15.+James+Buchanon

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=__Early Life:__= James Buchanan was born April 23rd, 1791 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He had six sisters and four brothers. When he was six, he and his family moved out of Franklin County and into Mercersburg. He attended school here and later went to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was actually expelled from there for poor behavior. He begged for a second chance and got one. He graduated in honors on September 19th, 1809. He later moved to Lancaster to study law and actually got admitted into the bar in 1812. As a federalist, he opposed the War of 1812. When the British moved into Maryland though, he join a volunteer unit and served defending Baltimore.

=__Political Career:__= He began his political career in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1814. He was then elected to the 17th United States Congress and served from 1821 through 1831. After he left congress he served as the Minister to Russia. He was elected to the Senate to fill a vacancy and served from 1834 to 1843. In 1845 President Polk appointed Buchanan to Secretary of State. He also became chairman of the Committee of Foreign Relations. As Secretary of State, he helped in making the Oregon Treaty a reality. This treaty brought an end to a boundary dispute.

__James Buchanan - 15th President of the United States:__
In 1856 Buchanan ran for president. He had the most supporters out of all of the candidates. With 296 electoral votes up for grabs, all of the candidates worked hard for as many as they could get. Buchanan though, was able to get the most. He won the presidency in 1857 with a total of 174 electoral votes. He served for one term, 1857-1861.

=__Presidential Accomplishments:__= While Buchanan was deemed "one of the least effective presidents" and for the most part accomplished little, he did manage to do a few helpful things.

__"Utah War"__
In 1857, the Mormons of Utah began rebelling against their government and the U.S. Army. They were scared they were going to lose their lands if they became part of the Union. What they did not know was the former president denied them from joining the Union at the time. The Mormons threw out government officials from their offices. When the president heard about what was happening, he sent in the army. There were a few small confrontations between the two forces, but nothing major. When nothing seemed to be working, Buchanan sent in Thomas L. Kane to negotiate with the Mormons. Kane succeeded in negotiations and shortly after a new governor was put in place.

__Other Accomplishments:__
While Buchanan was president, three states were admitted to the Union. These states were Minnesota in 1858, Oregon in 1859, and Kansas in 1861. He also appointed Nathan Clifford to the US Supreme Court. He also appointed nine other judges to lower courts.

=__Concluding Buchanan:__= All in all, President Buchanan was one of the least effective presidents in the country's history. Most of the things he did ended in failure or a bad response from the public. Most of his accomplishments came from before he was president, when he served the government in many different ways. When he came to lead the country, he was not very successful. He did successfully end a conflict without turning it into a war within the country. He brought an end to the "Utah War" conflict by negotiating a new governor with the Mormons. If he did not do this, a small war may have broken out. Buchanan managed to stop a possible war. For this, he was a good president in some perspective. Although President Buchanan had few accomplishments while in office, he had many while he served the government in other ways. Overall, he was an alright president and a better government official.