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James Buchanan
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James Buchanan Article

What did James Buchanan do as president?

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James Buchanan unsuccessfully attempted to preserve the Union by preventing Northern antislavery agitation and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act (1850), and tensions rose. Following Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election, Southern states began to secede while Buchanan was still in office, a move he denounced but was powerless to stop.

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