James Buchanan had the experience: lawyer, party leader, Representative, Senator, ambassador to Russia and Britain, and Secretary of State. So how did he fail so badly as president? His long camaraderie with southern leaders, his myopic views on slavery, and his desire to be an imperialist abroad while things were coming apart at home didn't help. By the end of this episode, the antebellum sectional crisis will explode into outright secession and Buchanan will earn his rightful place as the worst president of all time. And we tackle the question of whether our only bachelor president might have been gay. Also: Many president's sons have done great things in their own right. We count down the highest-achievers on our Top 5 Accomplished Presidential Sons.
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| Peruvian llama auction – Green-Mountain Freeman (Montpelier, VT) – March 4, 1858 |
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| Matrimony Made Easy – The Tri-Weekly Commercial (Wilmington, NC) – February 25, 1858 |
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| 17-year-old girl seeks elderly gentleman – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – December 16, 1859 |
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| Barnum’s American Museum – Brooklyn Evening Star (Brooklyn, NY) – July 14, 1860 |
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| Jacob Heiss and his wife Catherine – The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – September 5, 1860 |
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| Mississippi Diarrhea Cordial – Memphis Daily Appeal (Memphis, TN) – July 12, 1860 |
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| Beeswax wanted – The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, NC) – July 27, 1860 |
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| Thomas Dunn and his wife Esther – Orleans Independent Standard (Irasburgh, VT) – April 10, 1857 |
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| Madame Moore, female physician and astrologer – The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – September 5, 1860 |
