About this title: Elegantly written, Baker's volume offers a balanced look at a crucial moment in our nation's history and explores an American president who, when given the opportunity, failed to rise to the challenge.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Ex-library. A used ex-library copy. Library markings. Pages are somewhat worn. Cover worn with a burn mark. Edges and corners worn. Binding solid and tight. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 2004-06-07
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: Good. Great title in good condition. Pages are clean, crisp, and tight. DJ shows some light shelf wear. Book club edition. Satisfaction guaranteed. If item not as described, return for refund of purchase price. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: New in New jacket. New Unread First Edition 2004 as Stated Hardcover w/DJ Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 192 p. Contains: Illustrations. American Presidents (Times). Audience: General/trade. All books carefully packed in sturdy cardboard and shipped within 24 hours. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books, New York, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: New in new dust jacket. The Dust Jacket is protected with a mylar wrapper. This is an unread copy. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 192 p. Contains: Illustrations. American Presidents (Times). Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: 1st Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Appears unread and as new. dusy jacket now in brodart protective cover. pictures always available upon request. read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: New. Elegantly written, Baker's volume offers a balanced look at a crucial moment in our nation's history and explores an American president who, when given the opportunity, failed to rise to the challenge. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Paper Covered Boards
Publisher: Henry Holt And Company, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. As new. First Printing. Dust jacket is protected with a mylar cover. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Paper Covered Boards
Publisher: Henry Holt And Company, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. As new. First Printing. Dust jacket is protected with a mylar cover. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 2004-06-07
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780805069464. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780805069464ISBN:0805069461
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"The President series is a great way to get a feel for a particular President without too much life detail, especially little known ones like Buchanan. Very little is spent learning about the Buchanan early years. Very few Presidents had the political experience that Buchanan had before he was elected President. And if you walk away learning one thing, it's that Buchanan lived in the north (PA) but was pro-south. Still, he was unable to keep South Carolina from seceding from the Union and Civil War eventually erupted under Lincoln. Some might argue that Baker is biased towards an extreme dislike of Buchanan with very few positives, but it still highlights the major issues of his time."
"I'm less disposed than the author to lay blame for the Civil War on James Buchanan. The larger contour of the story must be considered and when it is her arguments do not stand up to scrutiny. One of Baker's main themes is that Buchanan was a major cause of the Civil War because of his inaction and vacillation on slavery and states rights issues particularly during the four months between Lincoln's election and his inauguration. Within that period seven states seceded from the Union and upon Lincoln taking office another four states joined the rebellion. They left because of Lincoln's election and stated positions not because of Buchanan.
James Buchanan -- he had no middle name -- our 15th and the only bachelor President was a Pennsylvanian with pro southern sympathies who appointed several southerners to his cabinet. His experience and credentials were extensive, was generally deemed a strong executive although not as strong as some that went before or came after. The irony is that Baker asserts that Buchanan was never a man of great imagination or creativity but then expects him with his northern background and southern favoritism to bring both sides back from the brink and solve the greatest issues of the century. The nation found itself teetering on events beyond human control and fast approaching the precipice of inevitable war.
In my opinion Buchanan applied the principle of "Benign Neglect" to the flames he found engulfing him. "Benign Neglect" was a phrase coined by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a democrat and urban affairs advisor in the Nixon administration. Moynihan was a thinker like Lincoln, a Jeffersonian, a Hamiltonian, a liberal/conservative all wrapped into one. His concept of laissez-faire under the banner of "Benign Neglect" was offered to ease tensions following the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960's. This is precisely the course Buchanan pursued some 110 years before Moynihan gave a name to it.
Could the recalcitrant Buchanan have done more? Yes, probably. Would it have made a difference? Definitely not!! We must remember that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence did not include equality for blacks, Indians or women and crafted a fragile and precarious balance of power between a strong central government and the rights of states. For decades neither the laws enacted nor the court decisions rendered provided a sustained resolution acceptable to both sides. Scholars and partisans alike, North and South continued their deliberations on and on and on until finally Lincoln's 1858 prescient truth "...that a house divided against itself cannot stand..." came to brutal fruition.
Baker and other historians rank Buchanan in the bottom three of our Presidents but look at what it took and who it took to save the Republic; nothing less than the Civil War and nothing less than our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln."
"That all the people who rate the presidents of the United States were right, Buchanon was a terrible President. Too bad to because he had all the credentials to be a good one"
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