Many American presidents have had to deal with one sever crisis that ended up defining their presidency for better or worse. If handled successfully, he would be remembered favorably. If the president's efforts failed, it could define his place in history or even make him a one-term president. This article will the describe some of the most dangerous crisis faced by three of the nation's presidents and how their actions defined their presidencies and their places in history.
President James Buchanan and the Secession Crisis
President James Buchanan, America's fifteenth president, had his great crisis after the election that selected his successor - Abraham Lincoln - but before his inauguration. In that short time, seven states from the deep south seceded from the union over the slavery issue. President Buchanan believed that secession was illegal but also thought that going to war to stop secession was also illegal and that the government had no power to coerce a state to remain in the union. His favorite saying was: "I acknowledge no master but the law." As a result of Buchanan's inaction, his successor, President Lincoln, had to fight and win a Civil War to preserve the union. What should James Buchanan have done?
Many historians believed that when the first state - South Carolina - seceded, President Buchanan should have sent a very large army to that state, arrested all law makers who voted for secession and occupied the state saying that it is unconstitutional for a state to secede. If the president had done that, perhaps the union would have been preserved without a Civil War. Until the day he died, James Buchanan believed that he did not have the constitutional authority to do that. He always felt that history would exonerate him. He was wrong! Due to his inaction, James Buchanan is rated by historians as the worst president in American history.
President John Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
For thirteen days in October, 1962, the world appeared to be on the edge of a nuclear war. President John Kennedy had to manage one of the most dangerous situations in American history. The Soviet Union had secretly built bases in Cuba for a number of medium - range and intermediate - range ballistic nuclear missiles, capable of reaching any target in continental United States. On October 14, a U.S. Airforce U-2 airplane, on a reconnaissance mission, obtained photographic proof of a Soviet ballistic missile on a launching site. President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba with no offensive weapons allowed to enter and demanded the dismantling of the nuclear sites. The Russian Premier, Nikita Khrushchev said: "navigation in international waters and airspace constituted an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear - missile war."
For about two weeks the world waited breathlessly, horrified at the possibility of a nuclear war. On October 28, President Kennedy, Premier Khrushchev and U.N. Secretary - General U - Thant reached a public and private agreement that ended the terrible threat. Publicly, Russia agreed to dismantle all offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to Russia while the U.S. agreed never to invade Cuba. Privately, the U.S. agreed to dismantle all Thor and Jupiter missiles deployed in Turkey. President Kennedy, by his wisdom and toughness, had averted war and saved his country from the danger of nuclear weapons only 90 miles away.
President Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis
In February of 1979, the Shah of Iran, who had been an ally of the United States, was overthrown. Power in Iran shifted to Ayatollah Khomeni. On November 4 1979, a group of Islamic students and militants, in support of the Iranian Revolution, invaded the American Embassy in Iran and occupied it. In the process, they took the diplomats and staff hostage - 66 individuals. The government subsequently released 13 women and African- Americans - out of sympathy for minorities - and one sick white man leaving 52 Americans still hostage. President Carter appealed to the Iranian government to release the hostages on humanitarian grounds. The President was criticized for not issuing a strong ultimatum. President Carter applied diplomatic pressure by freezing eight billion dollars of Iranian assets and ending oil imports from Iran. Due largely to internal Iranian politics, the hostages were not released.
On April 11, 1980, a high - risk operation - called Desert One - was approved although the odds were against its success. On April 24, 8 helicopters flew from the aircraft carrier U.S. S. Nimitz to the Iranian desert. Three of the helicopters malfunctioned while another one crashed into a C-130 transport plane while taking off, killing 8 U.S. servicemen and wounding three others. President Carter approved the aborting of the mission. A second rescue mission was planned but never attempted.
The hostages remained in Iranian custody for the remainder of Carter's term. The failed rescue attempt ended any chance for a second Carter term. In November, 1980 Jimmy Carter lost his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan in a landslide making Carter the only Democratic president to be defeated for re-election in 120 years. The hostages were released on the day of President Reagan's inauguration after being imprisoned for 444 days. Was Jimmy Carter really such a weak, impotent president or was he very unlucky? We will probably never know for certain.
Sources:
Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
J ohn F. Kennedy Presidential Library
James Buchanan and the Secession Crisis
Raymond Spungin - I have analyzed the New York City metropolitan area for 33 years professionally. I was the author of many widely - read economic reports. ...
Join the Conversation