Civil War–dated ALS, three pages on two adjoining sheets, 6.25 x 8, January 1, 1863. Letter to Supreme Court Justice John Catron. In part: “Where & how is Mrs. Catron? Has she suffered much from the calamities of the Country?…My own health is good for a man of my years. I…would be happy were it not for the troubles of the Country. Although I have been much abused & chiefly by ingrates, yet I feel, nay I am convinced that my country will ‘ere long do me justice. My fate has been peculiar. All former Presidents, from a principle of official honor & consistency, if not from attachment, upon their retirement, have found friends in the members of their Cabinet, who would sustain them against unjust attacks. Such has not been my experience. But I do not complain. With the help of God I trust I shall be able to sustain myself. But this ‘entre nous’…I wish you would tell me something about Mrs. Polk & Mary Marshall. Please to remember me kindly & respectfully to the Chief Justice & those of your associates on the Bench who were in office at the time of my retirement. I believe I have no acquaintance with any of the new-comers. I trust they are worthy of their high & most important position.” Includes the original free-franked mailing envelope, 5.25 x 3, addressed in Buchanan’s hand to “Mr. Justice Catron, of the Supreme Court, US, Washington City,” and franked in the upper right, “Free, James Buchanan.” Intersecting folds with a few small edge separations and partial separation to adjoining fold, one vertical fold passing through a single letter of the signature, toning and chipping to edges, and ink a shade light, otherwise fine condition. Provenance: The Everett Fisher Collection.
Much of the public blamed Buchanan for not addressing the question of secession during his tenure in office. His inaction alienated both parties and turned public opinion against him—leading some to refer to the conflict as ‘Buchanan’s War’—and even his former cabinet members refused to defend him publicly. He dedicated much of the rest of his life attempting to exonerate his legacy, clinging to the the belief expressed here. Buchanan did not waver in his optimism, and even on his deathbed in 1868 he famously maintained that ‘history will vindicate my memory.’ Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
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