James Buchanan
James Buchanan (1857–1861), fifteenth president of the United States, studied law at Dickinson and was admitted to the bar in 1812. After serving in the Pennsylvania legislature, Buchanan was elected to five terms in the US House of Representatives and then appointed as minister to Russia. On his return, Buchanan served for ten years in the Senate. He was appointed secretary of state under President Polk and minister to Great Britain under President Pierce. Nominated by the Democrats in 1856, Buchanan won the presidential election, but his term was fraught with the sectional conflicts that marked the onset of the Civil War.
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