Our picture of the week is Wheatland, the home of President James Buchanan. President Buchanan is not rated highly by historians due to his inability to prevent the Southern states from seceding from the Union, but he came to the office with impressive credentials, having served as a lawyer, Secretary of State, Minister to the United Kingdom and Russia, United States Senator, member of the United States House of Representatives, and member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Lancaster County. But as the introductory film in Wheatland’s visitor’s center concluded, Buchanan had a much more limited view of the powers of the presidency than Americans have today. As such, he believed there was little he could do to prevent the Southern states from seceding. Buchanan resolved to maintain and reinforce federal forts in Southern states and wait for the Confederate states to make a move against them. That action took place with the firing on Fort Sumter after Abraham Lincoln had taken office. As Buchanan rode in a carriage with Abraham Lincoln
ISSN 2691-6592