James Buchanan was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly as a Federalist after  brief service in the War of 1812.  He served  in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1815-16.  Buchanan served 5 consecutive terms in the U. S. House of  Representatives from 1821 to 1831. As chairman of the Congressional Judiciary Committee he was prosecutor for the impeachment trial of Federal Judge James Peck in 1831. He successfully fought a congressional effort to repeal the 25th Section of the Judiciary Act of 1789, thereby preserving the right of the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of state laws and court decisions.   For two year beginning in 1832 Buchanan served as the United States Minister to Russia. In 1834 he returned to the U.S. Congress as a Senator for the next 11 years until 1845.

    He later became the Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee.  Buchanan, as chairman of the Committee to Handle the Abolition of Slave Trade in the District of Columbia, defeated a "gag rule" proposal that would have ended the acceptance of abolitionist petitions in the senate.  Buchanan resisted the efforts of Daniel Webster to expand the range of national functions and those of John C. Calhoun to expand the domain of state rights.  He did this to clarify the line between state and federal power.

    James Buchanan was named Secretary of State by President James K Polk in 1845. By this time, the U.S. relations with Mexico and England had grown tense.  Buchanan managed a settlement of the Oregon dispute at the 49th parallel.  Polk had risked war with England by demanding all of the Oregon territory. The Mexican War was also fought during his term as Secreatry of State.  Buchanan retired  in 1848 and moved back  to Wheatland to plan his campaign for the presidential contest in 1852.

     Franklin Pierce won the election and named Buchanan as Ambassador to Great Britain.  It was politically fortunate for Buchanan because it isolated him  from the debate about slavery that was polarizing the United States.

    In 1856, Buchanan again decided to campaign for the Presidency.
 

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