Buchanan was pacing back and forth in the entry hall of the White House with his suitcases in his hands in December of 1860. He was counting down the seconds until Lincoln was inaugurated. He had had his fill of being President and much like LBJ couldn't wait to get the hell out of Washington in the face of war.

Tomorrow in History 1862...early in the day Federal artillery including a large percentage of heavy ordnance (20 and 30 pdr seige guns) opened on the City of Fredericksburg and Marye's Heights beyond. After firing over 5000 rounds and achieving little more than collateral damage (if you want to call the destruction of a Southern city that) when Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia answered back with what amounted to a slaughter of Burnside's army and another resounding defeat of Lincoln's war machine in Virginia. DEO VINDICE

Keith