James Buchanan
James Buchanan was the last president to serve prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, by the time of his leaving office several southern states had seceded from the Union. He is often ranked by historians as one of the worst, if not the worst, presidents to hold the office. His nature is best viewed through the prism of secession. As the southern states, beginning with South Carolina, held conventions and voted to secede, Buchanan announced secession to be illegal. He also announced military action to prevent secession to be illegal, and thus there was no legal recourse available to him as president.
James Buchanan entered Apprentice in Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Lodge #43, and attained Master Mason in 1817. He rose to be Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Buchanan’s use of his lodge and the connections made therein were predominantly for the advancement of his political career, and there is little record of his activities as a Mason beyond the bare facts of his membership and advancement.
Early in his political career Buchanan aligned himself with fellow Mason Andrew Jackson, helping to create the Democratic Party by gathering together Jackson’s supporters following the election of 1824. A northerner, he found kindred souls among southern members of Congress, and began a lifelong relationship with Alabama congressman William King. After Jackson won his second term in 1832 he offered Buchanan an ambassadorship to the Russian Empire, which the Pennsylvania congressman accepted reluctantly.
When he returned he ran for and won a seat in the US Senate, where he continued to be a staunch defender of Jackson. Buchanan later filled another ambassadorship, to the United Kingdom, before positioning himself to run for president in 1856. When he won he became the first president from Pennsylvania and the last to have been born in the 18th century.
James Buchanan’s presidency did little besides mark time during the descent into Civil War. The fact of his Masonic membership did little to add or detract from his reputation, although the contacts which it provided no doubt furthered his career. Late in life he was expelled from his parish in Lancaster, although this was evidently because of pro-slavery opinions rather than Masonic beliefs. Like his presidency, the Masonic views and activities of James Buchanan are largely irrelevant.