Buchanan was a moderate-to-liberal Republican. Although he had been elected over local anger at the Civil Rights Act,his tenure was marked by strong advocacy for civil rights and women's rights. In his first term, he worked with Democratic Congressman Charles Weltner to spearhead an investigation of the Ku Klux Klan. The FBI credited Buchanan and Weltner's efforts for bringing KKK membership to its lowest level since World War II. He was the first Alabama congressman to hire staff and nominate to the military academies on a bi-racial basis.