James Buchanan (April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the fifteenth President of the United States (1857–1861). He was the only President from Pennsylvania and the only President to never marry. As president he was a "doughface" who battled Stephen A. Douglas for control of the Democratic Party. Scholars consistently rank him as one of the two or three worst Presidents. As southern states declared their secession in the lead-up to the American Civil War, he held that secession was illegal, but that going to war to stop it was also illegal.


James Buchanan, President of the USA, was born 23 April 1791 in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States to James Buchanan (1761-1821) and Elizabeth Speer (1767-1833) and died 1 June 1868 Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States of unspecified causes.

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