Chapter I: Preface

Notwithstanding the proverbial tendency of biographers to contract what Macaulay has called “the disease of admiration,” no one who can lay claim to any strength of mind need allow the fear of such an imputation to prevent him from doing justice to a public man whose life, for whatever reason, he has undertaken to write. But that my readers may judge of the degree of my exposure to this malady, a frank explanation of the circumstances under which I came to write this work is due both to them and to myself.

In the summer of 1880, the executors and the nearest surviving relatives of Mr. Buchanan asked me to allow them to place in my hands the whole collection of his private papers, with a view to the preparation of a biographical and historical work concerning his public and private life. This duty could not have been undertaken by me, without an explicit understanding that I was to treat the subject in an entirely independent and impartial spirit. To be of much value, the work, as I conceived, must necessarily be, to some extent, a history of the times in which Mr. Buchanan acted an important part as a public man. Moreover, although I had been for far the greater part of this period an attentive observer of public affairs, I had no special interest in Mr. Buchanan’s fame, and was never personally known to him. I could have no object, therefore, of any kind, to subserve, save the truth of history; nor did the representatives of Mr. Buchanan desire me, in assuming the office of his biographer, to undertake that of an official eulogist. I have sought for information, aside from the papers of the late President, in many quarters where I knew that I could obtain it; but the opinions, inferences and conclusions contained in these volumes are exclusively my own, excepting in the few instances in which I have expressly quoted those of other persons. No one has exercised or endeavored to exercise the slightest influence over what I have said of Mr. Buchanan, and I acknowledge and have felt no loyalty to his reputation beyond the loyalty that every man owes to justice and to truth.

I have thought it proper to say this much concerning my relations to the family of Mr. Buchanan, for two reasons. The President, by his will, appointed as his biographer a personal friend, the late Mr. William B. Reed of Philadelphia, in whom he had great confidence, and who was a very accomplished writer. But Mr. Reed was prevented by private misfortunes from doing anything more than to examine Mr. Buchanan’s voluminous papers, and to prepare two introductory chapters of the intended Life. Of these I could make no use, as they did not accord with my method of treating the subject. After Mr. Reed had surrendered the task which he had undertaken, the papers were placed in the hands of the late Judge John Cadwallader of Philadelphia, another personal friend of the President. This gentleman died before he had begun to write the proposed work; and when the papers, which had been placed in his hands by the executors, came into mine, along with another large collection from Wheatland, I had to subject them to an entirely new arrangement and classification, before anything could be done. In resorting to a stranger as the biographer of Mr. Buchanan, his executors and friends did what circumstances had rendered unavoidable. The only assurance I can give is that I have had no reason to be otherwise than strictly faithful to what I believe to be the truth concerning the whole of Mr. Buchanan’s career.

The other reason for a candid explanation of my relation to this subject will occur to every one. Mr. Buchanan’s administration of the Government during the four years which preceded the commencement of our civil war, is a topic upon which friends and foes have widely differed. But no unprejudiced person who now examines the facts can doubt that, in many minds, injustice has been done to him. Perhaps this was inevitable, considering that a sectional civil war, of vast magnitude and attended with great bitterness, followed immediately after his retirement from office, when a political party which had been in opposition to his administration came for the first time into the full control of the Federal Government. It was in the nature of things—or rather, I should say, it was in the nature of man—that those who succeeded to the Government should have charged upon the outgoing administration that they had been remiss in their public duty; and that under the example of men in high places, there should have grown up a popular belief that Mr. Buchanan favored the secession of the Southern States, either purposely, or by lack of the proper energy to meet it in its incipient stages. Charges of this kind found popular credence in a time of unexampled excitement; and since the war was ended, there have been, and doubtless there still are, many persons who regard President Buchanan as a man who could have saved the country from a frightful civil war, if he had had the wish and the energy to nip Secession in the bud.

Such, at all events, were the reproaches with which many of his countrymen pursued him into retirement, and continued to follow him to his grave. Denied as he was a hearing while he lived, because the perils and turmoils of the immediate present unfitted men to look dispassionately back into the past, he may well have desired that in some calmer time, when he had gone where there is neither ignorance, nor prejudice, nor rancor, some one should “read his cause aright to the unsatisfied.” To that better time he looked forward with an undoubting faith in the ultimate justice of his country. I believe that the time which he anticipated has come; and that nothing more than a proper examination of the facts is now needed, to insure for him all the vindication that he could ever have desired.

In regard to this and to every other part of his life, I have found it an interesting task to trace the history of a man whose public and private character were always pure, whose patriotism was co-extensive with his whole country, whose aims were high, and who was habitually conscientious in the discharge of every obligation. My estimate of his abilities and power as a statesman has risen with every investigation that I have made; and it is, in my judgment, not too much to say of him as a President of the United States, that he is entitled to stand very high on the catalogue—not a large one—of those who have had the moral courage to encounter misrepresentation and obloquy, rather than swerve from the line of duty which their convictions marked out for them.

I must say a few words in explanation of my method of describing important public transactions, the interest in which attaches both to the events and to an individual who has borne a chief part in them. There are two modes of historical writing. One is to make a narrative of the course of a foreign negotiation, for example, or of any other public action, without quoting despatches or documents. The other, which scarcely rises above the dignity of compilation, is to let the story be told mainly by the documents. But in biography, where the interest centres for the nonce in some principal actor, I conceive that the better course is to unite the two methods, by so much of description as is needful to illustrate the documents, and by so much of quotation as is needful to give force to the narrative. It often happens, however, that the private letters which a person in high official station receives or writes, are quite valuable to the elucidation of official papers and official acts, as they certainly may render a description more lively than it would be without them. The collection of Mr. Buchanan’s papers is exceedingly rich in private correspondence, both with persons towards whom he stood in official, and with other persons towards whom he stood in only social, relations; and I have drawn largely upon these materials. Whether I have accomplished the object at which I have aimed, the reader will judge. It is for me to do no more than to apprise him that I have endeavored to write for his instruction and his entertainment, as well as to render justice to the person whose life I have described. To vindicate in all things the public policy of the party with which he acted, has not been my aim. I have only sought to exhibit it in its true relation to the history of the times. Sincerity and strength of conviction were as characteristic of those to whom Mr. Buchanan was politically opposed, as they were of his political associates.

It is perhaps almost superfluous for me to say that it would have been impracticable for me within the limits of these two volumes to give an account of every debate in Congress in which Mr. Buchanan took part, or of every transaction with which he was connected as a foreign minister, as Secretary of State, or as President. Such of his speeches as I have quoted at length have been selected because of the interest that still attaches to the subject, or some part of it, or because they illustrate his powers as a debater; and in making selections or quotations from his diplomatic papers, I have been unavoidably confined to those which related to critical questions in our foreign relations. It was equally impracticable for me to touch upon the connections which he had with numerous political persons in the course of a public life of forty years. I have drawn a necessary line, and have drawn it between those with whom he stood in some important official relation, or who occupied important public positions, and those who belong in the category of politicians more or less prominent and active, with whom all very eminent public men have more or less to do; including the former and excluding the latter. But of course I have varied this rule in the case of friends who stood in personal rather than political relations with him.

It remains for me to give a description of the materials of which I have made use, and to make the customary acknowledgments to those who supplied them.

Any man who has been in public life for a long period of time, and has attained to the highest public stations, must necessarily have accumulated a vast amount of materials of the highest importance to the elucidation of his own history and of the history of the times in which he has acted. Mr. Buchanan had a habit of preserving nearly everything that came into his hands. The mass of his private correspondence is enormous. I can hardly specify the number of letters that I have had to read, in order to form an adequate idea of the state of the public mind in the opposite sections of the Union during the period when he first had to encounter the secession movement. My recollection of the condition of public opinion at such junctures was pretty vivid, but I could not venture to trust to it without examining the best evidence; for undoubtedly the best evidence of public opinion was to be found in the private letters which at such periods reached the President from all quarters of the country. Many hundreds of such letters have been examined, in order to write, and to write correctly, a very few pages. Mr. Buchanan had also another habit of great utility. Although he did not always keep a regular diary or journal, he rarely held an important conversation, or was engaged in a critical transaction, without writing down an account of it with his own hand immediately afterward. These extremely valuable memoranda will be found to throw great light upon many matters that have hitherto been left in obscurity, or have been entirely misrepresented. He was also an indefatigable letter-writer; and of those of his own letters of which he did not keep copies, he procured many from his correspondents after his retirement to Wheatland. He wrote freely, easily, and I should think rapidly. His familiar letters rarely received or required much correction; but his official productions were polished with great care.

The principal mass of these papers, along with the public documents which were connected with them, was collected by Mr. Buchanan himself, in the interval between his retirement from the Presidency and his death. This collection was placed in my hands by his brother and executor, the Rev. Edward Y. Buchanan, D.D., of Philadelphia. Another large collection came to me from Mr. and Mrs. Henry E. Johnston, the present possessors of Wheatland. Mrs. Johnston enriched the collection of papers which were sent to me from Wheatland, by adding to them a great quantity of her uncle’s letters to herself, of which she kindly permitted me to take copies.

From James Buchanan Henry, Esq., nephew of the President, and for some time his private secretary, and from Miss Buchanan, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Buchanan, I have received interesting contributions, which have found their place in my work.

Next to these, the immediate relatives of President Buchanan, I am indebted to the Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney-General and afterwards Secretary of State during Mr. Buchanan’s Presidency, for important information. I am under like obligations to Brinton Coxe and Joseph B. Baker, Esqs., of Philadelphia, friends of the late President.

And finally, from my own valued friend of many years, Samuel L. M. Barlow, Esq., of New York, I have received two very interesting contributions, which are quoted and credited in their appropriate places. I am also under a similar obligation to W. U. Hensel, Esq., of Lancaster, and to George Plumer Smith, Esq., of Philadelphia. Nor should I omit to mention the name of Hiram B. Swarr, Esq., co-executor with Dr. Buchanan, and the confidential lawyer of the late President, at Lancaster, as one who has very materially aided my researches.

NEW YORK, May 1, 1883.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
1791–1820.

PAGE

Birth and Parentage—Early Education and College Life—Study 1
of the Law—Admission to the Bar—Settles in Lancaster—A
Volunteer in the War of 1812—Enters the Legislature of
Pennsylvania—Early Distinction—Professional Income—Retires
from Public Life—Disappointment in Love—Re-enters Public
Life—Elected to Congress

CHAPTER II.
1820–1824.

Monroe’s Administration—Eminent Men in Congress—Notices of 23
William Lowndes and John Randolph of Roanoke—John
Sargeant—Buchanan becomes a leading Debater—Bankrupt
Bill—Cumberland Road—The Tariff

CHAPTER III.
1824–1825.

Election of John Quincy Adams—The “Bargain and 38
Corruption”—Unfounded Charge—General Jackson’s erroneous
Impression—His Correspondence with Mr. Buchanan

CHAPTER IV.
1825–1826.

Bitter Opposition to the Administration of John Quincy 57
Adams—Bill for the Relief of the Revolutionary
Officers—The Panama Mission—Incidental Reference to
Slavery

CHAPTER V.
1827–1829.

Great Increase of General Jackson’s 70
Popularity—“Retrenchment” made a Political Cry—Debate on
the Tariff—Buchanan on Internal Improvements—The Interests
of Navigation—The Cumberland Road again
Discussed—Ineligibility of a President

CHAPTER VI.
1829–1831.

The first Election of General Jackson—Buchanan again elected 94
to the House of Representatives—He becomes Chairman of the
Judiciary Committee—Impeachment of Judge Peck—Buchanan
defeats a Repeal of the 25th Section of the Judiciary
Act—Proposed in Pennsylvania as a Candidate for the
Vice-Presidency—Wishes to retire from Public Life—Fitness
for great Success at the Bar

CHAPTER VII.
1831–1833.

John Randolph of Roanoke made Minister to Russia—Failure of 128
Mr. Randolph’s Health—The Mission offered to Mr.
Buchanan—His Mother’s Opposition to his Acceptance—Embarks
at New York and arrives at Liverpool—Letters from
England—Journey to St. Petersburg—Correspondence with
Friends at Home

CHAPTER VIII.
1832–1833.

Negotiation of Treaties—Count Nesselrode—His characteristic 161
Management of opposing Colleagues—The Emperor Nicholas—His
sudden Announcement of his Consent to a Commercial
Treaty—Why no Treaty concerning Maritime Rights was
made—Complaints about the American Press—Baron Sacken’s
imprudent Note—Buchanan skillfully exonerates his
Government—Sensitiveness of the Emperor on the subject of
Poland

CHAPTER IX.
1832–1833.

General Jackson’s second Election—Grave public Events at 183
Home reflected in Mr. Buchanan’s Letters from his
Friends—Feelings of General Jackson towards the
“Nullifiers”—Movements in Pennsylvania for electing Mr.
Buchanan to the Senate of the United States—He makes a
Journey to Moscow—Return to St. Petersburg—Death of his
Mother—Singular Interview with the Emperor Nicholas at his
Audience of Leave

CHAPTER X.
1833.

Departure from St. Petersburg—Journey to Paris—Princess 217
Lieven—Pozzo di Borgo—Duc de Broglie—General
Lafayette—Louis Philippe—Arrival in London—Dinners at
Prince Lieven’s and Lord Palmerston’s—Prince Talleyrand

CHAPTER XI.
1833–1836.

Mr. Buchanan returns Home—Greeting from General 227
Jackson—Elected to the Senate of the United States—State
of Parties—The great Whig Leaders in the Senate—Peril of a
War with France

CHAPTER XII.
1835–1837.

Removal of Executive Officers—Benton’s “Expunging” 281
Resolution

CHAPTER XIII.
1836.

First Introduction of the Subject of Slavery in the Senate, 315
during the Administration of Jackson—Petitions for its
Abolition in the District of Columbia—The Right of
Petition vindicated by Buchanan—Incendiary
Publications—Admission of Michigan into the Union—Statuary
for the Capitol—Affairs of Texas

CHAPTER XIV.
1837–1840.

Bill to prevent the Interference of Federal Officers with 378
Elections—Devotion of the Followers of Jackson—The Whig
Party less compact in consequence of the Rivalry between
Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster—Retrospective Review of the Bank
Question—The Specie Circular—Great Financial Disasters

CHAPTER XV.
1837–1841.

Mr. Van Buren’s Presidency—The Financial Troubles 418
accumulating—Remedy of the Independent Treasury—Buchanan
on the Causes of Specie Suspension, and the Pennsylvania
Bank of the United States—Great Political Revolution of
1840—Buchanan declines a Seat in Mr. Van Buren’s Cabinet

CHAPTER XVI.
1841–1842.

Death of President Harrison—Breach between President Tyler 458
and the Whigs—Tyler’s Vetoes—Buchanan’s Reply to Clay on
the Veto Power—His Opposition to the Bankrupt Act of 1841

CHAPTER XVII.
1843–1844.

Buchanan elected to the Senate for a Third Term—Efforts of 515
his Pennsylvania Friends to have him nominated for the
Presidency—Motives of his Withdrawal from the Canvass—The
Baltimore Democratic Convention of 1844 nominates Mr.
Polk—The Old Story of “Bargain and Corruption”—Private
Correspondence

CHAPTER XVIII.
1842–1849.

Harriet Lane 531

CHAPTER XIX.
1844–1845.

Annexation of Texas—Election of President Polk—The 543
Department of State accepted by Mr. Buchanan

CHAPTER XX.
1845–1846.

The Oregon Controversy—Danger of a War with 551
England—Negotiation for a Settlement of a Boundary—Private
Correspondence

CHAPTER XXI.
1845–1848.

Origin of the War with Mexico—Efforts of Mr. Polk’s 579
Administration to prevent it

CHAPTER XXII.
1848–1849.

Central America—The Monroe Doctrine, and the Clayton-Bulwer 619
Treaty

LIFE OF JAMES BUCHANAN.