Customer Reviews

President James Buchanan a Biography

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Among the U.S. Presidents, Buchanan is not well-known, nor - by those who know of him - well-liked. The most well-known fact about him is that he was the only president who never married. The immediate predecessor of Abraham Lincoln and often blamed for elevating the conditions leading to the Civil War, Buchanan has had a poor reputation over the years. In this biography, Klein offers some insight into this political figure.

Klein traces Buchanan's development from childhood through the political arena. Having served in both houses of Congress, as a minister to both Russia and England and as Secretary of State, Buchanan was well-qualified to get the highest office in the land. A candidate several times over the years, he finally reached the presidency in 1856, benefiting from being overseas during the Pierce administration and thus removed from the increasingly serious regional conflicts.

Buchanan's strengths were also his flaws. His political canniness and ability to avoid major controversies led to his successes but also prevented him from being an effective leader. In fact, he tried to avoid being a leader, feeling that wasn't the purpose of his position. While it is unlikely that he could have averted the Civil War, he wound up being ineffective in even slowing down the drive to conflict. There is also every indication that if war had broken out during his tenure, things would have played out with less immediate violence but with far severer damage to the nation. Ironically, it would be the less qualified Lincoln who would be the superior president.

If the life of Pierce tells of a man who was unqualified and made a poor president, Buchanan's life shows that experience isn't everything either. Klein has written a great book that lets us know more about this quiet figure; with so few biographies of Buchanan available, it is a happy fact that this one is not only probably the best available, but is also just a good historical biography in general.

"President James Buchanan" remains the definitive biography of our 15th President. Instead of simply rehashing the tired and often unfair criticism of Buchanan as "the worst President of the United States", Klein relies upon a wealth of primary source material to present a complex and fascinating man. Instead of being charactered as an inept failure, Buchanan comes across as an accomplished statesman who was dedicated to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law who was caught in a "no win" situation as President. In seeking a compromise solution to avoid the impending holocaust of the Civil War when a compromise solution was probably no longer possible, Buchanan appear as a tragic figure more thasn as an abysmal failure. Klein's book is extremely well researched and insightful and is highly recommended to all those seeking to gain a greater understanding of our 15th President and the turbulent years before the Civil War.

Philip Klein's biography finally places the presidency of James Buchanan in the favorable light it deserves. Buchanan was discredited and vilified by politicians who put their party ahead of the nation. Power was more important to them than preserving the Union. First they obstructed his peace efforts and then scapegoated him for the Civil War when it began. "Buchanan assumed leadership of the United States when an unprecedented wave of angry passion was sweeping the nation. That he held the hostile sections in check during these revolutionary times was in itself a remarkable achievment. His weaknesses in the stormy years of his presidency were magnified by enraged partisans of the North and the South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might have gained for him a place among the great presidents of his country, were quickly overshadowed by the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering personality of Abraham Lincoln. Of Buchanan it might be said, as it was of another, 'He staked his reputation on the supremacy of reason, and lost.' "

Over the last several years I've read more than 30 presidential biographies using Amazon reviewers as my guide to picking out the best book. Klein's biography of Buchanan is one of the better biographies of one of our most unsuccessful presidents (Francis Russell's biography of Warren G. Harding definitely takes the prize in this category).

Politics were the major American sport of 19th century, and Pennsylvania was one of the most grueling states to play the political game. James Buchanan (or Martin Van Buren) was the quintessential 19th century politician, and the Civil War was the culmination of 50 years of America playing politics, rather than seriously attempting to address national issues.

Buchanan is an interesting subject because of the longevity of his career and his ability to master the game of politics. He managed to finesse every issue in a way that helped him rise in the national consciousness and avoid being tarnished with actually standing for or against much of anything. He spent 35 years in elective and appointed offices constantly battling to build his power. For at least 20 years he worked towards the goal of becoming president. While this political savvy helped him gain the presidency, it certainly did not prepare him (or seemingly any politician in the 1850's) to work constructively in a way that might have prevented the Civil War from occurring.

Klein's book is well written, nicely organized, and for the most part a balanced portrayal of a political animal. He does a good job of blending Buchanan's public and private lives. Klein tends to defend Buchanan's efforts in politics while having some fun with Buchanan's increasingly crusty personality . Klein definitely underplays Buchanan's insubordination while he served as Secretary of State during the Polk administration and the Mexican War. He makes a persuasive argument that both the highly factionalized Democrats and the radical Republicans were more interested in gaining power and control than they were in addressing the issue of slavery in anything resembling a constructive fashion. In this sense Buchanan appears to be a president doomed to failure as much as one who just was not up to the job.

A well done and comprehensive biography of one of the U.S.' lesser known and more maligned presidents. Not only does Klein do a very good job of allowing the reader to acquire some familiarity with Buchanan's personality, he does so with a view to showing how those traits influenced how he dealt with the sectional crisis which came to a head during his presidency. While Klien does an admirable job of disproving the various calumnies spread about Buchanan (that did nothing or actively abetted Southern secessionists) he is so focused on rehabilitating Buchanan's reputation that he somewhat overlooks how Buchanan constrained himself from doing all that he could do. Note also that the author assumes a moderate familiarity with U.S political history in the first half of the 19th Century (for example, while mentioning the various sectional Compromises, he does not discuss them in detail beyond the impact on Buchannan's actions of the moment).

(Without 'spoiling' the book, one does come to the conclusion that Lincoln's observation that "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present." would have never occured to Buchanan. It would have been nice to see the author share that observation.)

Writing a biography of man who was a very public failure cannot be an easy task--after spending so much time researching the man, you have to admire him, yet he may be deserving of little admiration. This is the trap into which Klein falls in this book.

The book provides a detailed and fairly interesting look at Buchanan's early and mid-career in Pennsylvania politics. Klein sketches the state political battles that took Buchanan to Washington as a congressman and eventually to the presidency and has clearly read the correspondence by and about Buchanan well. This strength prevented me from giving the book only a single star.

Yet Klein has a vendetta against the "Black" Republicans, as he calls them; abolitionists; and Abraham Lincoln. He defends Buchanan's every action in Bleeding Kansas, although he exacerbated a situation that Franklin Pierce had helped to create. Every Pennsylvania politician who opposed Buchanan comes across as deceitful, while Buchanan is a paragon of honesty and principle. But worst of all, Klein accepts Buchanan's every excuse for inaction during the four months after Lincoln's election and blames Lincoln, Seward, and others for the whole debacle instead of admitting that Buchanan was simply a weak and vacillating man in a situation that demanded decisive action and courage.

Buchanan has probably gotten a bum rap for causing the Civil War, but he also was not the wonderful politician and president Klein makes him out to be. However, the portrayal is so transparent that you can see the flaws in Buchanan despite the author's intentions.

I am currently reading a biography of every President in order. Philip Klein's biography was the clear cut choice for a full treatment of James Buchanan, with the only other alternative being the short bio from the American Presidents series.

Luckily Klein's biography is a great choice, not because it is the only one available, but because it is a great biography in it's own right. Klein's treatment is extensive enough to be a full academic level presentation but not so much as to deter the more casual reader. The writing style and organization are both excellent and the research is extensive. Klein makes a strong case that James Buchanan was not as bad of a President as history has presented him, and certainly changed my understanding of his role in the start of the Civil War.

It's easy to see why Klein's biography has remained the only full treatment of James Buchanan for nearly half a century. It is such a quality biography of our fifteenth President that it leaves no room or need for another.

Before I picked up this book, I viewed James Buchanan as a southern sympathizer, a person with homosexual tendencies, and a failure as a President. I held this view because of the rather limited amount of information out there regarding the 15th President. In fact, the History Channel paints Buchanan with a broad southern brush and brings up the rumors of homosexuality.

These opinions and reviews are unfounded and unfair. Philip Klein does a great job in telling the true story of Buchanan in this outstanding biography.

Buchanan just happened to be President during leadup to the most difficult crisis in the history of the country and was handcuffed greatly by radicals on the Republican side and by the slavery at all costs folks on the other side. He did his best to navigate the middle of these extremes according to his interpretation of the law as laid out in the constitution.

Some might say that Klein is to easy on Buchanan and that he isn't completely fair when looking at his public or personal life. That is hogwash in my opinion. In fact, Klein goes to great lengths to tell the true story of Buchanan's life and provides supporting documentation that is pretty convincing... I was convinced.

One interesting thing to note is toward the end of the biography, Klein writes the following: "(17th President Andrew) Johnson wavered and at last failed to enact the program laid out by the Radicals... for that they impeached him." This is making reference to Andrew Johnson's Presidency that is considered a failure as well due to his inaffective leadership in carrying out the beginnings of reconstruction. The tone of this paragraph suggests to me that Klein thinks Johnson is viewed in an unfair life and thus Buchanan is viewed in the same light.

I totally agree with both notions that Buchanan and Johnson are viewed unfairly. In nearly every respect, Buchanan's Presidency should not be viewed as a failure but rather unfortunate timing. He was, in fact, a scapegoat and not dealt with fairly by his party, Stephen Douglas, Lincoln (not to bad mouth Lincoln though), and the public and media following his Presidency. Not to say he was a great President... he wasn't and neither was Johnson. But Buchanan in particular got no help from his cabinet and congress to handle any of the complicated issues of the time. On those issues where he could make a difference he did.

I would rate this Presidency as effective and unspectacular. Klein is a fair evaluator and a concise and interesting writer in his account of the man and his public life.

The one issue I'm still left wondering about however is Buchanan's sexuality. He never married and never had children. He sounds like he was a bit of a fancy lad. Was he gay? Perhaps. Klein doesn't go into this and in fact talks at length about Buchanan's supposed relationship(s) with women. But, this book was written many years ago when perhaps a biographer might sweep something like Presidential homosexuality under the rug.

Homosexuals routinetly now make the case that Lincoln was gay because of his tendency to share a bed with men. That is complete BS. Buchanan lived with a man much of the time he was in Washington and is considered by the gay community to be the first gay President. Not that there is anything wrong with that... Seinfeld... but I was left wondering if Klein looked into it and found no grounds or again swept it under the rug out of respect for the office and the fact that this book was researched and written in the early 1960s.

This is the book to read on Buchanan though I would just say there were some unanswered questions and your opinion of the President may not mesh with Klein's which could lead to disappointment.

Of all the Presidents only Grant and Harding rank lower in the estimation of historians than James Buchanan. His biggest fault was lacking the moral courage to act upon an evil that was destroying the country; this was compounded by his willingness to defend his inaction by pleading through the Constitution the weakness of his office and of the federal government to impose their will upon the states. A festering wound was therefore allowed to infect the whole country.

Buchanan was born near Mercersburg, PA; while at Dickinson College, he got into some kind of trouble (unspecified) and was almost expelled. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and served in the PA state legislature for two years before being elected to Congress in 1821. A Federalist at first, when the party disbanded he became a Jacksonian Democrat. He was the Secretary of State under Polk from 1845-49, and became minister to Great Britain under Pierce in 1853. He became the 15th President in 1856 and in his Inaugural Address set his ship upon the course that would eventually lead to ruin: "...under the Constitution slavery in the States is beyond the reach of any human power except that of the respective States themselves." Bloody Kansas soon followed while Buchanan lost his soundness of judgment behind the Constitution. So did the Panic of 1857, which plunged the country into a depression, about which he maintained a hands-off policy. With Lincoln's election in 1860, the southern states threatened secession. Buchanan declared that a state had no legal right to secede, but at the same time the federal government did not have the authority to prevent it. Civil war became inevitable.

After leaving the White House, Buchanan retired to his estate at Lancaster, PA. He never married, though he was engaged to Ann Coleman (other sources spell her name Anne) as a young man; she apparently broke it off and died shortly afterwards in Philadelphia - the rumor of it being from suicide circulated a long time (Klein doesn't speculate here, but also doesn't waver from the word "rumor"). Some time ago I had read that Buchanan, always an avid reader, had stopped reading books altogether during his final years, but Klein makes no mention of this. Buchanan died in 1868.

Klein's biography is written with great authority and remains definitive. It is obvious he is fond of his subject and is sympathetic towards Buchanan's dilemma, but he is not a blind panegyrist. Under different circumstances Buchanan might have been a worthy President; even as things were he was perhaps the most honest leader the country ever had. Klein's account of the man is informative and interesting, and written with great style and elan. Highly recommended.

There have been more books written about Abraham Lincoln that any other Chief Executive. Of his predecessor, maybe fewer than any other President. Phillip Klein brings the times and Presidency of James Buchanan to life, and opens some bona fide questions and discussions of his Presidency in a historical context.

Generally acknowledged by current historians as the worst President in United States history, it is doubtful anyone would read this fine biography and believe that Buchanan belongs even in the top half of the administrations that have led our country. Yet, Klein paints Buchanan as a man of measured principle, strong leadership, and able experience.

Buchanan wrestled with the Constitutional principles prior to the secession of South Carolina, and struggled with the decision guided by the writing of same while weighing waging war. Along with this, he was hamstrung by an unsupportive Congress, and a Cabinet that was unreliable. Klein points out that some of the blame for inflaming the passions leading to the Civil War lands on Lincoln for not communicating and reaching out to a distrustful South.

He also points out that history is created in sometimes unfair ways, and was unjust toward Buchanan. Buchanan was scapegoated after leaving office by both the press and the Republican Party, and was blamed for the onset of the Civil War.

History conspired against Buchanan, in much the way it also did later againt Herbert Hoover. He was a patriot, a public servant, and a decent man. Given another era, and another circumstance, he may have acquitted himself very well, and led the Country ably.

This is a well written biography. It paints the times which Buchanan grew up in, his long career, and his presidency. It raises questions to ponder about his legacy, and the historical perspective which he has always been judged. On top of this, it is interesting, illustrating the pace and excitement of the times.

A highly worthwhile historical biography.