This thread was inspired by lordvad3r95's comment on another thread about how Buchanan deserved the title of worst President due to incompetent handling of the growing tensions between North and South.

On one hand, I agree with him because Buchanan basically sat on his ass and did nothing about the coming crises.

On the other hand though, what else could he do? It's not like the Civil War came out of nowhere. The war was starting to brew from the day our nation was founded. There were a ton of factors pushing America into war, not the least of which was how a modernizing country was going to handle the slavery question. Even the slightest hint of abolition was often enough to rile up the Southerners, and Northerners who weren't even abolitionists were not exactly friendly towards the institution.

The question here isn't whether or not Buchanan was a bad president (pretty much everyone agrees he sucks), my question to you all is how responsible was he for kicking off the war? Do you think a better president could have prevented it? Or do you think the war was inevitable and Buchanan was merely a mediocre politician who was in office at the worst time?

2941637
A better president would have only stalled it, like the 14 presidents before them.

2941637
Heavily, I believe, but not entirely.

The differences between the two were there since the Revolution, and they only festered since. Though there were many attempts to stop it, it would have happened at some point. Still, Buchanan had a chance to do something. All the same, he probably did the opposite of preventing it, he brought it closer quicker.

2941637 I don't blame him solely for the war, but I do believe his ineptitude brought it on sooner. Neither side was ready for the war when it started, and they both did quite a bit of saber rattling, but Buchanan did the worst possible thing by pissing off both the North and South at the same time with his weak-willed attempts to appease the South while not making the North look like it has the spine of a jellyfish. Doesn't help that one of his most influential cabinet members was a known segregationist and tried to sabotage Union efforts from the start.

2941663
I pretty much agree with this. Most Northerners would either be neutral to mildly begrudging of slave emancipation, but Southerners would riot in the streets. Unless some magic witch doctor could pop out of nowhere and suddenly make Southerners complacent with the dismantling of slavery, this war was gonna happen sooner or later.

2941712
2941671
I agree with this as well. The only good thing I could say about Buchanan's handling was that he helped start the war just as one of our best Presidents was coming into office. Could you imagine how the war would have gone if it had happened later on with a crappier President than Lincoln!?

2941880
Like Johnson? Jesus Christ, don't even suggest that.

The seeds of the Civil War were sown into our very fabric as a nation, our "original sin" as it were. The Civil War was inevitable in many ways, and every president, congress, and supreme court session added to the coming conflagration. Buchanan may have been the most visible example of a president trying to pass the buck along, but he was just the last to get the bill... and we, and the world, are lucky that Lincoln was there to pay it.

2941637

Well, the war was gonna happen regardless of slavery. However, Buchanan did absolutely nothing to try and ease tensions. The north and south acted like two seperate countries and still do. There's nothing he could do to prevent it indefinitely. However, he should of showed the issue more attention.

2941637 Who in the world is Buchanan?

2945851
He was the President in the years just before war broke out. Got out of office just as the fighting started.

2945860 Well then he's not that bad, conceding our worst lead was one of our smartest leaders.