James Buchanan Jr. (; April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861, serving directly prior to the American Civil War. A member of the Democratic Party for much of his career, Buchanan served as Secretary of State and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S. Congress before becoming president. Buchanan held to his pledge to serve only one term and supported Breckinridge's unsuccessful candidacy in the 1860 presidential election. Several Southern states seceded from the U.S. after Republican Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election, and the American Civil War began just weeks after Buchanan left office. Historians fault him for his failure to address the issue of slavery and the secession of the Southern states, and generally consider him to be one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. After the 1824 presidential election, Buchanan helped organize Jackson's followers into the Democratic Party, and he became a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat.