President James Buchanan: A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Biography of Buchanan
Review: "President James Buchanan" remains the definitive biography of our 15th President. Instead of simply rehashing the tired and often unfair criticism of Buchanan as "the worst President of the United States", Klein relies upon a wealth of primary source material to present a complex and fascinating man. Instead of being charactered as an inept failure, Buchanan comes across as an accomplished statesman who was dedicated to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law who was caught in a "no win" situation as President. In seeking a compromise solution to avoid the impending holocaust of the Civil War when a compromise solution was probably no longer possible, Buchanan appear as a tragic figure more thasn as an abysmal failure. Klein's book is extremely well researched and insightful and is highly recommended to all those seeking to gain a greater understanding of our 15th President and the turbulent years before the Civil War.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Biography of Buchanan
Review: "President James Buchanan" remains the definitive biography of our 15th President. Instead of simply rehashing the tired and often unfair criticism of Buchanan as "the worst President of the United States", Klein relies upon a wealth of primary source material to present a complex and fascinating man. Instead of being charactered as an inept failure, Buchanan comes across as an accomplished statesman who was dedicated to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law who was caught in a "no win" situation as President. In seeking a compromise solution to avoid the impending holocaust of the Civil War when a compromise solution was probably no longer possible, Buchanan appear as a tragic figure more thasn as an abysmal failure. Klein's book is extremely well researched and insightful and is highly recommended to all those seeking to gain a greater understanding of our 15th President and the turbulent years before the Civil War.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and well-written
Review: Among the U.S. Presidents, Buchanan is not well-known, nor - by those who know of him - well-liked. The most well-known fact about him is that he was the only president who never married. The immediate predecessor of Abraham Lincoln and often blamed for elevating the conditions leading to the Civil War, Buchanan has had a poor reputation over the years. In this biography, Klein offers some insight into this political figure.

Klein traces Buchanan's development from childhood through the political arena. Having served in both houses of Congress, as a minister to both Russia and England and as Secretary of State, Buchanan was well-qualified to get the highest office in the land. A candidate several times over the years, he finally reached the presidency in 1856, benefiting from being overseas during the Pierce administration and thus removed from the increasingly serious regional conflicts.

Buchanan's strengths were also his flaws. His political canniness and ability to avoid major controversies led to his successes but also prevented him from being an effective leader. In fact, he tried to avoid being a leader, feeling that wasn't the purpose of his position. While it is unlikely that he could have averted the Civil War, he wound up being ineffective in even slowing down the drive to conflict. There is also every indication that if war had broken out during his tenure, things would have played out with less immediate violence but with far severer damage to the nation. Ironically, it would be the less qualified Lincoln who would be the superior president.

If the life of Pierce tells of a man who was unqualified and made a poor president, Buchanan's life shows that experience isn't everything either. Klein has written a great book that lets us know more about this quiet figure; with so few biographies of Buchanan available, it is a happy fact that this one is not only probably the best available, but is also just a good historical biography in general.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and well-written
Review: Among the U.S. Presidents, Buchanan is not well-known, nor - by those who know of him - well-liked. The most well-known fact about him is that he was the only president who never married. The immediate predecessor of Abraham Lincoln and often blamed for elevating the conditions leading to the Civil War, Buchanan has had a poor reputation over the years. In this biography, Klein offers some insight into this political figure.

Klein traces Buchanan's development from childhood through the political arena. Having served in both houses of Congress, as a minister to both Russia and England and as Secretary of State, Buchanan was well-qualified to get the highest office in the land. A candidate several times over the years, he finally reached the presidency in 1856, benefiting from being overseas during the Pierce administration and thus removed from the increasingly serious regional conflicts.

Buchanan's strengths were also his flaws. His political canniness and ability to avoid major controversies led to his successes but also prevented him from being an effective leader. In fact, he tried to avoid being a leader, feeling that wasn't the purpose of his position. While it is unlikely that he could have averted the Civil War, he wound up being ineffective in even slowing down the drive to conflict. There is also every indication that if war had broken out during his tenure, things would have played out with less immediate violence but with far severer damage to the nation. Ironically, it would be the less qualified Lincoln who would be the superior president.

If the life of Pierce tells of a man who was unqualified and made a poor president, Buchanan's life shows that experience isn't everything either. Klein has written a great book that lets us know more about this quiet figure; with so few biographies of Buchanan available, it is a happy fact that this one is not only probably the best available, but is also just a good historical biography in general.

Rating:
Summary: President Buchanan: Redeemed At Last
Review: Philip Klein's biography finally places the presidency of James Buchanan in the favorable light it deserves. Buchanan was discredited and vilified by politicians who put their party ahead of the nation. Power was more important to them than preserving the Union. First they obstructed his peace efforts and then scapegoated him for the Civil War when it began. "Buchanan assumed leadership of the United States when an unprecedented wave of angry passion was sweeping the nation. That he held the hostile sections in check during these revolutionary times was in itself a remarkable achievment. His weaknesses in the stormy years of his presidency were magnified by enraged partisans of the North and the South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might have gained for him a place among the great presidents of his country, were quickly overshadowed by the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering personality of Abraham Lincoln. Of Buchanan it might be said, as it was of another, 'He staked his reputation on the supremacy of reason, and lost.' "

Rating:
Summary: President Buchanan: Redeemed At Last
Review: Philip Klein's biography finally places the presidency of James Buchanan in the favorable light it deserves. Buchanan was discredited and vilified by politicians who put their party ahead of the nation. Power was more important to them than preserving the Union. First they obstructed his peace efforts and then scapegoated him for the Civil War when it began. "Buchanan assumed leadership of the United States when an unprecedented wave of angry passion was sweeping the nation. That he held the hostile sections in check during these revolutionary times was in itself a remarkable achievment. His weaknesses in the stormy years of his presidency were magnified by enraged partisans of the North and the South. His many talents, which in a quieter era might have gained for him a place among the great presidents of his country, were quickly overshadowed by the cataclysmic events of civil war and by the towering personality of Abraham Lincoln. Of Buchanan it might be said, as it was of another, 'He staked his reputation on the supremacy of reason, and lost.' "