<Ul> <Li> Defense of Baltimore </Li> </Ul> <Li> Defense of Baltimore </Li> <P> James Buchanan Jr. (/ bjuːˈkænən /; April 23, 1791--June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857--61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War . Historians fault him for his failure to address the issue of slavery, bringing the nation to the brink of the Civil War . A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 17th United States Secretary of State and had served in the Senate and House of Representatives before becoming president . </P> <P> Buchanan was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania, to parents of Ulster Scots descent . He became a prominent lawyer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and won election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Federalist . In 1820, Buchanan won election to the United States House of Representatives, eventually becoming aligned with Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party . After serving as Jackson's Minister to Russia, Buchanan won election as a senator from Pennsylvania . In 1845, he accepted appointment as President James K. Polk's Secretary of State . During Buchanan's tenure as Secretary of State, the United States grew immensely with the conclusion of the Oregon Treaty and victory in the Mexican - American War . From 1853 to 1856, during the presidency of Franklin Pierce, Buchanan served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom . A major contender for his party's presidential nomination throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Buchanan finally won his party's nomination in 1856, defeating Pierce and Senator Stephen A. Douglas at the 1856 Democratic National Convention . Buchanan and his running mate, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, defeated Republican John C. Frémont and Know - Nothing Millard Fillmore to win the 1856 election . </P>

Who was serving as the us president just prior to the 1860 election