856, the party voted to support a platform that largely accorded Buchanan's views. It included support for the Fugitive Slave Law, and other pro-slavery policies. Buchanan had the support of powerful Senators John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and Thomas F. Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and South. Buchanan won the nomination after seventeen ballots.
By 1856, the Whig Party, which had long been the main opposition to the Democrats, had collapsed. Buchanan's opponents in the presidential election were former Whig President Millard Fillmore, who ran as the American Party (or "Know-Nothing") candidate, and John C. Frémont, who ran as the first Republican Party nominee for President. Buchanan carried every slave state except for Maryland (which went for Fillmore), as well as five free states, including his home state of Pennsylvania. He won 45 percent of the popular vote and won the electoral vote, taking 174 electoral votes compared to Frémont's 114 electoral votes and Fillmore's 8 electoral votes. A President-elect, Buchanan wrote, "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, North or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative government."
In his inaugural address, Buchanan committed himself to serving only one term. He also spoke critically about the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories. He argued that Congress should play no role in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories. That was the responsibility of the courts and was set out in the Constitution. He referred to a pending Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford, which he stated would permanently settle the issue of slavery. Buchanan already knew the outcome of the case, and had even written to some of the judges who were deciding the question.
Buchanan hoped to pick a united and harmonious cabinet, one which would be geographically balanced, but which would also convey a united front on the question of slavery. He had witnessed the in-fighting that was present in Andrew Jackson's first cabinet and he wanted to select those who would accord with his views. He chose four Southerners and three Northerners. He hoped that his administration would concentrate on foreign policy and that Buchanan himself would largely direct foreign policy. As such he viewed the position of Secretary of State as more of an honorary or venerated position, so he appointed the aging Lewis Cass for the job. Cass was a northerner, from Michigan, and had been the Democratic Party's candidate for President in 1848, losing to Zachary Taylor. Like Buchanan, he was a "doughface", i.e a northerner with southern sympathies and not an abolitionist. Cass would become shut out of most of the foreign policy decisions, with Buchanan and Assistant Secretary of State John Appleton directing most matters concerning foreign relations.
Another "doughface" who found a spot in Buchanan's caninet was Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey. A former Connecticut Governor and Senator, Toucey had served in cabinet with Buchanan under President James K. Polk as Attorney-General. Toucey was appointed to appease the supporters of Franklin Pierce, and to represent New England in the Cabinet.
The Attorney General Buchanan picked was Jeremiah S. Black, a fellow Pennsylvanian. He had been a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and was serving as Chief Justice when picked for the cabinet. When Secretary of State Lewis Cass resigned in December 1860, Black was appointed to replace him, serving from December 17, 1860, to the end of Buchanan's term on March 4, 1861. Black was seen as the most influential of President Buchanan's official advisers. Black despised abolitionists and the free-soil party. He denied the constitutionality of secession, and urged that Fort Sumter be properly reinforced and defended. But it was Black who gave Buchanan the advice that a state could not be legally be forced to remain in the union by the Federal government. In February 1861, President Buchanan nominated him for a seat on the Supreme Court, but his nomination was defeated in the Senate by a single vote on February 21.
Buchanan picked Georgia Governor Howell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury. At one time, Cobb was Buchanan's choice to become his successor as President. In 1860, Cobb became a leader of the secession movement. He was president of a convention of the seceded states that assembled in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, 1861. An strong supporter of the institution of slavery, in 1856 Cobb had published a work entitled "A Scriptural Examination of the Institution of Slavery in the United States: With its Objects and Purposes."
Former Virginia Governor John B. Floyd became Secretary of War in Buchanan's cabinet. He is considered one of Buchanan's worst appointments and his lack of administrative ability became apparent. He was implicated scandal regarding the embezzlement of money coming from bonds from the Indian Agency safe. In December 1860, on discovering that Floyd had honored heavy drafts made by government contractors which they had not earner, Buchanan sought his resignation. After the election of Abraham Lincoln, he was accused in the press of having sent large stores of government arms to Federal arsenals in the South in the anticipation of the Civil War, in order that they could later be used by the Confederacy.
Rounding out the cabinet were two more southerner. The Postmaster General was Aaron Brown, a former law partner and key supporter of James K. Polk, and also a former Governor of Tennessee. Brown held the post until his death in March of 1859. Former Mississippi Congressman Jacob Thompson became Secretary of the Interior. He too sided with the Confederacy and resigned as Interior Secretary in January 1861. He served as Inspector General of the Confederate States Army and later joined the army as an officer and served as an aide to General P.G.T. Beauregard at the Battle of Shiloh. In March 1864, Jefferson Davis asked Thompson to lead a secret delegation in Canada where he led the Confederate Secret Service operations in Canada.
Buchanan's appointment of Southerners and Southern sympathizers alienated many in the north, and his failure to appoint any followers of Stephen Douglas divided the party. Buchanan disliked Douglas personally. After Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling point. In his final message to Congress, Buchanan stated that states had no legal right to secede. But he also said that the federal government was legally powerless to prevent them from doing so. He blame "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States" for causing the problem and his only suggestion to solve the crisis was "an explanatory amendment" reaffirming the constitutionality of slavery in the states, the fugitive slave laws, and popular sovereignty in the territories.
Buchanan refused to dismiss Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson after Thompson was chosen as Mississippi's agent to discuss secession. He refused to fire Secretary of War John B. Floyd despite an embezzlement scandal, though Floyd did eventually resign. Before resigning, Floyd sent arms to southern states, where they would eventually fall into the hands of the Confederacy. Despite Floyd's resignation, Buchanan continued to meet to receive advice from Jefferson Davis and William Henry Trescot, who informed the South Carolina government about the content of these conversations. On March 4, Buchanan was succeeded by Lincoln, who was left to deal with the emerging sectional crisis that eventually became the Civil War.
Buchanan's recent service as Ambassador to the United Kingdom conveniently placed him outside of the country as the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act rocked the nation. When the 1856 Democratic National Convention met in June 1856, the party voted to support a platform that largely accorded Buchanan's views. It included support for the Fugitive Slave Law, and other pro-slavery policies. Buchanan had the support of powerful Senators John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and Thomas F. Bayard, who presented Buchanan as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and South. Buchanan won the nomination after seventeen ballots.
By 1856, the Whig Party, which had long been the main opposition to the Democrats, had collapsed. Buchanan's opponents in the presidential election were former Whig President Millard Fillmore, who ran as the American Party (or "Know-Nothing") candidate, and John C. Frémont, who ran as the first Republican Party nominee for President. Buchanan carried every slave state except for Maryland (which went for Fillmore), as well as five free states, including his home state of Pennsylvania. He won 45 percent of the popular vote and won the electoral vote, taking 174 electoral votes compared to Frémont's 114 electoral votes and Fillmore's 8 electoral votes. A President-elect, Buchanan wrote, "the object of my administration will be to destroy sectional party, North or South, and to restore harmony to the Union under a national and conservative government."
In his inaugural address, Buchanan committed himself to serving only one term. He also spoke critically about the growing divisions over slavery and its status in the territories. He argued that Congress should play no role in determining the status of slavery in the states or territories. That was the responsibility of the courts and was set out in the Constitution. He referred to a pending Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford, which he stated would permanently settle the issue of slavery. Buchanan already knew the outcome of the case, and had even written to some of the judges who were deciding the question.
Buchanan hoped to pick a united and harmonious cabinet, one which would be geographically balanced, but which would also convey a united front on the question of slavery. He had witnessed the in-fighting that was present in Andrew Jackson's first cabinet and he wanted to select those who would accord with his views. He chose four Southerners and three Northerners. He hoped that his administration would concentrate on foreign policy and that Buchanan himself would largely direct foreign policy. As such he viewed the position of Secretary of State as more of an honorary or venerated position, so he appointed the aging Lewis Cass for the job. Cass was a northerner, from Michigan, and had been the Democratic Party's candidate for President in 1848, losing to Zachary Taylor. Like Buchanan, he was a "doughface", i.e a northerner with southern sympathies and not an abolitionist. Cass would become shut out of most of the foreign policy decisions, with Buchanan and Assistant Secretary of State John Appleton directing most matters concerning foreign relations.
Another "doughface" who found a spot in Buchanan's caninet was Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey. A former Connecticut Governor and Senator, Toucey had served in cabinet with Buchanan under President James K. Polk as Attorney-General. Toucey was appointed to appease the supporters of Franklin Pierce, and to represent New England in the Cabinet.
The Attorney General Buchanan picked was Jeremiah S. Black, a fellow Pennsylvanian. He had been a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and was serving as Chief Justice when picked for the cabinet. When Secretary of State Lewis Cass resigned in December 1860, Black was appointed to replace him, serving from December 17, 1860, to the end of Buchanan's term on March 4, 1861. Black was seen as the most influential of President Buchanan's official advisers. Black despised abolitionists and the free-soil party. He denied the constitutionality of secession, and urged that Fort Sumter be properly reinforced and defended. But it was Black who gave Buchanan the advice that a state could not be legally be forced to remain in the union by the Federal government. In February 1861, President Buchanan nominated him for a seat on the Supreme Court, but his nomination was defeated in the Senate by a single vote on February 21.
Buchanan picked Georgia Governor Howell Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury. At one time, Cobb was Buchanan's choice to become his successor as President. In 1860, Cobb became a leader of the secession movement. He was president of a convention of the seceded states that assembled in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, 1861. An strong supporter of the institution of slavery, in 1856 Cobb had published a work entitled "A Scriptural Examination of the Institution of Slavery in the United States: With its Objects and Purposes."
Former Virginia Governor John B. Floyd became Secretary of War in Buchanan's cabinet. He is considered one of Buchanan's worst appointments and his lack of administrative ability became apparent. He was implicated scandal regarding the embezzlement of money coming from bonds from the Indian Agency safe. In December 1860, on discovering that Floyd had honored heavy drafts made by government contractors which they had not earner, Buchanan sought his resignation. After the election of Abraham Lincoln, he was accused in the press of having sent large stores of government arms to Federal arsenals in the South in the anticipation of the Civil War, in order that they could later be used by the Confederacy.
Rounding out the cabinet were two more southerner. The Postmaster General was Aaron Brown, a former law partner and key supporter of James K. Polk, and also a former Governor of Tennessee. Brown held the post until his death in March of 1859. Former Mississippi Congressman Jacob Thompson became Secretary of the Interior. He too sided with the Confederacy and resigned as Interior Secretary in January 1861. He served as Inspector General of the Confederate States Army and later joined the army as an officer and served as an aide to General P.G.T. Beauregard at the Battle of Shiloh. In March 1864, Jefferson Davis asked Thompson to lead a secret delegation in Canada where he led the Confederate Secret Service operations in Canada.
Buchanan's appointment of Southerners and Southern sympathizers alienated many in the north, and his failure to appoint any followers of Stephen Douglas divided the party. Buchanan disliked Douglas personally. After Lincoln's victory, talk of secession and disunion reached a boiling point. In his final message to Congress, Buchanan stated that states had no legal right to secede. But he also said that the federal government was legally powerless to prevent them from doing so. He blame "intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States" for causing the problem and his only suggestion to solve the crisis was "an explanatory amendment" reaffirming the constitutionality of slavery in the states, the fugitive slave laws, and popular sovereignty in the territories.
Buchanan refused to dismiss Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson after Thompson was chosen as Mississippi's agent to discuss secession. He refused to fire Secretary of War John B. Floyd despite an embezzlement scandal, though Floyd did eventually resign. Before resigning, Floyd sent arms to southern states, where they would eventually fall into the hands of the Confederacy. Despite Floyd's resignation, Buchanan continued to meet to receive advice from Jefferson Davis and William Henry Trescot, who informed the South Carolina government about the content of these conversations. On March 4, Buchanan was succeeded by Lincoln, who was left to deal with the emerging sectional crisis that eventually became the Civil War.