James Buchanan was the fifteenth President of the United States and served just one term from 1857-1861. During his presidency three new states were added to the Union, Minnesota, Oregon and Kansas. It was a troubling time for the nation as the issue of slavery was high on the agenda which eventually led to the civil war during the presidency of his successor, Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan was the only president who never married and he remained a bachelor all his life.
He had been born of poor stock in a log cabin in the town of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and went as a student to Dickinson College in a place named Carlisle. There he proved to be a high spirited student but his antics led him to being expelled for arrogance, disorderly conduct and drinking. Thankfully he was reinstated due to the influence of his church minister, Dr. John King who was on the board of the college. Dr King seemed to have a lasting interest in supporting and encouraging Buchanan through some stressful times in his life.
The worst period which seemed to affect his thinking for the rest of his days was when he was rejected by his fiancee, Ann Caroline Coleman. Her rejection was probably due to her father’s influence. He was a very wealthy manufacturer who felt that Buchanan was simply marrying his daughter for her money. He also seems to have circulated rumours about Buchanan seeing another girl. The upshot was that Ann Coleman slipped into a terrible depression over a period of months and later became mysteriously ill. She died and the physicians could only explain her death as due to ‘hysterical convulsions’. Naturally her father blamed Buchanan for her death and refused him permission to attend the funeral.
At that stage Buchanan was a practicing lawyer, twenty-eight years old and was counselled in his time of grief by Dr. King who prayed with him and read the Scriptures. It would seem that Buchanan was filled with both grief and guilt and felt he was being punished by God for his past transgressions. On eventually succeeding to the presidency he seems to have been a seeker after the truth of the Gospel and one day wrote to his brother who was a church minister and said, “I desire so much to be a Christian.” Eventually he came to know the Lord through a conversation with the William Paxton who was a pastor in New York City. He did not immediately join a church as that could have been controversial and be seen simply as a political move. He waited until he had left office before he associated with a local church. He joined a Presbyterian church which he described as “the church of his fathers” and when he died in September 1865 he left a sizeable contribution in his will to that church. On the afternoon before he died he seemed at peace and stated, “I at least meant well for my country.”
Key Bible Verses
John 5:33-47
You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. But the witness I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the witness I have is greater than the witness of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness about Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (09/12/25)
Written by PAUL YOUNG
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