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Buchanan the Despairing President and Lincoln’s Rise
The piece traces James Buchanan as a failed chief executive whose indecision and proslavery pressures led to secession. It contrasts his abortive tenure with Lincoln’s ascent, noting Buchanan’s evasive inaugural address and economic woes of 1857. It ends with Buchanan’s resignation mood and a quip to Lincoln.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James Buchanan
John C. Fremont
Millard Fillmore
Doughface
Andrew Jackson
Abraham Lincoln
Henry Clay
John Calhoun
Lewis Coss
Daniel Webster
Fillmore
Pierce
Buchanan
Lincoln
Congress
Polk
Russia
Jackson
Great Britain
James Monroe
John Quincey Adams
James
United States
America
Cuba
Alaska
Harriet Lane
Prince of Wales
White House
Queen Victoria
South Carolina
Charleston
Ft. Sumter
Charleston Harbor
Lewis Cass
Edwin M. Stanton
Stanton