A review by alanfederman
James Buchanan by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Jean H. Baker

3.0

I like "The American Presidents" series for some of the lesser 19th century presidents - they are in depth enough to get a flavor of the person but not so detailed that the reader is lost in the minutae. However, I would have liked more on Buchanan. One could make a case that he really was our worst president ever, but prior to holding office he had quite a resume (Senator, Secretary of State), and one could also argue that the way he bungled the Kansas issue and the initial secession that happened under his watch led the Civil War itself. Of course many people are responsible, but boy did he bungle it big time! And he was pretty corrupt as a president as well. Not America's finest hour for sure.