I guess one can look at it that way. However, the truth is Buchanan argued that while the states had no legal right to seceded, the federal government had no right to prevent them from doing so. I think we are still grappling with that to this very day. Do states have the legal right to secede?
So my question is, did he sit on his hands or try to honor the Constitution as written? In my opinion he was literally between a rock & hard place, as the two sides were destined to clash sooner or later over the issue of slavery.
“Do states have the legal right to secede?”
My answer is Absolutely!
The whole premise of our “civil war” can be argued forever and we would still not come to a good conclusion. Maybe I’m harsh on him because of the emotion involved in losing over half a MILLION of our best (both sides) from that generation. It was such a waste of life!
Up until about that time in history, no other nation (well maybe Britain) had thought of slavery as morally wrong. Folks are quick to point the finger at the US, but fail to mention Muslim nations, Portugal, Spain, China, Japan, Turkey and almost all of the other Empires in history who had us beat by a long shot in this department.