BUCHANAN 969 



Senate. During the many discussions over the 

 right of petition, Buchanan held, with John 

 Quincy Adams, that any citizen possessed this 



BUCHANAN 



JAMES BUCHANAN 



His reason for accepting the Presidential nom- 

 ination he stated thus : 



They tell me that the use of my name will 

 still the agitated waters, restore public harmony, 

 by banishing sectionalism, and remove all appre- 

 hension of disunion. For these objects I would 

 not only surrender my own ease and comfort, 

 but cheerfully lay down my life. 



privilege ; but on the slavery question, to which 

 most of the petitions referred, he maintained 

 that Congress had no control over slavery in 

 the states. 



In 1844 he was Pennsylvania's "favorite son" 

 for the Presidential nomination, but he with- 

 drew his name in favor of James K. Polk. 

 The latter was elected, and he appointed Bu- 

 chanan Secretary of State. In this office he 

 conducted the negotiations concerning the Ore- 

 gon country, and the friendly settlement was 

 largely due to his efforts. Buchanan was heart- 

 ily in favor of the annexation of Texas, and 

 during the war with Mexico succeeded in keep- 

 ing the United States out of disputes with 

 other countries. It was on Buchanan's advice 

 that Polk, in his first message to Congress, 

 reaffirmed the Monroe Doctrine in a declara- 

 tion aimed at British schemes of colonization 

 in California. (See MONROE DOCTRINE.) 



At the end of Folk's term in 1849, Buchanan 

 was succeeded as Secretary of State by John 

 M. Clayton, who negotiated the Clayton- 



Bulwer Treaty (which see) . This treaty marked 

 important departures from the policy of Polk 

 and Buchanan, who had been uneasy over 

 British attempts to establish a protectorate 

 over part of Central America. As the interpre- 

 tation of the treaty became almost immediately 

 a cause of controversy, President Pierce in 

 1853 sent Buchanan to London, where he re- 

 mained as United States minister for three 

 years, most of his time being spent in an at- 

 tempt to find a basis for the settlement of 

 Central American problems. 



One of the incidents of Buchanan's mission 

 was his share in the Ostend Manifesto of 1854, 

 which won the unqualified approval of many 

 Southerners (see OSTEND MANIFESTO), but 

 classed Buchanan with the pro-slavery men. 

 He was fortunate in being at a distance while 

 the struggle over the Kansas-Nebraska Act 

 (which see) was taking place, for he was free 

 from the bitterness which descended on some 

 of the leaders of the Democratic party. He 

 was therefore nominated for President by the 

 Democrats in 1856, with John C. Breckinridge 

 of Kentucky for Vice-President. "Buck and 

 Breck," as they were called, were elected by a 

 large electoral majority; 174 votes to 114 for 

 Fremont, the Republican candidate, and eight 

 for Fillmore. The popular vote was much 

 closer. Buchanan, like Lincoln and some 

 others, was a minority President; he lacked 

 about 372,000 votes of an absolute majority. 



Buchanan's Administration. Buchanan's ex- 

 perience as Secretary of State and as diplo- 

 matic representative aided him in establishing 

 more friendly relations with Great Britain. 



ELECTION RESULT IN 1856 



The Central American controversy, which he 

 failed to settle while he was minister at Lon- 

 don, was finally disposed of by treaties between 

 Great Britain, Nicaragua and Honduras, largely 

 through his intervention. 



