Handwritten letter, unsigned, one page, 7.5 x 9.25, no date but January 8, 1848, is written in an unknown hand on an adjoining leaf. Buchanan writes the Honorable Benjamin Champnege in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In full: “I should not like to have the enclosed shown unless it should become necessary. The sentiments I would proclaim upon any proper occasion before the whole world; but I would rather not owe my election to any present pledges upon a subject in regard to which my whole humble life has been one continued pledge.” The adjoining leaf bears a full free frank and has been addressed by Buchanan. Matted with a colorized portrait and framed to an overall size of 24.5 x 13.5. In very good condition, with several intersecting folds (one passing through his franking signature), some light staining and mild soiling, and a thin strip of old tape along the hinge.
This handwritten message was likely composed during his service as secretary of state under President James K. Polk—and amidst the renewal of Buchanan’s presidential ambitions. Buchanan had hoped to secure the White House in the 1844 election, but the Democratic nomination went to Polk, who in turn named Buchanan secretary of state. It’s possible that Buchanan’s statement of “I would rather not owe my election to any present pledges upon a subject in regard to which my whole humble life has been one continued pledge” is a reference to the slavery issue, which had become an important matter in American politics. Although Buchanan personally objected to slavery, he also saw the abolitionist movement as a group of ‘meddling troublemakers’ and one violating a Constitutional right to own slaves. With his political ambitions in 1848 thwarted by the election of Zachary Taylor, Buchanan returned to Pennsylvania—and set his sights on the 1852 Democratic nomination...finally winning the high office in 1856. Oversized. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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