James Buchanan should have been prepared to be president.

He had served as a congressman, a senator, a cabinet member, and an ambassador.

He certainly wanted the job.

He sought the office four times, but when he finally achieved his ambition in 1856 and

became the 15th president of the United States, his impressive resume did him little good.

When he left office in 1861, the country was on the brink of civil war.

James Buchanan was born in a log cabin on April 23rd, 1791 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania.

His Irish-born father, James Sr. lived the classic early 19th century immigrant story.

He worked hard, lived frugally, and prospered.

He and his American-born wife, Elizabeth, had great ambitions for their son, James Jr.

And with the exception of a few stumbles like getting kicked out of college for drunkenness,

he didn't disappoint them.

Assuming a legal career, young James moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he took

a strong interest in local affairs, elected to Congress in 1820 as a federalist, he switched

his allegiance to the newly formed Democratic Party in 1824, becoming a devoted follower

of Andrew Jackson.

He supported states' rights, a strict reading of the Constitution, and was sympathetic to

southern interests, including, of course, slavery.

Governors with such inclinations were known by their political opponents as doughfaces,

men who were overly deferential to southern grievances.

Buchanan was more than happy to return the insult.

He despised northern abolitionists who he believed threatened the stability of the union

...