James Buchanan Part II: You Can’t Secede… But I Can’t Stop You

James Buchanan finally found his spine in December 1860.It lasted about six sentences.In Part II of our Buchanan series, we watch the most passive collapse in presidential history. The Dred Scott fallout is still burning. Kansas is chaos. Utah required federal troops and got pardons. The Panic of1857 hits. Congress launches corruption investigations. The House is unruly. The country is brittle.Then Lincoln wins.South Carolina secedes.Buchanan declares secession unconstitutional — and in the same breath insists the federal government has no authority to stop it.This episode covers:• The Lecompton Constitution disaster• The Utah War whiplash• The Panic of 1857• The Covode Committee investigation• Harper’s Ferry and John Brown• The Homestead Act veto• Secession and the Fort Sumter crisisHe believed in the Union.He just didn’t believe in defending it.This is the moment the Civil War stops being theoretical and starts being inevitable.Next episode? Lincoln walks into the fire.🎙️ The Buck Starts HereHistory with incentives. Consequences. Music: Military March Drums by KimyF. from Pixabay