John Quist

While any anthology of essays coming out of an academic conference is going to be a mixed bag, as a set this collection does give one a stronger sense of Buchanan as President of the United States. Frankly, that sense is that Buchanan probably deserves most of the abuse of that has fallen on his head, as his main fault might not have been passivity, but "errant decisiveness." For all Buchanan's public experience none of it had been in a position of managerial or executive authority, and his instincts were almost always bad when he tried to force an issue. Besides his mishandling of Kansas and Utah, his failed efforts to make the slavery issue go away by sticking an oar into the "Dred Scott" decision and his embrace of corruption in an effort to quiet a conflict that was not going to stay quiet are the most damning things. To be grudgingly fair to Buchanan, the issues of the late 1850s would have crushed a better man and his acceptance of Lincoln does reflect some positive light on a lousy reputation that was fairly earned.… (mer)