James Buchanan Quotes
The Union as it was. The Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be.
James Buchanan, 1791-1868, 15th President of the United States (Democrat, PA), Campaign Speech
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, was expounding a theory of “nullification” by which the states could supersede and nullify federal law in their states. When Jackson finished his toast, it was Calhoun’s turn (See {635896}.) His toast supported the States’ Rights position over the federal government. In those days Presidents and Vice President’s were often political enemies or of opposite parties. The President’s advisors thought that his toast might be misinterpreted. So when they gave the toast to the press as “The Federal Union: It must be preserved.” That was the form in which the press reported the President’s toast and for many years that was the version most quoted even though it was never delivered that way. However Jackson was responsible for both versions.
Lincoln was a deist but he was never a favorite of the official clergy of any of the religions. When he ran for President in 1860, 20 of the 23 clergymen of his home town, Springfield, IL, opposed him. As he assumed office he was much more prudent in his religious remarks and in the view of some historians political realities and pragmatics caused him to be more circumspect. His oldest friend and law partner believed him to be an unbeliever. See {586285}.
It would be almost 30 years until Jackson would have been proved correct and the Civil War had begun.
There were major construction projects prepared for the Capitol building at the beginning of the Civil War. There was a question of whether the expensive construction was then appropriate.
The amendments failed as did the compromise.
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States (1857–61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate, then served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson. He was named Secretary of State under President James K. Polk, and as of 2016[update] is the last former Secretary of State to serve as President of the United States. After Buchanan turned down an offer to sit on the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the Ostend Manifesto.; James McGill Buchanan, Jr. was an American economist known for his work on public choice theory (included in his most famous work The Calculus of Consent), for which he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1986. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' and bureaucrats' self-interest, utility maximization and other non-wealth maximizing considerations affect their decision making. He was a member of the Board of Advisors of The Independent Institute, a member (and for a time the President) of the Mont Pelerin Society, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, and professor at George Mason University.
