James Buchanan

Head of state or government

James Buchanan Jr. was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. A Democrat from Pennsylvania, he upheld a pro-slavery interpretation of the U.S. Constitution that did little to reverse the sectional crisis between the North and South. In his final months in office, seven Southern states seceded, forming the Confederacy. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, starting the American Civil War.