President James Buchanan: A Biography [Hardcover]

Philip S. Klein (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0945707118 | ISBN-13: 978-0945707110 | Publication Date: May 1995

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The work of a mature scholar who has dug deeply and carefully weighed his evidence. --Washington Post

An excellent biography. --St. Louis, MO Post-Dispatch

Klein has been prodigiously industrious. . . . If the general picture is not altered, proportions are. --Times Literary Supplement --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 506 pages
• Publisher: Amer Political Biography Pr (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945707118
• ISBN-13: 978-0945707110
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and well-written, February 4, 2003

By 

mrliteral - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: President James Buchanan a Biography (Hardcover)

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.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Biography of Buchanan, January 28, 2004

By 

a history buff "history buff" (Bryan County, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: President James Buchanan: A Biography (Hardcover)

"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.

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars President Buchanan: Redeemed At Last, April 14, 2000

By 

L. Bruno "dy-dx" (Friedens, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: President James Buchanan: A Biography (Hardcover)

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.' "