“美国历史上的今天”这个系列是从今年1月1日起连载的，因种种原因到3月份暂时放慢发布速度，改为每周一篇。前两天，有一位朋友发来消息说，她儿子是4月23日生日，她记得我这个订阅号有一个系列是“历史上的今天”，于是跑来看看，结果发现没有，因为最近是每周一期，都放在周一这天，4月23日是周六。母亲对孩子的爱有着无穷的力量，为了完成这个心愿，这位朋友加了我的微信，问我能否单独发她，并向我表示感谢。
看了这条消息，我非常惭愧。我没有想到这个小小的“美国历史上的今天”系列更新，还有朋友在默默关注，希望从中获取力量。进一步地，我想到也许还有更多的朋友对我这里曾经红火、最后却无疾而终的各系列——每日短语、图文趣事、高级英文自修——仍然在默默等待。实在对不起大家！一段时间以来的内容发布“调整”，一方面不能说与我的眼疾没有关系，另一方面却实在是我对这个订阅号的定位产生了错误的理解。
知错就改就是好同志，现在我就改正错误，恢复这个系列的更新。因为暂时没有这套书的电子版文本，我不得不手打上来，但我想这是值得的。其实这也是“美国历史上的今天”系列之前减少更新的原因之一，不过现在想来这都不算什么，朋友们既然需要，哪怕要雕刀一个字一个字刻出来，我也没话讲。我已经把5月份的31篇全都手打完毕了，考虑到这个系列再怎么样也只有366篇，总还是有个打完的盼头的。
ENJOY!
James Buchanan (1791-1868)
James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States. He served from 1857 to 1861. His term ended just as the Civil War was starting.
Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791, in Pennsylvania. He was the second oldest of 11 children. He received a good education and graduated from college at 19. He then studied law and became a lawyer at age 21. He practiced law successfully for a few years. Then he began his lifelong career in politics.
Buchanan was, in turn（按顺序）, a member of the Pennsylvania legislature（立法机构）, a U.S. congressman, minister to Russia, senator, secretary of state, minister to England, and finally, President.
During Buchanan's presidency, the slavery problem became a heated issue. Bucanan had mixed beliefs about slavery. He thought it was wrong, but he said the federal government had no right to interfere （干涉） with an individual state's right to have slaves. He also believed that the North and South should remain a united nation. When South Carolina separated from the North, however, Buchanan said that under the laws of the Constitution, he had no power to force a state back into the Union.
The Civil War did not end under Buchanan. Instead, it ended under Buchanan's successor（继任者）: Abraham Lincoln.
Buchanan retired to his estate, called Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There, he wrote a book about his political career. He died on June 1, 1868, at age 77. James Buchanan is the only U.S. President who never married.
本文选自上海外语教育出版社引进出版的
《听读美国小故事》第4册（四月）
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