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'''James Buchanan Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|b|j|uː|ˈ|k|æ|n|ə|n}} {{respell|bew|KAN|ən}};<ref>{{cite book|last1=Olausson|first1=Lena|last2=Sangster|first2=Catherine|year=2006|title=Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=56|isbn=0-19-280710-2}}</ref> April 23, 1791{{spaced ndash}}June 1, 1868) was an American [[lawyer]], [[diplomat]], and [[politician]] who served as the 15th [[president of the United States]] from 1857 to 1861. Buchanan also served as the [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of State]] from 1845 to 1849 and represented [[Pennsylvania]] in both houses of the [[U.S. Congress]]. He was an advocate for [[states' rights]], particularly regarding [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], and minimized the role of the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] preceding the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].
Buchanan was a lawyer in Pennsylvania and won his first election to the state's [[Pennsylvania House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] as a [[Federalist Party|Federalist]]. He was elected to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] in 1820 and retained that post for five terms, aligning with [[Andrew Jackson]]'s [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Buchanan served as Jackson's [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Russia|minister to Russia]] in 1832. He won the election in 1834 as a [[U.S. senator from Pennsylvania]] and continued in that position for 11 years. He was appointed to serve as President [[James K. Polk]]'s secretary of state in 1845, and eight years later was named as [[President|President]] [[Franklin Pierce]]'s [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|minister to the United Kingdom]].
Beginning in 1844, Buchanan became a regular contender for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He was nominated and won the [[1856 United States presidential election|1856 presidential election]]. As President, Buchanan intervened to assure the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court's]] majority ruling in the pro-slavery decision in the [[Dred Scott v. Sandford|''Dred Scott'']] case. He acceded to Southern attempts to engineer [[Kansas Territory|Kansas']] entry into the Union as a [[slave states and free states|slave state]] under the [[Lecompton Constitution]], and angered not only Republicans but also Northern Democrats. Buchanan honored his pledge to serve only one term and supported Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 presidential election]]. He failed to reconcile the fractured Democratic Party amid the grudge against [[Stephen Douglas]], leading to the election of Republican and former Congressman [[Abraham Lincoln]].
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